[KWPeace-groups] TERRIBLE! Trudeau government announces massive carbon-intensive re-armament & increase to military spending = Death knell for climate & sustainable development

[Tamara Lorincz]

Hello KW peace,

Today, the Trudeau government has announced a massive increase to military spending and carbon-intensive weapons programs under Canada’s new defence update entitled “Our North, Strong and Free”: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/north-strong-free-2024.html This report is presented both by Canada’s Defence Minister Bill Blair AND Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, see the first few pages of the defence update. Canada’s defence policy is thus de facto our foreign policy.

The federal government will spend an additional $9 billion to make more guns & ammunition, $18.4 billion for attack helicopters, $2.8 billion for cyberwarfare, $2.7 billion for missiles, $9 billion for naval fleets, more artillery, battle tanks, armoured vehicles and attack drones: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2024/04/our-north-strong-and-free-a-renewed-vision-for-canadas-defence.html Plus the federal government announced further militarization of the Arctic and oceans.

Shamefully, the Prime Minister explained that the government will increase military spending by $73 billion over 20 years to be included in the upcoming Budget 2024 that will be released on Tuesday, April 16 – this in the midst of a climate emergency and poverty crisis.

Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, Canada’s annual military spending has already increased 95% to $39 billion/year, which is 1.3% of GDP. Now our military spending will go to 1.7% of GDP that will be approximately $50 billion annually. See the NATO Defence Expenditures report here: https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2023/7/pdf/230707-def-exp-2023-en.pdf (on page 6 is Canada’s military spending over time. Canada is ranked 14th highest in the world for military spending and it is dramatically increasing. Military spending is non-productive, environmentally damaging, carbon-intensive and causes dangerous arms racing.)

*All this military spending means less public funds for climate adaptation, health care, education, public transit, affordable housing and Indigenous reconciliation: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2024/04/our-north-strong-and-free-a-renewed-vision-for-canadas-defence.html

Canada spends $1 billion on climate adaptation but just announced another $4 billion this year for the war in Ukraine and has no plans to help end it.

Through the new defence update, Canada’s response to climate change is becoming increasingly militarized – we do not need combat trained soldiers to deal with extreme weather events. We need a non-militarized emergency response and trained forest fire fighters, climate adaptation measures, cooling, green buildings, green jobs, upscaling renewable energy, expanded public transit etc.

Canada’s accelerating militarism is driven by our membership in NATO and defence partnership with the US. This militarism will exacerbate climate breakdown and make it impossible to rapidly decarbonize to meet the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

In my opinion, the federal government’s new defence update should be seen as the final death knell for climate & the SDGs.

Cynically, two weeks ago, Global Affairs Canada released its new National Action Plan for Women, Peace & Security 2023-2029 with NO public consultations with women’s groups and NO budget allocated. See “Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security - 2023 to 2029”:
https://www.international.gc.ca/transparency-transparence/assets/pdfs/women-peace-security-femmes-paix-securite/2023-2029-foundation-peace-fondation-paix-en.pdf

*Nothing the Canadian government has been doing in the world is aligned with the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda and creating a foundation for peace. Canada helped to overthrow the democratically government in Haiti in 2004 & in Ukraine in 2014 that has lead to chaos and violence, bombed Syria and Iraq from 2014-2016, bombed Libya in 2011, engaged in a combat mission in Afghanistan until 2014, exported weapons to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Peru, Ukraine and Israel to prolong violent conflicts and supporting a horrific genocide in Gaza.

Worse still, the Canadian military does NOT do peacekeeping. Canada is currently ranked #69 with only 47 peacekeepers on UN peace support operations. See the latest United Nations Peacekeeping Troop and Police Contribution report here: https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/02_country_ranking_68_november_2023_revision_1.pdf

Canada is investing little to no money in diplomacy or peacebuilding to end the conflicts. It is clear from this new defence update that Canada is dangerously preparing for war with Russia and China that risks a nuclear escalation on a rapidly warming planet.

Please contact your Member of Parliament to say that you are opposed to Canada’s new defence policy “Our North, Strong and Free” and that you want Canada to withdraw from NATO, end the wars and invest in peace, climate action and human security.

For any climate hope, we need demilitarization and disarmament for decarbonization. We urgently need to make peace with all countries including in Ukraine, in Palestine, with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Nicaragua etc. to deal cooperatively with the climate emergency and the poverty crisis.

Finally, join us on May 28 in Ottawa for the “On to Ottawa Peace Caravan” : https://wilpfcanada.ca/ and on May 29 & 30 in Ottawa to Shut Down the biggest weapons fair in North America CANSEC: https://worldbeyondwar.org/cansec/

There is no hope for the climate with increasing carbon-intensive militarism,

Tamara Lorincz

PhD candidate, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University: https://www.balsillieschool.ca/tamara-lorincz/
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace: www.vowpeace.org<http://www.vowpeace.org>
WILPF-Canada: www.wilpfcanada.ca<http://www.wilpfcanada.ca>

PS. All these new weapon systems will also require critical minerals, which is also driving Canada’s critical mineral strategy more so than the EV transition.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.kwpeace.ca/pipermail/groups_kwpeace.ca/attachments/20240408/1509985e/attachment.htm>