Speaking Out: Star Wars

LIBBY DAVIES, MP Vancouver East

Update from the House June 2003 Speaking Out: Star Wars

Dear friends,

I wanted to share with you recent comments I made in Parliament, on the Canadian government's decision to begin negotiations on the National Missile Defence system (STAR WARS!), being pushed by the U.S. government. The federal NDP is totally opposed to this and would encourage you to join our campaign to STOP STAR WARS-on our NDP website at www.ndp.ca. Our leader Jack Layton has been very outspoken on this issue, and we will continue to voice our opposition to the militarization and weaponization of space, and the Canadian government's involvement. I have included excerpts from my recent speech on a Canadian Alliance motion calling on Canada to support a Star Wars program. Yours Sincerely, Libby

EXCERPTS FROM HANSARD (May 29, 2003) Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I feel truly shocked listening to the comments by the Minister of National Defence today in the House and his announcement that Canada is about to enter into negotiations with the U.S. on a Missile Defence system.

I am even more outraged that he does it on the rationale that somehow w e are defending our continued opposition to the weaponization of space. If weknow anything about missile defence or Star Wars, surely it is an understanding that this is the first step to military control of space by the U.S. and the weaponization and militarization of space.

I am really shocked to hear that Canada is repudiating decades and decades of policy on arms control and is now about to get into bed with theAmericans on this issue.

One would expect this sort of motion from the Canadian Alliance, but when I heard the Member say this motion was about fresh thinking and when she talked about the nationally acclaimed defence policy of the Canadian Alliance, I started to laugh. It seems to me that the defence policy of theCanadian Alliance has been thoroughly discredited right across the country.

That is the kind of mentality that was prevalent during the Cold War. Apparently the Canadian Alliance is still back there several decades ago.For months and months we have been quizzing the federal government, thePrime Minister, the provisional government in waiting and the former Financ e Minister to find out where the Liberal government stands on this issue. Eve n as recently as last month we heard the Prime Minister saying that he reallydid not know, that the U.S. had not asked anything and we could not respondto anything. But all of a sudden here we are today with an announcement by the Defence Minister that we are now ready to enter into negotiations. Thisis a very bad day for Canada historically.

We should be very clear about what is taking place here with this motio n from the Alliance, which is just a knee-jerk reaction to what George W. Bus h wants. What the U.S. is really doing is seeking the political legitimizatio n of the National Missile Defence program. This has been very well spelled-ou t by Senator Douglas Roche, who has done a lot of research and has been very outspoken on this issue.

This issue of political legitimization is something that we now can seethe Liberal government has just walked right into. Any person in their righ t mind would know that this kind of expenditure on a National Missile Defencesystem, which will lead us to the militarization and the weaponization of space, is going to cost at least a trillion dollars.

Most people understand the insanity of that kind of approach. I think probably Mr. Bush himself understands that, and his job has been to somehowprovide the political rationale for engaging in this kind of absolutely idiotic restart of an arms race. People are seeking to do that by the political legitimization of Star Wars.

We hear the Member for LaSalle-Émard, the former Finance Minister, talkabout protecting Canadian sovereignty from these ballistic missiles. What ballistic missiles? What threat are we speaking of? Are we prepared to spen d a trillion dollars for a threat that has never been identified? Are we prepared to allow our universe, our space, to be used for militarization an d for weaponization? That is what is being suggested here.

The NDP is so concerned about Star Wars that it has actually been conducting campaigns with its members. We have a petition on our website, www.ndp.ca, and we are encouraging Canadians, even more so today given the news we heard from the Defence Minister, to sign our petition and to make i t absolutely clear to the government that the policy that it is enunciating has had no debate in the House. It has been behind closed doors, presumablyin the cabinet room.

We must call upon Canadians to stand up and make this very clear, justas they did in opposing the war on Iraq.I also thought you would be interested in the outcome of the Canadian Alliance motion. The results show that the federal Liberal government is moving towards a Star Wars program for Canada.

That this House affirm its strong support for NORAD as a viable defence organisation to counter threats to North America, including the threat of ballistic missile attack; and support giving NORAD responsibility for the command of any system developed to defend North America against ballistic missiles.

For: Against:

NDP: 0 NDP: 9

Liberal: 91 Liberal: 38

Canadian Alliance: 52 Canadian

Alliance: 0

Bloc Quebecois: 1 Bloc Quebecois: 26

Progressive Conservatives: 12

Progressive Conservatives: 0

Total: 156

Total: 73

Feel free to drop me a line (remember it's postage free)

Or email me at: daviel@parl.gc.ca

483 West Block 2412 Main Street

House of Commons Vancouver, BC

Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6 V5T 3E2

Ph. (613) 992-6030 Ph. (604) 775-5800

Fax (613) 995-7412 Fax (604) 775-5811

www.libbydavies.ca

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