Good Sunday Morning – and Happy Spring!
Last night I spoke to the Centre for Peace in Vancouver, co-housed with the Canadian Memorial United Church. I chose the need for peace-building as my theme. As Canadians we take pride in our historic role as a peace-builder and peace maker. This record is increasingly one of a different era, that of Lester B Pearson and his role, before being our prime minister. Back in 1956, Louis Saint Laurent was prime minister and Lester B Pearson his Secretary of State for External Affairs. Yet, from that relatively lowly spot in world affairs, Pearson defused a dangerous global conflict. Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, a major shipping route (echoing today’s dispute over the Strait of Hormuz). Nasser was reacting to the UK and French governments’ decision to renege on the promised financing of the Aswan dam.. Despite Nasser’s offer to compensate those British and French private interests, owners of the canal, the UK did not trust Nasser, neither did France. A military campaign to re-take the canal was launched by Israel, invading the Sinai Peninsula, while the UK and France launched their own campaigns. Both the USA and USSR were concerned about the conflict. Into this mix came our steady, mild-mannered Canadian. Pearson, the diplomat, went to the United Nations and quietly and steadily built a coalition of nations keen to resolve the Suez Crisis. It was Pearson who found the key, creating the first-ever United Nations peace-keeping force. For this Lester B Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Yet here we are over 70 years later, standing on the sidelines at best, supporting Trump and Netanyahu, at least tacitly, at worst.
As I defend the United Nations Charter and the paramount importance of the United Nations in our Parliament, too many MPs denounce my position, asking if we should let Iran’s tyrannical thuggery of a government continue to brutalize its people.
As ever, I call for diplomatic solutions. I plead for our government to find like-minded nations capable of crafting a multi-lateral solution. I do not believe international law has collapsed. We must use the tools we have to work for peace.
It is clear that the growing world order that buttresses transnational corporate trade is under threat. No doubt the World Trade Organization is ignored by Trump as are all of the US trade agreements. Here today, gone tomorrow. But the old motto of the World Federalist Movement “World Peace through World Law” is still our guiding star through the fog of war.
The world seems increasingly at war. It is four years since Putin did the unthinkable, launching a full scale war in Europe. Ukraine hangs on, but faces steep losses, of its infrastructure and innocent civilians. The conflicts in the Middle East have steadily worsened since the illegal attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians, and then the predictable, brutal and illegal Israeli war on Gaza and elsewhere in the West Bank. Now all worsened by the February 28 attacks on Iran, by both the US and Israel, allowing a spreading war engulfing Lebanon, Gulf states, Iran and threatening Canadian forces and civilians in the region. The genocide in Darfur prosecuted by Sudan hardly merits a mention. Meanwhile Canada has drifted ever farther from our peace-making history. While the Liberals’ 2025 campaign platform committed to spending 2% of our GDP on our military to meet a target set by NATO, the 2025 budget pledged far more- 5% of total spending. And in setting out our path to prosperity, the prime minister’s statements increasingly mention three economic sectors- “being an energy super power” meaning more fossil fuels and nuclear, renewables are not mentioned, Artificial Intelligence and the Military are centres for economic growth. .
Canada highlights those three sectors in joint statements following trade visits, such as with the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Prime Minister Carney is hardly the first prime minister to see economic growth opportunities in military spending. Back in 1997, former PM Jean Chretien committed a modest $10 million to get a seat at the table for whatever subcontracts might come to our aerospace sector from Lockheed Martin’s planned super expensive F-35 fighter jets. At the time, the Green Party noted that the F35 millions did not stem from an analysis of Canada’s Defence needs. The F35, as a single engine jet was not suitable for Canada, according to many analysts. Its high cost was a result of its capabilities to evade radar detection, to sneak up on an enemy and drop bombs before they could see us coming. We have continued putting more billions in the F35 increasing our domestic commitment to a home-grown military industrial complex. In 2019 we published our Green Plan “Mission Possible” calling for Canada to cancel the F35 bombers and buy water bombers instead.
We keep putting more money into war and preparation for war. As for climate – we move in the wrong direction. Despite a lot of talk of a national fire-fighting force to deal with “FireWeather” as John Valliant has aptly named it, the budget calls for money to lease four water bombers.
