2006 Canadian Census And National Missile Defence - Two Stones In The Same Swamp

From the Lockheed Martin website, “We never forget who we´re working for.’ That certainly is neither Canada nor Canadian citizens; it is the U.S. government.

Lockheed Martin is also a big player on the national missile defence scheme as put forward by the Bush government.Currently the federal Liberal party is seeing itself divided over this issue, as the Martin camp wants to press ahead by any means necessary so that they may curry favour with Washington. Some Liberal MP´s are instead actually listening to the Canadian populace and voicing their opposition to the move to join the United States in the destabilizing act of national missile defence.

The NDP and Bloc are also opposed to the missile defence plan, but nearly the entire Conservative rank and file are voicing support.

Don't believe what you read in much of the Canadian corporate media as well, as the National Post among others have been misleading Canadians by twisting or just plain falsifying results of surveys and polls. As exemplified by this CanWest article which distorts the finding of the poll.

Even the story itself contradicted the headline by telling us that 49% were actually OPPOSED and 44% in favour. Worse still the polling questions weren't even included in the article.The story and poll then go on to mistakenly link BMD to NORTHCOM - the US Northern Command claiming 60% of Canadians are said to "want Canada to be a full partner in NORTHCOM." But according to the peace group Project Ploughshares, Canada is not part of NORTHCOM, and will never be part of it because NORTHCOM is a strictly US national command.

Canadians know full well this is an expensive and dangerous boondoggle in the making, which was denounced by 49 US generals and hundreds of knowledgeable US scientists. (See more on this further into the article) In an Ipsos-Reid poll last March 77% agreed that Canada's limited military spending should be used to enhance our peacekeeping and 69% opposed our participation in missile defence.

The CanWest corporate media chain has been highlighted numerous times as of late for purposely misleading Canadians by falsifying or editing news reports by making them more in line with political leanings of the Asper family.

The Canadian Democratic Movement and its partners along with a host of other non-governmental groups are preparing to call for a boycott of the 2006 census. The commonality between the groups is that Canadian tax dollars and sensitive information should not be made available to foreign arms manufactures. For those that have been following the issue since the beginning will know that Statistics Canada has also been less than forward with the Canadian populace.

In light that the Bush government wants to strengthen and expand upon the Patriot Act (possibility that the U.S. government can seize Canadian census information), it is especially important that we do not open the door to our information. Leading the charge against the 2006 census by calling for a boycott is Vive le Canada.

Essentially these two issues, the 2006 census and missile defence, can be said to be a litmus test of where Canada is going to find itself in the near future. America is finding itself increasingly isolated in the world arena by disengaging from international law and agreements so that they may press ahead with their pre-emptive policies towards perceived enemies. Canada in turn by signing on to these types of deals will turn its back on over five decades of leading the world away from war and nuclear proliferation.

Missile defence is most certainly not about defending American interests from rogue missiles, it´s all about American control of world events in the 21st century. Missile defence IS the weaponization of space, which Canadians have said time and again, is not in our or the worlds´ best interest. Instead of moving away from nuclear holocaust, we are moving even closer to that fateful day.

An interesting insight by Robert G. Gard, Ret. Lt. Gen. United States, “First, why would any state, rogue or otherwise, attempt to deliver a nuclear weapon at the United States by ballistic missile when it is well known that we already have the capability to pinpoint the source of the launch and deliver a devastating retaliatory attack? There is no evidence that heads of rogue states, including the leaders of North Korea and Iran, have suicidal inclinations for themselves or their countries.’ It should be noted that Robert Gard is not opposed to missile defence, just not as it is being put forward now. Robert Gard also organized 49 retired generals and admirals to sign an open letter to the president urging him to postpone the operational deployment of the planned missile defence system until realistic testing proves that it is a weapons system capable of defending the United States against ballistic missile attack.

For those looking to know the truth about missile defence and the Canadian governments blatantly false and misleading statements about it should pick up the new book Rushing to Armageddon by Mel Hurtig. As the title says, it is a shocking analysis towards the truth about Canada, missile defence, and Star Wars.

