Bookstore shelves in Ottawa these days are filled with titles warning of a possible new Cold War between the West and Russia. Are things really that bad?
There's no doubt that almost twenty years since the end of the Cold War, nuclear weapons are still viewed as the currency of power. The states that have them intend to keep them, but others want to join the exclusive nuclear club.
Tomorrow morning I will be appear before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, and I will urge the government to reaffirm its fundamental commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons at the highest levels. Even more, it should use its good position to focus international attention on the disarmament agenda.
Last month at NATO's recent meeting in Oslo, Norway, Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay raised the issue of NATO's continued reliance upon nuclear weapons with the foreign minister of Germany who serves as the alliance's president.
This is an important first step to having NATO review its outdated and dangerous nuclear policy, but the government continues to send mixed signals. A few weeks ago Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor told Parliament that, "we are a member of NATO and we stand by NATO's policies. NATO, at this stage, has no policy of disarming from nuclear weapons."
My presentation to MPs this week will be an addition to the growing number of voices in Canada today urging the government to show leadership in the disarmament arena.
In the Senate recently, Senator Roméo Dallaire put forward a motion calling for the Government of Canada to take a global leadership role in the campaign of eradicating the dire threat to humanity posed by nuclear weapons. The motion was overwhelmingly supported by the chamber.
Parliamentarians are also working for Canada to show leadership. The Parliamentary Network Against Nuclear Arms, an all-party group of MPs chaired by Alexa McDonough, meets regularly to educate parliamentarians about nuclear issues.
There is also the Middle Powers Initiative, an international committee led by retired senator and former UN Ambassador for Disarmament Douglas Roche, that works at the UN and around the world to press for nuclear disarmament. Among its supporters is former prime minister of Canada Kim Campbell.
The Foreign Affairs minister's statements at NATO followed on the heels of calls by Canadian members of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs to address NATO's reliance on nuclear weapons.
Canada has a strong moral voice and can play a constructive role in aiding this process. The Canadian government needs to: "
- Work with like-minded states to press for adoption of Canadian proposals to address institutional arrangements that impede the disarmament process at the NPT. "
- Play an active role in promoting international mechanisms to severely restrict the spread of sensitive civilian nuclear power technologies (that enable uranium enrichment programs for nuclear weapons, as is the case for Iran) and monitor compliance with nuclear weapons non-proliferation obligations. "
- Push for India, Israel and Pakistan to be brought under the nuclear non-proliferation regime and ensure that any changes to nuclear co-operation guidelines under the Nuclear Suppliers Group produce a non-proliferation benefit and do not facilitate growth in the arsenals of these de facto nuclear weapons states. "
- Resolve the NATO-NPT contradiction, where as a NATO country Canada insists that nuclear weapons are essential to its security yet promotes nuclear disarmament through the NPT.
Foreign Minister MacKay's meeting with NATO's president is an important first step in promoting a nuclear weapons-free world. However, Canada needs to do more.
Ernie Regehr is a member of the Canadian Pugwash Group and former executive director of Project Ploughshares.
