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I am thoroughly embarrassed here to be in agreement with the Green Party, but the co-leader of the Canadian Green Party makes more sense in this one aspect than any other party leader. Sheesh! I actually wrote that!
Greens question decision to send more 'offensive' weapons to Ukraine
Catherine Cullen, Kenny Sharpe · CBC News ·
Posted: Feb 25, 2023 1:00 AM PST | Last Updated: February 25
Construction workers climb onto the roof of a destroyed church in the village of Bohorodychne, Donetsk region
on January 4, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
The Green Party says Canada should consider restricting the types of weapons it sends to Ukraine and should press for a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Both positions make the party an outlier on the Canadian political landscape. One Ukrainian-Canadian group called them "a moral obscenity."
In an interview with CBC Radio's The House, Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault described Russia's war on Ukraine as illegal and said he has supported the Canadian government's previous decisions to send weapons to Ukrainian forces.
But as the conflict passes the one year mark, he said, he worries about where the tanks and aircraft donated by allies could ultimately end up.
Politicians in Canada have generally been united in support of Canada’s efforts to send aid and military weapons to Ukraine, but the Green Party is now also pushing for peace talks with Russia. Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault discusses whether his party’s stance is prudent or practical and why he believes it may be time to stop sending some weapons to Ukraine.
"I am questioning the whole question of supplying weapons in active conflict areas such as this one, weapons that can be used for offensive purposes," he said.
Pedneault described being in Ukraine during the first 10 days of the conflict as part of his previous job documenting human rights violations for Human Rights Watch.
"One thing that I know, having spent 14 years working in conflict areas, is that an aggrieved party — for all the good reasons and human reasons — will most likely and often try and seek revenge," he said.
Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May pose for a photo before the new leader of the Green Party is chosen
in Ottawa on Saturday, November 19, 2022. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)
"Do we have any assurances that war will stop at the border of Russia once territory is reclaimed?"
Pedneault pointed to Afghanistan and Iraq as examples of places where western military aid was eventually "scattered around" to groups hostile to human rights.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress condemned the party's position.
"It is a moral obscenity to argue that people who are the victims of an unprovoked assault should not be given the means with which to defend themselves," said UCC senior policy adviser Orest Zalydalsky in an email to CBC News.
"To argue against the provision of weapons to Ukraine is to argue that Russia should be allowed to annihilate the Ukrainian people."
It's unfortunate that Catherine Cullen, a very decent reporter, either missed this or allowed it to be spoken regardless of the fact that the Ukrainian advisor is talking about defensive weapons when Pedneault is clearly talking about offensive weapons.
Defence Minister Anita Anand's office did not respond to a question about whether Canada has placed conditions on the future use of weapons sent to Ukraine.
"We continue to move in lockstep together with our allies in order to provide Ukraine with the military equipment that it needs to win. Ukraine has proven that they are effective at using what we send," she said in an interview last week with The House.
If only the powers that be were smart enough to realize that Ukraine cannot win. Perhaps some are but the point is not for Ukraine to win, but for Russia to lose, and, in the meantime, NATO countries spend kazillions of dollars on weapons and weapons systems. That's the real point of modern warfare - moving the inventory of war. Ukraine will not emerge from this war with anything resembling a 21st-century economy. Their infrastructures will be obliterated and they are likely to return to a 19th-century way of life. Everyone loses in war except those who make money from it.
On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would be sending Ukraine four additional Leopard 2 tanks, an armoured recovery vehicle and 5,000 rounds of ammunition.
"Canada ... will continue to stand with Ukraine with whatever it takes for as long as it takes," he said.
Right - we don't care how badly Ukraine is pulverized as long as it looks good politically!
Greens push for peace talks
The Green Party argues Canada should be doing more to encourage peace talks.
"It's not clear to me that military victory is at all possible," Pedneault said. "So then what are we left with? To engage in diplomatic efforts."
Pedneault cited Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley's comment that the conflict isn't likely to end on the battlefield.
Earlier this month, Gen. Milley told the Financial Times that it was "almost impossible' for Russia to overrun Ukraine but that it was also "very, very difficult for Ukraine this year to kick the Russians out of every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine."
China put forward what it called a 12-point peace plan this week. The proposal was criticized by some, including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who questioned China's credibility given its refusal to denounce Russia's invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed some openness to China's "thoughts" on Friday, saying he considered the plan a good signal and was open to meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington,
Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. (Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Press)
Zelenskyy also stated again that any peace plan would have to include a full Russian troop withdrawal.
That, of course, is not a Peace Plan but a complete surrender. But, at least it's a starting point.
In an interview airing Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told Rosemary Barton Live that helping Ukraine defend itself puts it in a better position for any peace talks.
"It's really Russia invading Ukraine and not vice versa. So that is why arming Ukraine is important," said Joly. Because everything that is going on, on the battlefield will have an impact afterwards at the negotiation table."
Pedneault said it will be up to Ukraine and Russia to decide if there are peace talks, but suggested Canada's influence with Ukraine could help to bring them to the table.
Pedneault said he is not advocating that Ukraine cede territory to Russia but is calling for a space where the two sides in the conflict could discuss the conditions for peace.
"I am not saying that we should kowtow to any bully here, but it is important to take into consideration the fact, once again, that they do have nuclear weapons and that should force us to explore all possible options," he said.
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