Although some of his supporters claim he isn’t, Avi Lewis sure seems to be a militarist. The new NDP leader’s tacit acceptance of Mark Carney’s submarine madness is but the latest example of Lewis following his party’s well-worn warmongering ways.
In the latest phase of the largest militarization in three quarters of a century, Carney announced the purchase of a dozen German attack submarines Monday. The prime minister labeled it “the largest defence procurement in Canadian history”, which is expected to cost $100 billion over the submarines’ lifecycle. Employed covertly, the new submarines will be able to launch long-range missiles. Canada has had limited submarine capabilities for decades and purchasing a dozen of these war machines is a major escalation in Canada’s ability to kill alongside the US war machine.
The Conservatives immediately released a statement on the Liberals’ submarine announcement, which has been front page of the Globe and Mail the last two days. A week ago, former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole published “Why Canada Doesn’t Need Twelve New Submarines” and the submarine procurement has been in the news for months. I couldn’t find a single statement by Lewis or the NDP about Canada buying a war fighting technology few countries possess.
In another militarist initiative Carney did not campaign on, which Lewis stayed mum about for months, is the Canadian-led “war bank” (as I was about to post this article Lewis released a statement critical of the bank). As the prime minister works to cajole alliance members to join the Canadian-based NATO Bank, the federal NDP has been tepid about a major financial initiative that will lock in militarism for decades to come (provincial NDP figures are backing it).
Lewis has also yet to release a statement or post about Carney’s six-month old Defence Industrial Strategy, a half-trillion-dollar plan to stimulate arms production. In February, NDP foreign critic Lori Idlout released a statement effectively backing the Defence Industrial Strategy while the next months I heard Lewis allude to it negatively. The Industrial Strategy will generate substantial corporate profits, but there will be meagre economic benefits for most Canadians or new jobs. The strategy will further addict the Canadian economy and some workers to making weapons of war.
At the same time as he’s ignored, or been soft on, a slew of hugely consequential militarist initiatives, Lewis reappointed a member of the NATO Parliamentary Association as NDP foreign affairs critic. Heather McPherson has continued to promote hawkish positions on the NATO proxy war. At this week’s NATO summit Canada is expected to commit more resources to prolonging the costliest proxy war in Canadian history. Expect NDP support or silence on the matter.
I have not seen any indication that Lewis has challenged any aspect of the NATO proxy war. During the NDP leadership race he explicitly supported sending arms to Ukraine and has failed to mention Canada/NATO’s role in provoking the conflict. As I’ve detailed elsewhere, Lewis’ position is less sensible than former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien who has called for diplomacy.
On several occasions Lewis has spoken critically – generally in vague terms – of Carney’s radical militarism. He’s also criticized support for US aggression against Iran and Israeli lawlessness and genocide (though Lewis echoed the Iran war propaganda in January).
As NDP leader, Lewis is better than predecessors Jack ‘bomb Libya’ Layton, Thomas ‘kill more Palestinians’ Mulcair and Jagmeet ‘war with Russia’ Singh, but that’s damning with faint praise. NDP militarism shouldn’t be accepted. Canadian politics needs a mainstream voice seriously challenging war and imperialism.
Lewis has made it clear that without far more anti-war activism, including criticism of his positions, he won’t seriously challenge Mark Carney’s rapid militarization of Canada. NDP members who oppose militarism should start speaking up.
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