If you go to
www.CanadianAlly.com, you’ll see, in the words of the website itself, “an electronic newsletter maintained by the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, designed specifically for an American audience . . . The intent is to give American citizens a better sense of the scope of Canada’s role in North American and Global Security and the War on Terror.”
Along with this website, the Toronto Star reported that the Canadian Embassy in the United States has spent $18,000 to have “huge signs and banners posted in seven strategic subway stations in the District of Columbia and suburban Virginia [to] tout the Canadian contribution in Afghanistan, showing that the fight Stephen Harper calls ‘our war’ is also meant to curry favour in Washington. The poster features a Canadian soldier, weapon in hand, standing alongside Afghans, with the words, ‘Canadian Troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Boots on the Ground.’”
A key recommendation from the Council of Canadians’ Citizens’ Inquiry on Canada-U.S. Relations was that “the Government of Canada should renew and rejuvenate its status as a peacemaker, rejecting participation in unilateral U.S.-led wars.” We believe that this is the direction Canada should be taking.
We encourage you to contact Prime Minister Stephen Harper at pm@pm.gc.ca and Ambassador Michael Wilson at canada@canadianembassy.org and demand that the “Boots on the Ground” posters be pulled, that the Canadian Ally website be dropped, and that Canadian foreign and defence policies reflect Canada’s commitment to peacekeeping.
—Brent Patterson, Director of Organizing, The Council of Canadians
