It’s time to draw a line. We need to derail Mark Carney’s militarist and capitalist agenda.
On September 20, a coalition of more than 100 organizations are planning protests across the country to challenge Carney’s support for genocide, attacks on collective bargaining and sell-out to Donald Trump. Draw the Line’s website states:
“We refuse to stand by while the government and Canada’s richest corporations hoard wealth, gut our public services, fuel climate collapse, attack migrants, exploit Indigenous lands, and prop up a genocide in Palestine.
“They think that if they can overwhelm and divide us, we won’t fight back. But climate justice, migrant justice, economic justice, Indigenous rights, and anti-war movements are uniting to prove them wrong.
“On Saturday, September 20th, we’re drawing the line— for People. For Peace. For the Planet.
From rallies to strikes, marches to gatherings, this September 20th, communities will mobilize across the country and demand that Prime Minister Carney and the Canadian government pick a side: injustice, violence, and climate destruction— or a just and safe future for all of us.”
The two pieces of legislation specifically cited on the Draw the Line website are Carney’s bill C5 and C2. Passed in a highly undemocratic way, with support from the Conservatives, both follow a path set south of the border by Donald Trump’s billionaire authoritarian project.
C5 tramples on indigenous rights and weakens environmental oversight. It empowers the government to fast-track infrastructure projects, weakening the requirement for free, prior, and informed consent mandated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). C5 is a step in the wrong direction. Rather than reinforcing ongoing colonization, we should be pushing to expand indigenous jurisdiction and return stolen land. In a sign of the capitalist, fossil fuel orientation of the legislation, Carney named the chair of the board of directors of Trans Mountain, Dawn Farrell, to be CEO of his government’s Major Projects Office.
For its part, Bill C2 undermines refugee and migrant rights. The so-called “Strong Borders Act” curtails individuals’ right to apply for asylum. The proposed legislation also enables mass surveillance. Under it the intelligence agencies and police can, without a warrant, demand to know if an individual has an online account with any organization or service in Canada.
Alongside these two bills, Carney has pursued a radical militarist agenda. In June he announced an immediate $9 billion boost — $100 billion over a decade — to a military budget that has already doubled over the past decade. At the summer’s NATO summit, the prime minister agreed to devote 5% of GDP to defence (3.5% of GDP to “hard military” initiatives and 1.5% more for infrastructure and defence-related activities.) Reaching NATO’s 5% target over the next decade would add about $1 trillion to Canadian “defence” spending. There’s no way to reach this threshold without slashing social programs.
It’s imperative to derail Carney’s radical militarist and capitalist policies. I’ll be participating in the September 20 protest scheduled in Niagara and call on all NDP MPs and leadership candidates to attend and promote the protests.
It’s time to Draw the Line.
Please join over a thousand NDP members who’ve signed my nomination form to participate in the leadership race. To assist or learn more about my bid to lead the NDP check out yvesforndpleader.ca
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