Meanwhile our role in the global arms race grows. This report from Project Ploughshares is illuminating. https://ploughshares.ca/canadas-soaring-arms-exports-what-the-2024-numbers-reveal/
“Canada is exporting weapons at some of the highest levels in its history. The latest government report, released in June, shows $2.5-billion in arms exports to countries outside the United States in 2024, including to states with troubling human rights records and those engaged in active conflicts.”
Ploughshares notes recent efforts to reduce military sales to Israel but also notes several limitations on new export authorizations to Israel …, it does not cover indirect arms transfers to Israel through the United States. A key example of this is Canadian-made components integrated into American-made F-35 combat aircraft, intended for Israel. Jenny Kwan, NDP MP for Vancouver East tried to block this loophole in her private members’ bill C233. I joined Kwan and was the official joint seconder for the bill. Despite widespread public support, the “no loop holes” bill only received 22 votes in support. It was defeated at Second Reading on March 11. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ndp-bill-loopholes-arms-exports-9.7124756
News coverage did not give the kind of detail I think Good Sunday Morning readers might appreciate- noting how all MPs voted. The bill did not receive any votes from Conservatives or Bloc Quebecois, and obviously all Green MPs (me) plus all NDP supported it. Here is the interesting break down of Liberals who voted in favour and then 2 categories of Liberals who either “paired their vote” arranging in advance that if they were missing the vote another MP from another party also missed the vote, or who chose not to vote at all, the latter being braver than the paired vote Liberals. Liberals who voted YES took a real stand and deserve letters of thanks.
Liberals who voted “Yea” (15)
Fares Al Soud (Mississauga Centre)
Sean Casey (Charlottetown)
Michael Coteau (Scarborough—Woburn)
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches—East York)
Greg Fergus (Hull—Aylmer)
Steven Guilbeault (Laurier—Sainte-Marie)
Lori Idlout (Nunavut)
Iqra Khalid (Mississauga—Erin Mills)
Chi Nguyen (Spadina—Harbourfront)
Aslam Rana (Hamilton Centre)
Gurbux Saini (Fleetwood—Port Kells)
Kristina Tesser Derksen (Milton East—Halton Hills South)
Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country)
Salma Zahid (Scarborough Centre—Don Valley East)
Sameer Zuberi (Pierrefonds—Dollard)
Liberals who paired (2)
Wade Grant (Vancouver Quadra)
Alexandra Mendès (Brossard—Saint-Lambert)
Rechie Valdez (Mississauga—Streetsville)
Liberals who did not vote (12)
Abdelhaq Sari (Bourassa)
Ahmed Hussen (York South—Weston—Etobicoke)
Amandeep Sodhi (Brampton Centre)
Bardish Chagger (Waterloo)
Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis) (The Speaker, so not surprising)
Karina Gould (Burlington)
Marcus Powlowski (Thunder Bay—Rainy River)
Sima Acan (Oakville West)
Sophie Chatel (Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi)
Taleeb Noormohamed (Vancouver Granville)
Tim Louis (Kitchener—Conestoga)
Will Greaves (Victoria)
The Green Party is the only party embracing the core value of peace and non-violence. Putin’s attack on Ukraine posed a real challenge for the Green Parties around the world. Canadian Greens joined our colleagues in Europe and most Greens globally in supporting sending Ukraine military support for actions in self-defence. The Greens in the US left the Global Green movement over this issue. We continue to be a voice for peace and diplomacy amid the bellicose calls for more war.
As ever, all we are saying is give peace a chance.
Thanks for reading and please support the call for peace, nuclear disarmament and sanity. Go on line and support the Peace Charter: https://www.internationalpeacecharter.org/about/
Love and thanks,
Elizabeth
PS an early SAVE THE DATE! May 2, 2026 will mark the 15th anniversary of Canada’s first elected Green, either provincially or federally! And yes it was our first win in Saanich-Gulf Islands. Join our celebration from 7-10pm May 2 at the Unitarian church on West Saanich Road. More details soon on amazing entertainers and speakers, RSVP to Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens <[email protected]>