Business Council of Canada Calls for More NATO Military Spending
On June 12, Business Council of Canada (BCC) President and Chief Executive Officer Goldy Hyder sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada regarding Canada's military spending and the July 9-11 NATO Summit in Washington. It calls for increased military spending to be offset by cuts to other areas of government spending. The BCC describes itself as an organization "composed of the chief executives and entrepreneurs of over 170 leading Canadian companies, operating in every sector and region of the country," who are "united by a deep commitment to Canada and a desire to help the country reach its full potential."
The letter expresses concern about the lack of government commitment to increase military spending to meet NATO's demands. The major failing of the Liberal government's most recent defence spending update, it says, is two-fold. First, it fails to have a definite plan to reach the target of military spending equivalent to two per cent of Canada's gross domestic product. The BCC calls for the target for that to be 2029-30. Second, it says, insofar as the government's current military spending plans, it has failed to indicate "that new investments in defence would be offset by a strategic program review which reallocates funds from other areas of government."
Posing a rhetorical question as to "why an organization comprised of the chief executives of the leading and largest companies in Canada would have a position on defence spending," the letter says the first reason is that "we are proud citizens who believe our country must have the sovereign capacity to protect Canadians in a far more turbulent world, one marked by growing geopolitical confrontation." The second reason is that, "like all Canadians, [we] believe our country must keep its word once it has been given. Our standing on the global stage is undermined when we shirk our responsibilities and fail to share the burdens of upholding the open and free global order, that has provided Canadians with unprecedented levels of safety, security and prosperity."
Confirming once again that Canada is in lockstep with the U.S. warmongers, the letter continues: "To be clear, the world is watching. Just last month you received a letter from 23 U.S. Senators, both Democrats and Republicans, calling Canadians out for our shortfall in defence spending. The reality is that Canadian business leaders are met with similar calls and questions as we travel internationally and visit the capitals of our main allies."
The government often argues that it makes up for falling short
of the NATO demand that all members devote at least
two per cent of their GDP to NATO by supporting NATO in all
kinds of other ways but Canada's big business interests are on a
bandwagon to press for more spending on NATO come what may. The
letter suggests that among the NATO members, "there is
growing concern that Canada -- one of the 12 founding members --
will be singled out at that summit as the only member of the
32-nation alliance who has not committed to invest at least two
per cent of GDP on defence by the end of this decade." "The
consequences that would result from this diplomatic isolation,
in terms of both our security and economic partnerships, will
have broad ramifications for all Canadians," it threatens.
Canadians need to escalate their opposition to the all-round
militarization of all of life which the Business Council of
Canada promotes. How to defend Canada's security is an important
topic of discussion. A good place to start is to oppose NATO and
Canada's membership in NATO and demand that NATO be dismantled.
At this time, every effort is being made by the ruling circles
to impose the use of force as the only way to resolve problems
in the world. NATO is an aggressive military alliance which also
exercises its political dictate on governments of member states.
As the Business Council says, "new investments in defence would
be offset by a strategic program review which reallocates funds
from other areas of government." Canadians do not support
spending on aggression and war or the vicious anti-social
offensive which cuts back social spending in favour of the arms
industry and increasing the wealth of narrow private interests.
The letter concludes: "We live in increasingly perilous and uncertain times. It is vital that Canadians work cooperatively with our NATO allies to defend our borders, our interests, and our values. If we, as a country, fail to make this benchmark level of investment in defence, as successive Canadian governments including yours have promised, we will put lives and livelihoods at risk."
This article was published in
Volume 54
Number 37 - June 18, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54372.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca