Canada's new fighter jets could be deployed in Arctic resour

Canada's new fighter jets could be deployed in Arctic resour

Postby Oscar » Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:44 am

Canada's new fighter jets could be deployed in Arctic resource war

[ https://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/brent- ... c-resource ]

by Brent Patterson July 27, 2021

The argument has been made that Canada spending $76.8 billion on new fighter jets both worsens the climate crisis (because of the carbon pollution emitted by these warplanes) and diverts needed money from being invested in a sustainable energy future. This is certainly true. But new Canadian warplanes may also be about exercising control over the oil, gas and rare earth minerals becoming available because of climate change.

Extractivism in the Arctic -

Climate change is having a major impact on the Arctic, making it easier to extract resources and open new northern shipping lanes. Ten years ago, Al Jazeera reported: "It is considered the final frontier for oil and gas exploitation, and secret US embassy cables published by WikiLeaks confirm that nations are battling to 'carve up' the Arctic's vast resources." The Arctic holds an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil. It also a source of rare-earth minerals that are used in a wide variety of products including iPhones, computers, electric car motors, wind turbines, missile guidance systems, satellites and lasers. In 2019, Liberal MP John McKay warned about Russia's presence in the Arctic asserting: "I would like to see more resources applied to what has become a security issue for us, primarily driven by the fact that climate change has opened up the sea lanes." And this past March, Canadian defence department deputy minister Jody Thomas stated: "We should not underestimate at all that threat of resource exploitation [including fish, petroleum and critical minerals] in the Arctic by China in particular." With surprising frankness, Thomas added: "We have to understand it and exploit it and more quickly than they can exploit it." . . . .

Militarization, climate justice -

The Canadian government has been sparse in explaining its rationale for spending $19 billion to purchase new fighter jets and almost $60 billion more to operate them and cover other associated costs. It says: "A modern fighter jet fleet is essential for defending Canada and Canadian sovereignty and contribute to our NORAD and NATO commitments, now and in the future." A fulsome disclosure by the government on its perception of the relationship between new fighter jets, worsening climate change and the race for resources in the Arctic would inform public debate on this expenditure of public dollars. In the absence of that, the anti-war and climate justice movements should open this discussion and promote alternatives for a non-militarized green future."

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