from the Polaris Institute
[insert first poster here]
I talk to lots of Canadians — and I would venture to guess that most people couldn't answer how much Canada spends on the military.
But the defence lobby has a ready answer: "Whatever it is — it's never enough!"
And Paul Martin has been obliging — Canada's military spending is climbing higher and higher every year. That's why the Polaris Institute conducted research on our growing military spending. You can read our report on the ceasefire.ca website (link below).
Did you know that Canada is the 7th highest military spender among NATO's 26 members? And the Liberals' 2005 budget will increase military spending by $12.8 billion over the next five years?
That means that by the end of the decade our budget will have grown from $14.6 billion today to almost $20 billion each year — higher than at any point since the Second World War.
And that's why we're calling on the political parties to take action — you can go to ceasefire.ca right now and send your letter to Paul Martin, Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe, and let them know that you believe there should be a freeze on military spending until public consultations have taken place.
If increasing military spending was about protecting Canada and contributing to UN peacekeeping — then I suspect Canadians would support it... but that's not where the money is going.
Canada has abandoned UN peacekeeping — only 30 cents goes to UN peacekeeping for every 10 dollars we spend on military missions.
Instead of peacekeeping, these increases are fuelling Canadian military integration with the United States military forces. Is that what we want — to adopt American military policy? To adopt George W Bush's worldview and his "War on Terrorism" — waging aggressive and even illegal wars?
[insert second poster here]
The Polaris Institute's latest report, "It's Never Enough: Canada's alarming rise in military spending," received national media attention when it was released because it debunks some media myths about Canada's military spending and priorities — you can read the full report on ceasefire.ca.
Freeze Military Spending, Consult Canadians
It's time the government updated its decade-old defence policy. And most importantly, it's time to include Canadians in deciding what role our military will play in the world. Until then, military spending should be frozen.
That's a simple, fair and democratic demand to make of our government.
Let's include Canadians in an open and honest debate on the purpose of our military and how we should accomplish those goals.
Go to ceasefire.ca right now and send your letter to the Party leaders. Let them know that you believe there should be a freeze on military spending until public consultations have taken place.
Thank you, Steven Staples
Polaris Institute and founder of ceasefire.ca
Related addresses:
URL 1: www.ceasefire.ca
URL 2: www.polarisinstitute.org
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