NO TO NATO! CWPJN Statement on NATO’s 70th Annual Parliamentary Assembly
in Montreal Nov. 22-25, 2024
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the U.S.-led, nuclear-armed, military alliance that was founded by twelve countries, including Canada, in 1949, 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 of dollars on wars and weapons to enrich the (mainly US) arms industry while exacerbating conflict around the world.
NATO DRIVES MILITARY SPENDING, IMPOVERISHES CANADIANS, WIDENS WARS
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. It now wants to spend $41 billion a year. Military spending diverts crucial resources away from public needs putting more Canadians into poverty and homelessness. NATO bureaucrats are trying to establish the 2% ceiling as a floor and raise the ceiling to 3%, which the media trumpets.
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. Canada and all NATO members continue to oversee contracts for weapons for Israel, a nuclear-armed state, despite its 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 in two theatres of war. 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, approves their use. 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 onNATO 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 continues to support the State of Israel whose attack on Iran is likely to ignite a wider regional war and might also lead to a nuclear confrontation between the great powers. 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, Canada must also create a two-way arms embargo against Israel, support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and a lasting political solution between Palestine and Israel. 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 build peace with all countries, so that humanity can achieve the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Only 32 Western countries are part of NATO. We can build peace and trust through diplomacy, international law, conflict prevention, and disarmament. It’s time for Canada to withdraw from NATO 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 on Sunday, November 24th. 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 @CanPeaceJustice
JUST PEAce COMMITTEE 