Missile Defence May Not Get To A Vote: Graham
Posted on Monday, September 27 at 11:02 by Anonymous
CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Sun. Sep. 26 2004 6:35 PM ET
Participation in the U.S. missile defence program will be a decision for the government, not for Parliament, Defence Minister Bill Graham said Sunday on CTV's Question Period.
Any decision on missile defence would come under a treaty provision with the United States. International treaties don't require ratification by the House of Commons.
"It's a wise tradition because the House isn't always sitting," Graham said. "The government has to be able to enter into international affairs and be able to conduct the affairs of Canada without always having to go to the House for permission."
Canada's possible participation in the U.S. missile-defence plan is expected to be near the top of the political agenda this fall.
The NDP and Bloc Quebecois oppose the project and will likely call for a vote in Parliament on it.
If it did come to a vote, even some Liberal MPs would vote with the opposition, creating a problem for Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government.
Graham, in a previous role as chair of the Foreign Affairs committee, was once one of the prominent Liberals who expressed doubts about missile defence plans for North America.
Graham said his concerns, years ago, were that U.S. plans might lead to another global arms race. But Graham told CTV's Mike Duffy that many of his questions were answered when U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down to discuss missile defence.
With his concerns about Russia erased, Graham says the Americans are simply looking ahead and preparing for threats that might emerge some day from hostile nations, rogue states or independent terrorists.
"Do we want the Americans to go ahead with something to defend North America that we're not going to participate in?" Graham said. "In my view, we have to have negotiations with them -- to discuss with them whether we should be there or not. We have to do that."
But no decision will be made until a deal is negotiated, and he said there are no plans for any component of the plan to be based in Canada.
"Everything can be done from Alaska, and even part of this may well become eventually a ship-based initiative," he said. "So the Americans are not asking us for rocket bases in Canada. And I know of no suggestion along those lines."
And on the matter of a vote in Parliament, Graham said that will be the decision of the prime minister and the house leader.
Contributed By
Topic
Article Rating
(0 votes)
Options
Stumble It!Comments
view comments in forum
Page 1 2
Some Liberals and Conservatives will do anything to snuggle up to the Bush government.
I also like how they keep repeating that missile defence does not have components in space. More lies, as anyone with half a brain can log on to the US Air Force website and see they have been put in charge of space weapons research and deployment. The funding was in the last US budget. They take us for morons...
Roy
They should have signed the Missile Defence treaty long ago.
The weaponisation of space is valid concern. As of late, the missile defence system is land based. Canada could and obviously will opt out if the process spreads to the weaponisation of space.
It's called realpolitik, people. Get a grip.
Also see the massive nuclear buildup being conducted by the Chinese and Russians. they know what's coming and they are preparing for it. bush had to pull out of long-standing treaties that the entire world supported to get missile defence this far.
you dont tear up one treaty to start another knowing full well that your potential advesaries are not going to just sit back and say okay.
---
If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?
The oppression in these countries is from their own governments, they can point fingers at someone else, you can point fingers at someone else, but it doesn't change the facts.
The U.S is also the only country who has made pre-emption part of their basic foreign policy. The U.S. Bush Administration is presently perceived as a rogue nation by the rest of the world, similarly to the USSR during the cold war. If any country needs to get a grip on reality at the moment, it is the U.S. and not the rest of the world. Unfortunately for Canada, we are geographically connected to the U.S. and we will be made to suffer BECAUSE of the U.S. interventionist policies around the globe and not because other countries are a threat to Canada.
---
"One crisis at a time is life's motto" - Carl Sagan
Jim Callaghan
Minden, Ontario
705-286-1860
www.misterc.ca
---
If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?
<br />
"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
This is besides all those other not-necessarily-friendly nations that already have ballistic missiles that could carry chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. This isn't sci-fiction, it's already fact. And North America has no defence against it.
Second, there is no way to arm yourself to the teeth and expect others not to; the BMD does not work, for many reasons, besides some mentioned, one the radar cannot tell the difference between a missile and other space debris, a true missile could be disguised with a mylar balloon, also because most of these missiles will not reach the destination they will land short, probably in Canada; those who are really determined to attack will not send one, they will send hundreds and even if one gets through, we are toast! So disarmament, is the only way and if the U.S. had not given notice to get out of the ABM treaty which they signed in 1997, the Russians and Chinese would not be amassing weapons today. The U.S. is a country who believes they have the right to defend by whatever means necessary, even if that means annihilating whole continents, they believe in pre-emptive war fare. We are talking here about a 3 world war, of the most horrific consequences, we will not need to worry about local governments any longer, or our retirement funds!
Read read read, get informed, this is a mistake which is only to fund the military corporate machines, that is it, some company purports to have this great technology and all they need is funding to get it off the ground, the gov buys the idea and sinks millions, billions and eventually trillions of our dollars into such a dream for world domination, and we believe it!
They are playing on our fear, whoever pays the piper gets the protection the rest of the world is hostage; that whole story is b.s. and they know it, the only thing that is going on here is greed, very large appetites for money and in the end we are all going to be the victims because it will backfire. It isn't about BMD, it is about space weaponization and offensive power, control the world through space, it's all there on their Vision 2020, I don't know how much clearer it could be??
---
If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?
The Islamics for example, they want to die if it means they can kill 'infidels', they wouldn't even bother to spit on a treaty.
Listen, what part of the story isn't getting through, we were lied to about Iraq, they did not have WMD, nOt have, so could it be that the heightened b.s. to make us all walk around fearing everybody else, is just that b.s.??? Of course there are always going to be lunatics, wild crazed people who are willing to kill, just because, they aren't unique to a certain region or country, but those running countries are not stupid enough to believe that if they send a missile out, that one will not return. They aren't likely to put a nice little gps on it so we can track it if they do, so basicly we're all going to be killed, so shouldn't those who are in charge make the decision as once happened to stop ARMING the world!
It has happened it can happen again, there are people in every country that want peace, honestly, so all we have to do is say, we are not buying the b.s., we aren't going to fund your rich lifestyles, we want peace, disarmament, and stop trying to weaponize space. Of course I mean all people, not just Canadians, but we could lead the way.
I am sure I am not the only one who believes that people can make a difference, look what happened when people started protesting Vietnam, the troops came home. Now if the people had known before they went, how history would have been different.
We do know, that BMD does means star wars, so if we speak now, maybe we can forever hold the peace???
---
If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?