Canada has been leading the world by strengthening international institutions and agreements. We lead the charge against the use of landmines and the establishment of the International Criminal Court, yet we are heading towards a day when all that will be for not as we are lumped in with the sagging international opinion of the United States. By signing away our proud history through enlisting a foreign manufacturer of WMD to conduct something as sensitive as our national census, while they are partaking in the missile defence plan is clearly not in Canada´s best interest.

The Canadian Democratic Movement and others urge you to write members of the Canadian government and the national media (including the National Post), and voice your opinion on the matter. Please forward this to anyone and everyone who you think may be interested, or that need to know more about what is happening. This editorial can also be freely posted anywhere on the Internet as long the content is not changed without prior approval and all sources remain intact.

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Key messages:

1) Canadians clearly oppose Canada joining the totally discredited and dangerous missile defence system being built by George Bush.
2) The Pollara Company (which has long ties to the Liberal party and government) poll is full of errors in its assumptions and facts and cannot be trusted

Key points:

* According to Project Ploughshares: "This [CanWest] story includes several errors, the headline is not borne out in the text, and it never discloses the actual polling questions on which it's various conclusions are based."

* While the [CanWest] headline says Canadian support BMD, the actual story and the poll say 49% of Canadians are opposed and 44% in favour. [PP news release]

* The story and apparently the polling questions then mistakenly link BMD to Northern Command (NORTHCOM). Sixty percent of Canadians are said to "want Canada to be a full partner in NORTHCOM." The question is irrelevant because Canada is not part of NORTHCOM, and won't become part of it because NORTHCOM is a strictly US national command. [PP news release]

* The story is also in error when it says BMD "would require upgrading existing U.S. early warning radar stations in Canada." There are no ballistic missile warning radars in Canada, nor are there any planned for Canada. The radars of the North Warning System in Northern Canada are there to detect aircraft and have no capacity to identify ballistic missiles. [PP news release]

* While we cannot trust a poll that contains so many errors, done by a pollster who for years was a paid consultant for the Liberal Party, we can trust Ipsos-Reid, a truly independent pollster who last March published the following results:

"77% agree that Canada's limited military spending should be used to enhance our abilities in peacekeeping and conflict resolution rather than trying to maintain multi-purpose forces intended for heavy combat alongside U.S. military forces." (Ipsos-Reid, March 2004).

69% disagreed that "Canada should actively support the Bush administration's missile defence system even if it may require dedicating military spending to the program or allowing US missile launchers in Canada"(69%)." (Ipsos-Reid, March 2004).

Also...

"7 in 10 Canadians want the government's spending priority to be healthcare or education, and less than 1 in 10 thinks it should be defence." (Compas, April 2002).

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HERE'S A SAMPLE LETTER:

I think the public is being badly served when a professional polling firm, and the country's biggest newspaper chain promote polling results based on false assumptions and incorrect data that distorts Canadians' real beliefs. This is what happened on Tuesday when CanWest newspapers (including the National Post) carried a headline that said Canadian supported the US ballistic missile defence program. Even the story itself contradicted the headline - telling us that 49% were actually OPPOSED and 44% in favour. But the polling questions weren't even included.

Furthermore, the story and poll mistakenly linked BMD to NORTHCOM - the US Northern Command claiming 60% of Canadians are said to "want Canada to be a full partner in NORTHCOM." But according to the peace group Project Ploughshares, Canada is not part of NORTHCOM, and will never be part of it because NORTHCOM is a strictly US national command.

Canadians know this is an expensive and dangerous boondoggle - denounced by 49 US generals and hundreds of knowledgeable US scientists. In an Ipsos-Reid poll last March 77% agreed that Canada's limited military spending should be used to enhance our peacekeeping and 69% opposed our participation in missile defence.

Sincerely,

This editorial was written with assistance of Murray Dobbin.