- Tadamon! Montréal statement – octobre 2014 (photo Noah Addis)
We reject the Canadian government’s decision to join a US-led bombing campaign against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq. There is little doubt that these acts of violence will have devastating consequences for people living in the region, and will only serve to further conflict and suffering.
In early October, the Conservative government passed a motion in Parliament to go to war without even the pretense of democratic process. This decision authorizes the Canadian military to conduct air strikes for up to six months and includes the deployment of six CF-18 fighter jets, a refuelling tanker aircraft, two surveillance planes, one airlift plane, and about 600 air crew members. Canada joins the US, Great Britain, France, Australia and about a dozen other states, (including authoritarian regimes in Saudi Arabia and others parts of the Arabian/Persian Gulf) in what US President Barack Obama has declared to be “a long-term project.”