Canada's throne speech: Massive re-militarization will threa

[Oscar]

Canada's throne speech: Massive re-militarization will threaten climate & nature, Canada preparing for war with China


FROM: Tamara Lorincz <no-to-nato@lists.riseup.net>
DATE: Wed, May 28, 10:59 AM (1 day ago)
TO: No, global-network-keep-space4peace@googlegroups.com, Women

Hello GN, Women Against NATO, and No to NATO friends,

I want to share this message that I sent across Canada, so you know the situation here. Please see below. - Tamara

***

I want to encourage you to read the horrendous Speech from the Throne, which does not bode well for the Carney-led Liberal government: [ https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/ ... hrone.html ]

There is NO mention of “women” or “youth”. There is also NO mention of investments in “health care”, “education”, “welfare”, “green economy” or “sustainable development”. There is no mention of “disarmament” and “peace” is referred to in passing, but there is going to be a massive “re-arming”.

The Throne Speech states “The Government will protect Canada’s sovereignty by rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces. It will boost Canada’s defence industry by joining ReArm Europe, to invest in transatlantic security with Canada’s European partners. And it will invest to strengthen its presence in the North, which is an integral part of Canada, as this region faces new threats.”

ReArm Europe is a 800 billion euro program to ramp up weapons production, soldier recruitment and military modernization by 2030: [ https://defence-industry-space.ec.europ ... ss-2030_en ] (Just at a time that we should be reducing emissions under the Paris Agreement and achieving sustainable development by 2030).

The Throne Speech makes clear that the Carney government is going to invest in more soldiers, weapons, border patrol, and RCMP. Read what the speech says about new spending for borders and police. It is going to militarize the North, the fastest warming region on the planet with many Indigenous people who do not have safe housing: [
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/n ... ng-crisis/ ]

Carney is going to make Canada an “energy superpower” and expressly states more conventional energy, which means more oil and gas.

Carney’s plan for a greater masculinized and militarized, fossil fuel-dependent economy will exacerbate gender inequality, poverty, environmental degradation and the climate crisis.

Though the Throne Speech does mention climate change and protecting nature, Canada as a militarized “energy superpower” will undermine them and cause severe adverse climate and environmental impacts.

The Speech from the Throne has the audacity of stating “Canada has continued to set an example to the world in her conduct and values, as a force for good.”

Canada is NOT a force for good in the world. The record shows otherwise. Ottawa is supplying weapons to Israel and Ukraine to prolong brutal wars, arming Taiwan to prepare for war with China, and buying fossil fuel-powered fighter jets, armed drones and attack helicopters. Our foreign policy record is shameful: Canada bombed Yugoslavia in 1999, killed and tortured civilians in Afghanistan in our combat mission from 2002-2014, covertly participated in the US crime of aggression against Iraq, Canada led NATO bombing of Libya in 2011, we bombed Syria and Iraq from 2014-2016, overthrew the democratically elected government of Haiti in 2004, supported the coup in Honduras in 2009, supported the coup in Kyiv in 2014, tried to overthrow the government in Venezuela in 2019, called for regime change in Russia in 2023 etc. All of this is against international law and undermines cooperation on climate and sustainable development.

Plus, Canada has never met its overseas development assistance pledge for foreign aid of 0.7% GDP and spends so little for climate finance. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Senate hearing last week said that Canada and other NATO allies were going to commit to increasing military spending to 5% GDP. We are currently at 1.4% of GDP for military spending at $39 billion: [ https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_226465.htm ]

If Canada hits the 2% GDP NATO target that will mean spending $81 billion/year on the military according to the PBO: [
https://www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/publications/ ... fixee-otan ]

The Speech from the Throne alludes to a huge increase to military spending and strengthening NATO, a military alliance. At the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Ohio two days ago, the NATO Secretary General said that allies are going to increase military spending to 5% of GDP (this is insane): [ https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_235647.htm ]

Canada reaching the 5% GDP NATO target means that Canadians will be spending $200 billion/year on the military diverting public funding from social, environmental and climate programs. It will cause mass immiseration.

*Canada cannot decarbonize while militarizing. The Canadian military has NO PLAN to reach net-zero. The military is the largest consumer of fossil fuel in the government and it is engaged in warmaking around the world not peacekeeping.

