Only one political party answered his question about nuclear weapons
With the federal election behind us and the new Parliament gathering in Ottawa next month, PeaceQuest Cape Breton’s Sean Howard wonders why there was no discussion of Canada’s role in ridding the world of nuclear weapons?
PeaceQuest Cape Breton sent a letter to each party, asking:
- did they agree with 75% of respondents to a recent Nanos opinion survey – also spectacularly under-reported – that Canada should join the Ban?;
- would they support – as did 76% of the Nanos respondents – parliamentary hearings on Canada’s nuclear policies?;
- how specifically did they think Canada could best work to eliminate nuclear weapons?;
- did they agree that any state or group of states had the right to use nuclear weapons first in war?;
- given the devastating impact on the climate – global cooling, not warming – of even a ‘limited’ nuclear war, did they agree that policies to advance nuclear disarmament should form part of Canada’s climate change strategy?
The response to his inquiries were disappointing for Howard. “We distributed a similar questionnaire during the 2019 federal election, receiving thoughtful responses from Green and NDP candidates. This time, we received but one response, from Liberal Party HQ in Ottawa: a boilerplate policy statement identical to that issued to other organizations, avoiding all five questions – and any mention of the Ban Treaty!”
Tags: Nuclear Ban Treaty
Considering the turmoil the Green Party is experiencing, it’s failure to respond is almost understandable. The silence of the NDP, my party of choice for decades, is infuriating, but sadly not unexpected.
Sad, but all too predictable, given the almost total neglect — or, rather, avoidance — of disarmament and other peace-related issues during the recent election campaign.