No to Military Spectacles in Toronto!
Make Canada a Zone for Peace!
Not a Single Youth for Imperialist War!
Torontonians have been informed that, on the weekend of October 25-26, 300 members of the Canadian military will be conducting “an amphibious training exercise” in their city. An announcement by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) calls it “an inter-agency training event designed to simulate mass-casualty events during domestic emergencies.”
This exercise is part of Operation Steadfast Response. The code-name “Steadfast,” as in “Steadfast Defender” or “Steadfast Dart,” links this to recent NATO war exercises in Europe in which Canada figures large.
The CAF says, “Military assault boats may be seen travelling along the waterfront, as well as army vehicles on downtown roads. Soldiers will be carrying weapons, but without any ammunition.”
“All measures are being taken to ensure minimum inconvenience in these areas during the exercise dates,” CAF informs. CAF advises people “to take extra caution when approaching military vehicles.”
Other sources inform that the Toronto Army Reserves exercise will take over an area stretching from near Exhibition Place to the Keating Channel. The 300 Canadian Armed Forces members are from across the 32 Canadian Brigade Group simulating a mass-casualty evacuation.
In the past, similar exercises have taken place in the abandoned Bay Lower subway station, away from public eyes. The CAF is now also using this exercise as an occasion for people to watch it as if it is an exciting benign tourist spectacle. In other words, besides a training exercise it is a PR event to promote the Canadian government’s agenda of militarization and war. This is wholly unacceptable.
As if a “mass-casualty event during domestic emergencies” is a spectator sport, to generate excitement, CAF announced that “a public observation area will be set on the Cherry Street North Bridge which will provide a vantage point and a rare opportunity for members of the public to witness the military training.” The “public” may witness military assault boats on Toronto Harbour, travelling from HMCS York to the exercise site in the Port Lands, in conjunction with military land vehicles on local roads in the downtown area, CAF said.
Through sleight of hand, the presence of the military is to be made “normal” on the streets of our cities. This makes the event doubly unwelcome and unacceptable.
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) decries the city of Toronto lending itself for war exercises carried out under the guise of preparing for domestic emergencies. Juxtaposing “military” and “public” is a clear indication that Canada’s military is not an institution which is subject to decisions and orientations set by the people. Far from it. This military exercise has become a spectacle to entice youth to join the military at a time it is chronically unable to fill vacancies.
No! No! No!
Civil defence in emergencies comprised of working people, not the military, is decisive in coping with domestic emergencies, as in the COVID pandemic or the 1998 major ice storm that paralyzed eastern Canada. Experience also shows that many climate-based domestic emergencies, floods and wildfires turn into tragedies due to cutbacks in public services, including health care, ambulance services, firefighting, coast guard, infrastructure maintenance and lack of governments at every level taking up social responsibility which gets obliterated due to privatization and government refusal to hold private owners of infrastructure and privatized services to account.
Operation Steadfast Response is a clumsy attempt to inject the military into civilian affairs. Attempts to appeal to the youth by showcasing the CAF in a benign light are also unacceptable. The Carney and Ford governments are now diverting hundreds of billions of dollars into pay-the-rich schemes, the military and war preparations rather than making necessary investments in social programs and programs which ensure a healthy social and natural environment.
No to the Militarization of Toronto!
No to Military Spectacles in Service of Warmongers!
Get Canada Out of NATO and NORAD!
Not a Single Youth for Imperialist War!
Make Canada a Zone for Peace!
The military exercise will take place along Toronto’s waterfront on October 25, 2025, from 8:00 am to 6:30 pm, and October 26, 2025, from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Issued by the Workers’ Centre of CPC(M-L)
Email: workerscentre@cpcml.ca • Phone: (647) 907-7915 • cpcml.ca
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