Take It As Red

"Blogging is, by its very nature, erratic and irregular, feverish effort punctuated by random silence, a conundrum wrapped in a contradiction wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an unclosed em tag. " - The Poor Man

Thursday, February 24

Canada Opts Out of U.S. Defense Shield

"TORONTO - Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday that Canada would opt out of the contentious U.S. missile defense program, a move that will further strain brittle relations between the neighbors but please Canadians who fear it could lead to an international arms race.
[...]
When Bush visited Canada in December, he surprised Ottawa by making several unsolicited pitches for support of the defense shield, which is in the midst of testing interceptors capable of destroying incoming missiles targeted at North America.

Martin, who leads a tenuous minority government, has said Ottawa would not support what he called the "weaponization of space." Though he initially supported joining the program when he was a candidate for the Liberal leadership, Martin has retreated, since polls indicate that a majority of Canadians oppose it. Many believe that the umbrella, when fully implemented, could lead to an international arms race."

Canada's parliament has also voted for extra money to secure its border with the US. Seems a sensible move to me. Good fences make good neighbours, especially when the neighbour is a behemoth with an uncertain temper and a fondness for war, pollution and reckless spending.

The US is constantly pushing Canada to allow their security apparatus operate over the border.

The cult of fundamentalism has also spread north, and fundies have taken control of the Canadian Alliance, Canada’s second-largest political party and the official parliamentary opposition to the ruling Liberals. Unfortunately there is a movement in Canadian conservative evangelical business types which identifies with the US Republican party. They seem determined to remove the border entirely; not just to trade but also monetarily and militarily, a Greater North America. Call it leibensraum. Conspiring with a foreign nation to subvert your own country's government sounds treasonous to me. If I were Canadian I would not feel very secure with such quislings around. Those still-optimistic Americans who look to Canada as a safe haven should worry too. While it's cheering to see the Canadian PM sticking out against Bush, he is electorally on shaky ground, and we've all see what fundies can do to a once reality-based ( for certain values of reality) nation.

Correction: Commenter Green Knight has pointed out that I'm behind the times: the Alliance swallowed the old Progressive Conservative Party in a hostile takeover last year, and reconstituted itself as the Conservative Party of Canada. mea maxima culpa.

posted by Republic of Palau # 24.2.05

Take It As Red

Thursday, February 24

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