Today, Canadian peace groups sent the following letter to Canadian Parliamentarians.
February 24, 2024
BRIEFING: On the Second Anniversary of War in Ukraine, the Urgent Need is for a Ceasefire, Negotiations, and Peace
FROM: Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, Victoria Peace Coalition, Regina Peace Council, Fire This Time, Mobilization Against War and Occupation, Nova Scotia Voice of Women, People for Peace (London, ON), Pivot 2 Peace (South Georgian Bay Chapter WBW), Montreal for World Beyond War (WBW), Canadian Peace Congress, Just Peace Advocates, Canadian BDS Coalition, Pax Christi Toronto, Canada Voice of Women for Peace (VOW), Women’s International League for Peace and Justice, Peace Alliance Winnipeg
TO: All Members of the House of Commons and the Senate
On February 19, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced that Canada would give Ukraine more than 800 unmanned aerial systems (drones) at a cost of more than $95 million. The $95 million is part of the $500 million in military assistance promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June 2023 when he visited Kyiv. The $95 million is in addition to the $60 million promised by Blair at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group to support F-16 fighter aircraft capability that can carry the B62-12 tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. This escalation of more weapons to Ukraine to prolong the war will lead to more casualties and risks a nuclear exchange.
Since February 2022, Canada has committed over $2.4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine and approximately $10 billion in total aid. Canada is one of the top 10 countries in terms of providing military aid to Ukraine and together they have given $90.4 billion to keep this war going, the main benefactor of which is the US military-industrial complex.
Canadians demand an honest assessment of the war in Ukraine
Canada, other western nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the mainstream media all present the same narrative to justify the war and its continuation. The comments of Yvan Baker, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre, speaking at the announcement of Canada’s $95 million for drones, said what has been repeated so often:
“Ukraine’s victory is vital to Canada’s security, so a Ukrainian victory is the only option for Canada. Ukrainians needs (sic) our help to fight against Russia’s brutal invasion and to achieve that victory. The military aid we are announcing today is going to help them do exactly that. We must stand with the Ukrainian people until they win – until we all win.”
This belies the real cause of the war: the continued and illegal push by NATO to expand eastward. This occurred even though the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union had collapsed, and the former Warsaw Pact countries became aligned with the European Union (EU), and NATO’s expansion to Russia’s borders, designed to extend US hegemony over Russia (and then China), brought numerous warnings from both Western and Russian officials. There needs to be an honest assessment of the origins of the current war in Ukraine. The red line for Russia became Ukraine, where the US staged a coup in 2014, and put into power an illegitimate and unconstitutional regime that included neo-Nazis and extreme-right wing nationalists, which, in turn, launched bloody attacks on the Russian-speaking regions of Eastern Ukraine between 2014-2022.
The war in Ukraine has lasted ten years, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. February 24, 2024, marks the second anniversary of y the war between NATO and Russia (as Dr. Jeffrey Sachs has explained). As we reach the second-year mark, an end to the violence which we, the undersigned, seek, is nowhere in sight. The second anniversary will be marked in predictable fashion by those who orchestrated the war and have worked to prolong it despite the enormous costs to Ukraine and its people.
Though recent public opinion polls show a dramatic decrease in support for the war in Ukraine among ordinary Canadians, the Trudeau government continues to recklessly push Ukraine to join NATO. Since 2015, the Canadian government has spent $700 million for Operation UNIFIER by which the Canadian Armed Forces has been training and integrating the Armed Forces of Ukraine with NATO and turning Ukraine into a de facto NATO state.
Canadians demand an end to this war
For two years, Canadian peace, faith and social justice organizations have called for a ceasefire to end the war and start negotiations. This call has resonated among Canadians, about a quarter of whom now agree with us, according to recent polls. Despite the united front of Western governments and mainstream media to silence the truth about this war, it is now clearer than ever that NATO has cynically used Ukraine as the proxy in its attack on Russia. The economy of Ukraine is in ruins and the number of soldiers killed or injured is numbered in the hundreds of thousands. An entire generation of young Ukrainian men has been wiped out in NATO’s attempt to “vanquish Russia.” (words of Deputy-PM Chrystia Freeland). There are over 12 million refugees that have fled worldwide from this war.
There have been significant peace initiatives offered by many countries including South Africa and China. Shamefully, none of these efforts have been supported by Canada or other NATO nations. The people of Ukraine are now looking for an end to the war. Canada must turn from fuelling this conflict towards using its diplomatic resources to bring about negotiations to end it, before it expands into a wider regional war or even a nuclear confrontation between the superpowers.
This war, which has been recklessly driven by NATO, leads to our demand that Canada withdraw from NATO. It is irresponsible for Canada to increase military spending to NATO’s 2% GDP target when millions of Canadians need affordable housing, accessible healthcare and education, and adaptation to climate change. Withdrawing from NATO would give Canada independence over its foreign affairs and defence and would allow Canada to ratify the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. It would also allow Canada to work cooperatively with all countries to seek a global response to the planet’s impending environmental and climate crises and sustainable development.
Finally, we, the undersigned organizations, call for:
- An honest, public assessment of the war in Ukraine;
- A ceasefire to end the fighting and to start negotiations;
- The cancellation of all weapons to Ukraine (including the drones);
- The termination of Operation UNIFIER;
- The cancellation of the F-16 fighter jet program that risks a nuclear escalation;
- A public review of the $10 billion Canada has given to Ukraine;
- A commission of inquiry into Canada’s role in the violent protests in the Maidan, the coup in 2014, and the escalation of the civil conflict between Kiev and Donbas since 2014;
- A new security architecture for Europe and Russia to ensure a lasting peace.
Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, Victoria Peace Coalition, Regina Peace Council, Fire This Time, Mobilization Against War and Occupation, Nova Scotia Voice of Women, People for Peace (London, ON), Pivot 2 Peace (South Georgian Bay Chapter WBW), Montreal for World Beyond War (WBW), Canadian Peace Congress, Just Peace Advocates, Canadian BDS Coalition, Pax Christi Toronto, Canada Voice of Women for Peace (VOW), Women’s International League for Peace and Justice, Peace Alliance Winnipeg
SOURCES:
George Beebe and Anatol Lieven, “The Diplomatic Path to a Secure Ukraine” (Feb. 2024): https://quincyinst.org/research/the-diplomatic-path-to-a-secure-ukraine/
Congressional Research, “U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine” (Dec. 2023): https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12040
Dr. Ivan Katchanovski, “Buried trial verdict confirms false-flag Maidan massacre in Ukraine” (Feb. 2024): https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/buried-trial-verdict-confirms-false-flag-maidan-massacre-in-ukraine-2024
Jack F. Matlock “The Christmas Gift that Keeps Giving”, American Diplomacy (Feb. 2024):
https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2024/02/the-christmas-gift-that-keeps-giving/
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, “The Biden-Schumer Plan to Kill More Ukrainians,” (Feb. 2024): https://www.jeffsachs.org/newspaper-articles/4xn8bew8gh25ygbt5d8d2a5s5tplex