Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 24. februar 2005 / Time Line February 24, 2005
Version 3.523. Februar 2005, 25. Februar 2005
02/24/2005
Canada refuses further role in missile defence
By OLIVER MOORE
Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050224.w2miss0223/BNStory/National/
Days after informing the Washington, the federal government
formally announced Thursday that Canada will refuse any further
participation in the controversial missile defence shield that the
United States is building.
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew made the decision public
after months of equivocating by the Liberal government and days of
denials that a decision had been made.
"After careful consideration of the issue, we have decided that
Canada will not participate in the U.S. ballistic missile defence
system," Mr. Pettigrew said in the chamber of the House of
Commons.
The announcement came only days after Frank McKenna, the next
ambassador to the United States, set off a political storm by
saying that Canada is already participating in the missile shield.
He said that an amendment to NORAD, the continental joint
air -defence pact, meant that Canada's de facto participation had
begun.
Mr. McKenna made his comments on Tuesday, about the time, Prime
Minister Paul Martin has now acknowledged, that the United States
received the formal refusal from Canada.
"The official Canadian position was conveyed by Foreign Minister
Pettigrew to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at our meetings in
Brussels," he told reporters.
Mr. Martin's timeline contradicts comments from government MPs this
week in the House of Commons, where opposition politicians were
told that they would be informed "when a decision is made."
On both Tuesday and Wednesday, Defence Minister Bill Graham
insisted that nothing had changed on the missile-defence file and
that a decision was forthcoming.
The minority Liberals could have lost if missile defence had come
to a vote in the House of Commons. A number of senior government
sources have recently told reporters in The Globe and Mail's Ottawa
bureau that the federal government felt that the deep unpopularity
of missile defence among Canadians made further participation a
non-starter.
Mr. Martin said in his comments, made moments later after a cabinet
meeting, that the Liberal's military priorities are "the ones that
we set out yesterday" in the budget, primarily borders, Arctic
sovereignty, coastal defence, intelligence-gathering and increasing
the size of the army...
Litteratur: Canadisk nej til USAs missilskjold.
I: Arbejderen, 02/25/2005.
Leder: Var Bush ikke lidt bleg ... I: Arbejderen,
02/25/2005.
Terp, Holger: Grønland oprustes uden om
grønlænderne. I: Arbejderen,
02/25/2005.
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