Canada is at our lowest level in peacekeeping with 26 soldiers on UN peace support missions. We have thousands of soldiers now in Latvia on Russia’s border in a NATO brigade but no diplomats trying to end the war: [
https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/troop-an ... ntributors ]

Canada is doing nothing to sanction Israel and stop its genocide of Palestinian people and theft of Palestinian land. The letter Carney released with Macron and Starmer is useless: [
https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements ... -situation ]. It says nothing about the genesis of the problem: Israel’s illegal occupation, illegal blockade, and illegal settlements by Israel backed by the West.

No, Canada is NOT a force for good in the world. We are engaged in warmaking with US and other NATO allies.

BTW, in case you missed it, British Conservative Leader, Kemi Babendoch admitted on Sky News that Israel is fighting a proxy war and Ukraine is a fighting a proxy both for Western interests, watch here: [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9XdN0ME9o0 [ or here: [ https://x.com/citizenjournos_/status/19 ... 7552526500 ]. The targets are Russia and Iran. China is next as Canada and the other Western powers arm Taiwan to the hilt.

Think about that: US, Canada and NATO allies are preparing for a war with China, the country that is the largest exporter of green technologies and electric vehicles and working with developing countries on development. China is a country that has lifted millions of people out of poverty and has the “Five Principles for Peaceful Co-existence”: [
https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/zy/wjls/3604 ... 67542.html ]

This is what the Indonesian President said about China last Saturday: “I want to express my respects to the People Republic of China which has consistently defended the interests of developing countries. They’ve consistently opposed oppression, opposed imperialism, opposed colonialism, and opposed apartheid. The People’s Republic of China supported liberation struggles in all countries. Not just at the present when China’s economy has been strong, but even when China was still developing. China continued to defend liberation struggles everywhere and until today. We see China especially defending the Palestinian people, which is truly something that makes us all so proud. From my heart and on behalf of the Indonesia people, we express our respect to the leadership of the People’s Republic of China in defending the oppressed peoples all over the world.”

China is helping Indonesia with high speed rail. Something we don’t have!

China is dropping aid on Gaza. Canada is helping Israel drop American bombs on Gaza.

Canada regularly sails our warships off the coast of China that is provocative and dangerous. Honestly, it is despicable what our government is doing in the world.

Read more about the US plan for war with China: [ https://responsiblestatecraft.org/guam-us-military/ ]

Watch John Pilger’s important documentary “The Coming war with China”: https://johnpilger.com/the-coming-war-on-china/ ]

Finally, my article “Canada should not participate in Trump’s Golden Dome ballistic missile program” was published in several papers this week, Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator, Waterloo Record etc…. You can read it here: [
https://tinyurl.com/bdedcmee ]. It will mean war in space and will help with the coming war against China and it risks being a nuclear war. There are grave climate and environmental risks from Golden Dome as well.

Today, the big protest against the CANSEC arms show was held in Ottawa #ShutDownCANSEC, read more about it here and the ties between this arms fair to Israel: [ https://leveller.ca/2025/05/heightened- ... -campaign/ ]

*Canada’s new Defence Minister David McGuinty, who is an environmental lawyer and used to be the chair of the National Roundtable on Energy and Environment, is now promoting a massive climate wrecking and earth destroying militarization program.

It is also very troubling to me that there are no opposition voices against militarism and military spending and there are no elected officials who are promoting peace and disarmament in Ottawa.

FYI: From June 23–28, Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network (WECAN) invites you to be part of a critical global gathering, the virtual Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice: Path to COP30 and Beyond: [
https://www.wecaninternational.org/womens-assembly ]

There is no decarbonization without demilitarization.

In solidarity for peace, earth and justice,

Tamara

---

Information list of the international No to War - No to NATO network
[ http://www.no-to-nato.org, info@no-to-nato.net ]

The function of the list is to communicate about events, actions, petitions etc., for discussions please use the list
[ no_to_nato_discussion@lists.riseup.net, you can subscribe with no_to_nato_discussion-subscribe@lists.riseup.net ].

Follow us also on

[ http://www.facebook.com/NotoWAR.NotoNATO ]

[ twitter.com/no_to_nato ]

The public archive is here: [ https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/no-to-nato ]

To subscribe the list send an email to [ no-to-nato-subscribe@lists.riseup.net ]

To unsusbcribe the list send an email to [ no-to-nato-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net ]

For sending information over the list, use the address [ no-to-nato@lists.riseup.net ]