The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the U.S.-led, nuclear-armed, military alliance that was founded in 1949 by twelve countries, including Canada, is holding its 70th Annual Parliamentary Assembly in Montreal. In the last 25 years, NATO has left a trail of death and destruction from its military interventions in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Ukraine. These interventions have led to failed states, environmental and climate damage, violence against women, and humanity’s largest refugee crisis. NATO allies have wasted trillions on wars and carbon-intensive weapons, enriching the (mainly US) arms industry while exacerbating conflict around the world.
NATO DRIVES MILITARY SPENDING, IMPOVERISHING CANADIANS
NATO drives Canada’s rising military spending. In 2014, NATO allies pledged to increase their military spending to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP). According to NATO’s latest Defence Expenditures report, over the past ten years, Canada’s military spending has increased 100% from $20 billion in 2014 to over $40 billion in 2024, which is 1.4% of GDP. By 2032, Canada’s military spending will increase to $82 billion, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Military spending diverts crucial resources away from public needs putting more Canadians into poverty and homelessness. And now, NATO bureaucrats are trying to establish the 2% ceiling as a floor and raise the ceiling to 3%, with the glowing endorsement of Canada’s mainstream media.
NATO WIDENS WARS
NATO weapons prolong the war in Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza. Since 2022 alone, Canada has committed a staggering $17 billion CAD in financial and military aid to Ukraine to prolong a NATO proxy war against Russia, while rejecting negotiations to end that war. NATO calls Israel “its vital ally in the Middle East”, conducts military exercises with Israel, and has a robust trade with it in arms and weapons research. The Israeli regime will send a delegation to NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly in Montreal. Behind the scenes, NATO members (including Canada) continue to send weapons to Israel, an undeclared nuclear-armed state, despite its conducting of a genocide against the Palestinian people, its illegal and merciless bombardment of Lebanon, and its recent attack on Iran. At the same time, however, a survey by the Institute for Global Affairs found a majority of people inside NATO countries want negotiations to end the war in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
NATO’S RECKLESS NUCLEAR GAMBLES IN UKRAINE & WEST ASIA
Humanity today is facing its most perilous nuclear threats since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. NATO has recklessly escalated the stakes in its proxy war with Russia over Ukraine. Three NATO countries – the US, UK, and France – recently announced intentions to install in Ukraine long-range missile systems capable of striking deep into Russia. NATO’s new Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, has given the green light to use them. Because targeting for these missile launches would be done by the U.S. and NATO allies, the Russian government considers such attacks acts of war against Russia and has threatened to retaliate on NATO targets. NATO leaders are thus gambling – with our lives – that the Russian government is bluffing. Trudeau recently endorsed the gamble. However, if Russia does retaliate, NATO will immediately invoke Article 5 for a collective reprisal, which puts the world at the brink of nuclear war. The stakes could not be higher!
In West Asia, NATO members continue to support Israel whose recent but ineffective attack on Iran was intended to ignite a wider regional war. If Israel and the US instigate a regional war, the bloodshed and devastation will be immeasurably worse and could lead to a global nuclear confrontation.
We are poorly served by the Trudeau government, the opposition parties, and mainstream media, none of whom has adequately warned Canadians of the existential danger of NATO’s nuclear brinkmanship in Ukraine and West Asia. Prime Minister Trudeau himself has never called President Putin to find out what it would take to end the Ukrainian conflict nor has he exerted any serious pressure on Israeli PM Netanyahu or on US President Biden to stop the war in West Asia. As well, it is because of our membership in NATO that Canada won’t join the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
WE NEED PEACEBUILDING AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, NOT NATO
Canada can pull back from nuclear brinkmanship by supporting negotiations to end the wars and joining the nuclear ban treaty. As well, it must exert real pressure on Israel to implement a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace with Palestinians through a two-way arms embargo; ending Canadian “charitable” donations; terminating free trade and security arrangements; and outlawing Canadian enlistment in the IDF. The Trudeau government must condemn Israel’s illegal invasion of Lebanon and suspend diplomatic relations with Israel until it withdraws from that country and ceases to attack other countries in West Asia. Canada must cooperate and peacebuild with all countries, so that humanity can tackle the climate crisis and achieve the Paris Agreement and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Only 32 Western countries are part of NATO. Most of the world, 161 countries, are not members of the U.S.-led alliance. We can build peace and trust through diplomacy, international law, conflict prevention, climate justice, and disarmament. It’s time for Canada to withdraw from NATO, develop an independent and peaceful foreign policy, and work cooperatively with all countries.
SUPPORT THE COUNTER SUMMIT IN MONTREAL !
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network is organizing the Counter-Summit (to NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly) in Montreal with the participation of local antiwar and social justice organizations. The Counter Summit, on Sunday, November 24th, will be part of a weekend of action against NATO in Montreal, including a demonstration on Saturday, November 23rd demanding #CanadaOutOfNATO at Place du Canada, at 2pm, organized by Le Mouvement québécois pour la paix.
In addition, the CWPJN calls on people across Canada to i) organize local actions against NATO for the Canada-Wide “No to NATO” Weekend of Action, Nov. 22-24; ii) share social media posts vs. NATO; iii) contact their elected officials to call for #CanadaOutOfNATO; iv) write letters about the dangers of NATO to local newspapers; and v) hold watch parties of the livestreamed Counter Summit.
To register for and support the Counter Summit, click here: tinyurl.com/StopNATO . To join the Canada-Wide Weekend of Action vs NATO, contact the Canada-Wide Peace & Justice Network: peaceandjusticenetwork.ca
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