Canadian Senate Attacks Canada

Today we witnessed an unprecedented bi-partisan attack on Canada, coming from within the ranks of our own parliament. Conservative and Liberal senators have joined forces in releasing a disturbing piece of propaganda entitled:

MANAGING TURMOIL: The Need to Upgrade Canadian Foreign Aid and Military Strength to Deal with Massive Change (PDF)

Executive Summary (PDF)

These gems are among the conclusions detailed in the report:

• The government of Canada should look at weaponizing space, because, well, everyone else will beat us to it so we are silly to sit back and object.
• The government of Canada should run, not walk, to the nearest U.S. outpost and sign on to the US Ballistic Missile Defense program, even if all strings are unknown.
• The government of Canada should just give up trying to defend Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic. Its much better to have our military on foreign shores correcting problems our U.S. neighbours are largely responsible for, so that we can leave the coast clear for an American assault on Canadian sovereignty in the North. True, the report tries to suggest that the Coast Guard be given this task, but since they are unable to fully meet the need, this is misdirection. The report makes no mention of the urging by certain U.S. politicians that our friendly neighbours to the south ought to build massive ice breakers so they can further challenge our sovereignty, yet mentions other recent developments in support of the senate committee’s conclusion on BMD.

All in all the report concludes that a) Canada has to be as war-like as any other nation on the planet, holding up those with the most arms as desirable role models; b) sovereignty is a quaint notion to be dismissed; and c) why bother fighting any arms race – jump right in and try to be near the head of the pack.

For this report, this attack on our sovereignty and the very notion of Canada, we can most directly thank the members participating in this most recent parliament of Canada’s “new government”, plus a number of Liberal conspirators—its clear that the hawks are in control of this committee:

• The Honourable Colin Kenny, Chair
• The Honourable Michael A. Meighen, Deputy Chair, and
  
• The Honourable Norman K. Atkins
• The Honourable Tommy Banks
• The Honourable Larry Campbell
• The Honourable Joseph A. Day
• The Honourable Wilfred P. Moore
• The Honourable Marie-P (Charette) Poulin
• (*)The Honourable Gerry St. Germain (Member since September 12, 2006)
• *The Honourable Marjory Lebreton, P.C., (or the Honourable Gerald Comeau)
• *The Honourable Daniel Hays (or the Honourable Joan Fraser)
  
  *Ex Officio Members
• Other Senators who participated during the 39th Parliament ­ 1st Session:
• The Honourable George Baker
• The Honourable Janis G. Johnson
• The Honourable Pierre Claude Nolin
• The Honourable Hugh Segal
• (*)The Honourable David Tkachuk (Member from June 13 to September 12, 2006)
• The Honourable Rod A. A. Zimmer

The report is rife with poorly drawn conclusions based, in many cases, on laughable arguments. If this report exemplifies the work accomplished in the chamber of sober second thought, its no wonder most Canadians feel that both chambers are full of loonies.

One wonders if committee co-chair Senator Meighen is known to have used his grandfather’s, former P.M. Arthur Meighen, infamous phrase Ready, aye ready during committee proceedings. Not unlike his grandfather, Meighen and his senatorial chums from both major parties appear all too willing to blindly cede sovereign control over our defense and foreign policy to foreign powers.