Ever since 9-11, the world has gone haywire over terrorism, with trillions of dollars wasted from war profiteering and hundreds of thousands of lives lost. and there is no end in sight for this madness.
The shooting of a soldier in Ottawa along with the murder by two lone, disturbed individuals provided Prime Minister Harper a slight bump in the polls because he capitalized on these events to boost efforts to fight terrorism. And now the tragedy in Paris is being used by the Conservative government to urge more action. Yet few Canadians realize that despite Harper’s rhetoric, behind the scenes, his government has been promoting weapon sales to the Middle East, where these armaments may end up in the very hands of the very extremists the West is battling against.
The 10-year, $14.8-billion contract to sell light armoured vehicles made in Ontario in a General Dynamics branch plant was promoted by the government-run Canadian Commercial Corporation. Thus, it is no wonder the Harper Conservative government refused to sign the UN global Arms Trade Treaty, which came into effect three weeks ago after it was ratified by 50 countries.
Hopefully this fall, voters will be aware of the Canadian Conservative hypocrisy that condemns the “international jihadist movement,” while at the same time facilitating more war profiteering and refusing to sign a treaty that encourages peace instead of more war.
Jim Cooperman
