Mr. Speaker, with the election of George Bush in the United States it appears that the U.S. will move quickly to deploy the nuclear missile defence shield. It is planning to coerce an already gullible foreign affairs minister and an all too willing Liberal government into joining them.
Last year my former colleague Mr. Gordon Earle of Halifax West stated that a top U.S. defence official was quoted as saying that for all practical terms Canada is the 51st state. The nuclear missile defence shield program will not only give away more of our sovereignty in terms of our defence policy, but it will also suck away hundreds of millions of dollars from our already financially starved armed forces. In the end it lead us down the path of nuclear missile madness and accelerate the arms race.
New Democrats across the country stress upon the government and all political parties that instead of shielding us from other countries, we should all work together toward a global initiative on world peace, human rights, decent labour standards, fair trade, world poverty and the environment.