| Canada-U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration No to Canada's Integration into the U.S. Imperialist War Economy!"Canada's integration into the U.S.
imperialist war economy is a serious matter of
concern for Canadians. The U.S. war economy has
tentacles into every U.S. state as well as
Canada and countless other places abroad. [...]
The U.S. war economy exists within a relation
with the aim of the U.S.-centred financial
oligarchy for worldwide hegemony. U.S.
imperialist theft of social wealth from the
peoples of the world and its competition with
other big powers feed the war economy and in
turn generate increased instability, violence
and war." The release says the "Action Plan" arose following Trudeau's visit to Washington, DC last June where he met President Trump and discussed the "rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran, including reports of Iran shooting down a U.S. drone in international airspace." Within this atmosphere of escalating war preparations, the two leaders "discussed ways to improve mineral security and ensure future competitiveness of their minerals industries, and work more closely to ensure secure and reliable supply chains. [...] Canada and the U.S. will develop a joint action plan on critical minerals collaboration." Trudeau is quoted as highlighting "the importance of Canadian uranium to North American energy security, and underscored how Canada has been a reliable supplier of uranium to the U.S. for over 75 years."[2] Quebec Government's Role in the Joint Action
Plan
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Natural Resources
Canada, on January 9 issued a news release which
states, "Today, Canada and the U.S. announced they
have finalized the Canada-U.S. Joint Action Plan
on Critical Minerals Collaboration, advancing our
mutual interest in securing supply chains for the
critical minerals needed for important
manufacturing sectors, including communication
technology, aerospace and defence, and clean
technology. [...] [The Action Plan] will guide
cooperation in areas such as industry engagement;
efforts to secure critical minerals supply chains
for strategic industries and defence; improving
information sharing on mineral resources and
potential; and cooperation in multilateral fora
and with other countries. This Action Plan will
promote joint initiatives, including research and
development cooperation, supply chain modelling
and increased support for industry. [...] Experts
from both countries will convene in the coming
weeks to advance joint initiatives to address
shared mineral security concerns -- helping ensure
the continued economic growth and national
security of both Canada and the U.S."[
A follow-up
statement from Minister Julien's office says: "In
particular, the Minister had the opportunity to
meet with Steven Fortier, Senior Policy Advisor of
the White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy. This meeting revealed the importance that
the U.S. administration attaches to the need to
find reliable suppliers of critical minerals in
order to reduce the vulnerabilities of their own
supply chain. The Minister was thus able to
highlight Quebec's potential in this regard. [...]
These minerals are growing rapidly in importance
as they respond to challenges linked to new
technologies and the energy transition (transport,
aviation, telecommunications, renewable energy and
the military industry). Several goods manufactured
for tomorrow's economy contain them, including
electronic equipment and electric cars. [...]
Washington said it was open to improving
international trade and collaboration with its
allies to ensure a supply chain with countries
with a proven social and environmental track
record. To this end, Quebec is well positioned."
Any reference to
CSMs being vital and critical to the military
industry and war economy disappeared from the
Ministry's Discussion Paper, replaced with talk of
"climate change" and "renewable energy," even
though many of the CSMs in Quebec are being
extracted or have the potential to be extracted
for war preparations.[
