When I was phoning through the membership list, the top foreign affairs issue that members mentioned was Trump’s demented tariffs and his assault on our sovereignty. But Trump uses outrageous, half baked statements which are meant to deflect from his real agenda: dismantling the checks and balances on the power of his domestic robber baron supporters and enriching himself personally.
I am currently outraged at Trump’s genocidal suggestion to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians, raze every building to the ground and build resorts for “the people of the world”. He is the biggest threat to world peace and we must continue to distance ourselves from his country, using the power of our pocketbooks to put Canadian businesses first.
Aside from the ethnic cleansing I mentioned above, I believe that Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, and if he sets foot in our country, he should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court.
I am proud of Canada’s contributions to world peace, the United Nations, the ICC and our history of peacekeeping. There is no glory in making war, but there is great honour in peacekeeping and I believe we should focus on that instead of feeding the military industrial entertainment complex.
I have heard many members express a sincere desire for peace. We value tolerance and cooperation. We know we have many friends south of the border, a border that will endure, because we are not America’s 51st state.
I believe there is a continuum between Just and Unjust war. For instance, the USA used the fictitious excuse of Weapons of Mass Destruction to invade Iraq in an attempt to take control of their oil fields. That was an obviously unjust action and we were right to stay out of it. Ukraine has been invaded by Russia, also in an unjust action, and it is correct for us to support Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression. While we want to live in peace with our neighbours, we now have to prepare plans to defend ourselves from unjust aggression from the Trump’s criminal regime.
Michael Charrois, Member Burnaby North- Seymour
778-866-5160
michaelcharrois.ca 