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Protesting
Canada’s
Imperialist
War
by Barry Weisleder / November 2006
Though the turnout was generally lighter than
last spring, antiwar protests across Canada on Oct. 28 nonetheless
represented an important step forward. It was the first time the broad
movement—led by the Canadian Peace Alliance, le Collectif Échec la guerre,
the Canadian Labour Congress, and the Canadian Islamic Congress—focused its
attention on Canada’s imperialist war in Afghanistan, clearly demanding
‘Troops out now’.
Despite stiff winds and cold, rainy
conditions across central and eastern regions, over 1000 demonstrated in
Montreal, nearly 1500 in Toronto, and 500 in Ottawa; 150 braved a snowstorm
in Edmonton, over 1500 marched in downtown Vancouver, and another 500
rallied in Victoria, B.C. In all, 37 communities across Canada saw protest
actions on Oct. 28.
In Toronto anti-imperialist sentiment was
reflected in contingents and banners that decried the Canadian state’s
anti-democratic role in Haiti and its complicity with Israeli apartheid.
War resisters, Muslim groups, labour unions, and student organizations
carried their own placards and distributed buttons and flyers.
NDP leader Jack Layton addressed the
enthusiastic rally that preceded the march, but his message was neither
fully in sync with the crowd nor with his own party’s adopted policy.
Instead of demanding the withdrawal of all
Canadian soldiers now, Layton emphasized ending the “combat mission” in
what he refers to as the “Kandahar fiasco” in southern Afghanistan.
Instead of reflecting NDP policy, which
calls for Canada to leave the NATO alliance, Layton said, “let’s connect
with our NATO partners” and “help lead a drive for a political solution to
bring lasting peace to the region”. This implies a prolonged stay, not to
mention ongoing meddling by today’s foreign occupiers.
Layton projected “a new role for Canada on
the ground in Afghanistan, a balanced role whose priorities are security,
aid, and reconstruction.”
Unfortunately, this paves the way to a
permanent military presence. Finally, Layton’s seemingly innocuous appeal
for “building a truly independent foreign policy—not imported from
Washington” suggests that the main problem is subservience to the U.S.
rather than the substantial material interests of the Canadian imperialist
corporate elite—class interests that happen to coincide with those of their
U.S. counterparts.
Ever since the Sept. 8-10 federal NDP
convention in Quebec City, Layton has been backpedalling on the party’s
Afghanistan policy. To hold the leader’s feet to the fire, the NDP
Socialist Caucus is circulating the following resolution for debate and
vote at NDP and labour gatherings at all levels across the country:
“Whereas the 2006 NDP federal convention
voted overwhelmingly for “a safe and immediate” withdrawal of Canadian
troops from Afghanistan;
“And whereas NDP federal Leader Jack Layton
spoke on CBC radio on September 23/06 to ’clarify’ his stand on the issue,
indicating that he favours withdrawal of Canadian troops only from the war
theatre in Kandahar, and that he supports the continuation of the ‘3D
approach of Canadian foreign policy’—which is the policy of the previous
Liberal government, ‘Defence, Development and Diplomacy’—in other words,
the ongoing foreign occupation and control of the country, arguably
designed by the Liberals to secure a pipeline route for Jean Chretien’s
friends in the oil patch.
“Therefore Be It Resolved that this body
demands that the Federal NDP Leader and Parliamentary Caucus adhere to the
convention-adopted ‘troops out of Afghanistan now’ policy;
“And Be It Further Resolved that this body
commits itself, and calls on the NDP leadership at all levels, to mobilize
for the biggest and broadest possible participation in mass protest actions
against the wars of occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
While opposition to the disastrous
‘mission’ in Afghanistan grows, along with associated difficulties (NATO’s
non-deployment of additional forces in the south, the rising Canadian death
toll, and lack of fresh replacements), the Harper government was quick to
commit Canada to the developing imperialist campaign against North Korea.
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay said
Canada would stand with its allies to ensure that new sanctions against
North Korea are enforced.
MacKay said it was too early to suggest
whether Canadian warships could be dispatched to enforce the UN embargo on
specified forms of trade and travel, plus inspections of all ships arriving
and departing with cargo. But he did insist that Canada, as a Pacific Ocean
country, has a “direct” interest.
Perhaps this helps to explain the
Conservatives’ raising the so-called ‘defence’ budget to $20 billion by
2010 from $14 billion, and boosting the military to 75,000 regular
personnel.
Extended and more diverse overseas
‘missions’ are the order of the day for Canada’s ruling class, which wants
to have its slice of Empire pie, and eat it too.
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