“The need is greater than ever but Canada’s contribution has never been lower,” said Steven Staples, president of the Rideau Institute, an Ottawa research and advocacy group. “The Harper government doesn’t regard peacekeeping as a route to enhancing Canada’s international stature.”
A new report calls on the government to replace the Canadian Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue (FWSAR) fleet in a timely and objective manner and proposes that a number of made-in-Canada aircraft be considered to fulfill Canada’s search and rescue requirements.
Negotiations on a multilateral Arms Trade Treaty are scheduled to take place from July 2nd to the 27th in New York.
Over the past twelve months, the world has seen a drop in the number of active nuclear weapons as countries retire aged or obsolete weapons. China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States possess in total approximately 19,000 nuclear weapons.
Many government departments have improved their response to Access to Information requests, Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault reports. But these gains may be compromised by the current round of budget cuts.
Steven Staples outlines five reasons why Canada doesn’t need a defence industry.
