You say you're a good guy. That's all we've heard since you toppled Sideshow Steve. You did a few good, albeit really easy, things. You took the gags off government scientists. The long form census is back. Funding is to be restored for the CBC. One by one, you're scrubbing away the greasy stains of our decade of despair under Harper.
There's an obvious Harper stain you've said you'll erase, one that you can effect effortlessly at any time. You can sign Canada on to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, the ATT. All of our European buddies, the original NATO gang, have signed on. Even the United States is a signatory nation.
Canada is the odd man out. That's sort of like being the sketchy guy who is not allowed within a hundred yards of an elementary school. So, Justin, let's pick up that prime ministerial pen and restore Canada's good name and virtue. Ink the goddamned thing. It won't hurt. What's that, it might?
Oh, I get it. The last thing you want now is more light shining on your support for the delivery of $15 billion worth of Canadian-built war wagons to those apparent war criminals, the Saudis. That's the sort of grease stain you can live with, the sort we'll just have to live with under your reign.
Not having signed the treaty, does that place Canada in the role of back door in the arms trade business? Do the Americans, and other nations, sell arms to the uglies by funneling them through Canada? Did Harper see the opportunity?
ReplyDeleteFunny you should ask, Toby. I have read an article hinting that the Saudi LAV contract is just part of Canadian arms sold to Riyadh. Have we been everybody's favourite conduit for shipments others would prefer to protect from the public view? That sounds plausible at the very least.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first I've heard of the ATT. What I keep getting from governments, Federal and Provincial, is their incessant desperation to grow the GDP. This seems to influence their actions.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they so desperate to grow the GDP? I think I know.
Especially at a time when we want to reduce GHG emissions, you'd think a no-growth or negative-growth economy would be the goal. No! We can't have that!
Anyong: This is off topic Mound, I thought this might interest you:
ReplyDeleteWikiLeaks reveals CBC and Canada Post may be sold under TPP agreement
Hi Anyong, have you got a link?
ReplyDeletehi Mound...I agree with you. As you know I'm frustrated that the new government has been left holding the bag for the LAVs which provide jobs for so many people in an area that has been ravaged by the loss of one factory after the other. But we really do need to start getting off the military industrial complex escalator. I had no idea until relatively recently how big our arms industry has become. So I was shocked to see that we are also selling giant sniper rifles to the Saudis that can kill a person two kilometres away. Imagine what could happen if they fall into the hands of terrorists. Selling to people like the Saudis and others is no way for a country to set an example in a world slowly going crazy. So the sooner we start disengaging the better.
ReplyDeleteSo your challenge to Justin Trudeau is a fair one. You know I recently found out that the factory that is building the LAVS used to build trains. Wouldn't it be great if it could be transformed into building something like a high-speed railway? Of course I am an idealist, I know of no other way to survive these times. But reality keeps getting in the way. You know the idiot Prince Philip himself once told me and my schoolmates that school was like hitting your head against a brick wall, because it felt so good when it was over. And after that I had to stand up and say "three cheers for his Royal Highness hip hip hurrah." Even though I always hated the Royal family. The more things change, the more they stay the same...
"...giant sniper rifles to the Saudis that can kill a person two kilometres away. Imagine what could happen if they fall into the hands of terrorists."
ReplyDeleteToo late.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/26/tennessees-new-official-state-rifle-is-so-powerful-it-can-destroy-commercial-aircraft/