PETITION: Urge Harper to support the UN Arms Trade Treaty

[Oscar]

Sign the petition - Urge Harper to support the UN Arms Trade Treaty

Add your name to the petition and urge Harper to sign the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty!

http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=17266

December 12, 2013

- - - -

See Backgrounder below:
Cost of ships could surpass $105 billion
[ http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=17203 ]

- - - - -

In April the United Nations, in a historic achievement, completed negotiations to limit the trade in weapons around the world. But no thanks to Canada.

So, why has Canada not signed the new UN Arms Trade Treaty?

It's because the Harper government is working with the awful pro-gun lobby and military industries. These lobbyists have tried to undermine this important treaty, and now, Harper is undermining it too.

In fact, the Harper government invited pro-gun lobby organizations to be part of Canada's official delegations during the UN talks. It's widely suspected that these groups then passed information to the powerful, U.S.-based National Rifle Association, the NRA, which is also opposed to any treaty involving guns.

Even worse, the Harper government has set out to make Canada a major weapons exporter, and is handing billions of dollars to big foreign-owned weapons companies like Lockheed Martin. These contracts have nothing to do with the needs of our military – just corporate profits and massive CEO salaries. In one scheme, Harper plans to spend $2 billion on tanks the Army doesn't even want!

It's time for Canadians to speak out against Harper's pro-war lobby. We have got to stop Harper working with the NRA and big weapons companies. North Korea, Syria and Iran voted against the treaty. This is the bunch Canada will be counted with.

Last week Angela Kane, a high-ranking UN official, came to Canada at the invitation of peace groups to urge Canada to promote peace.

As Postmedia news reported, "She appealed to Canadians’ sense of morality in encouraging the government to sign, adding: 'Canada is an important player in the world community and I think that whatever you do is being noticed. And by not signing it, that is also being noticed. So it is very much my hope that Canada will come around and sign the arms trade treaty.'"

Let's answer the United Nation’s call!

Please send your letter to Stephen Harper and let Ottawa know you want Canada to sign the UN Arms Trade Treaty right away, and to be a global peace leader once again. Your local MP will get a copy automatically.
Thanks for taking action, right away.

In peace,

Steven Staples, co-founder of Ceasefire.ca

P.S. Please add your name to this petition and urge the government to sign the Arms Trade Treaty.

= = = =

Cost of ships could surpass $105 billion

[ http://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=17203 ]

November 14, 2013

In light of Auditor General Michael Ferguson’s impending report on the Canadian government’s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, the Department of Public Works has announced a new, through-life price tag for the planned ships (Steven Chase, “New warships to cost more than $100-billion, Ottawa estimates,” Globe and Mail, 13 November 2013):
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... e15407360/ ]

The purchase price of the military ships remains $26.2-billion, but a new estimate of “approximately $64-billion” for 30 years of maintenance, operating and personnel costs brings the total bill to “in the vicinity of $90-billion,” according to a status update released by the Department of Public Works this week. It cautions the “through-life costs” will need to be refined over time. …

In addition to the $90-billion for as many as 15 surface-combat vessels, the federal government is commissioning up to eight Arctic offshore patrol ships that will have a full lifetime cost of $8.6-billion, and two joint support ships – to carry fuel, ammunition, vehicles and cargo – for a cradle-to-grave cost of $7.1-billion. These costs have previously been disclosed.

The new figures bring the total life-cycle cost for as many as 25 military ships to more than $105-billion over three decades.

And even these figures are likely to be low, as they rely on the highly unrealistic assumption that the purchase cost of the vessels will come in within the government’s original estimates.

In an interview with CTV News on November 13th, Steven Staples, President of the Rideau Institute, provided some insight into unforeseen costs. “We don’t know what kind of radar it’s going to have, we don’t know what kind of communications systems [it will have], we don’t know what kind of missile systems are going to be loaded on them. Cruise missiles are expensive and aren’t made in Canada.”
[ http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1043 ... tPageNum=1 ]

There are many who view the government’s approach to replacing the aging Canadian fleet as inefficient and unnecessarily costly to taxpayers. Even Jack Granatstein, a usually reliable supporter of military spending, criticized the program in a recent article for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, “Building Ships in Canada?”:
[ http://cdfai.org/monthlycolumn/november2013column.htm ]

Of course, Canada can create its own naval construction industry, just as we are now trying to do. But the government should be up front about this. The infrastructure and labour costs are going to be high, and every ship built in Halifax or Vancouver will need to be priced accordingly or heavily subsidized. Not just warships or Coast Guard vessels; every ship of any type, now and forever, must be overpriced almost by definition.

[Oscar]

New Democrats push for Canada to sign Arms Trade Treaty

----- Original Message -----
From: <thomas.mulcair@parl.gc.ca>
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2013 3:17 PM
Subject: New Democrats push for Canada to sign Arms Trade Treaty

Thank you for taking the time to write in support of the comprehensive Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). New Democrats support this agreement.

We have been very critical of the uncooperative role Canada played during the recent negotiations; efforts by government representatives to exclude recreational hunting and sports rifles from the treaty also attracted international criticism. While briefly chastened enough to vote in favour of the treaty, the Conservative government is now refusing to sign it!

The government's back-tracking on this significant treaty raises serious concerns about the unjustified influence of the gun lobby on Canada's foreign policy. In challenging this unacceptable development, NDP Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar said, "The Arms Trade Treaty seeks to stem the illegal flow of conventional weapons which fuels conflicts, empowers violent extremists, and contributes to human rights violations around the world. The treaty will have no impact on domestic firearms owners. It's outrageous that the government is making its decision [not to join] based on gun lobby ideology rather than the reality that this treaty will help save millions of lives."

More than a hundred countries are now signatories, including the United States. Going forward, New Democrats will continue to urge the Conservatives to allow Canada to join in this world-wide endeavour to eliminate the illegal weapons trade.

Thank you again for contacting me with your concerns.

All the best,

Thomas Mulcair, M.P. (Outremont)
Leader of the Official Opposition
New Democratic Party of Canada

Follow Tom on Facebook and Twitter
www.facebook.com/ThomasMulcair
www.twitter.com/ThomasMulcair
www.flickr.com/photos/ndpcanada