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Canada: Protests in 16 cities denounce war in Afghanistan

Rallies and marches on Oct. 18 in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver—Canada’s largest cities—denounced the waste of Canadian lives and resources in Afghanistan. Significant protests also took place in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, and at least 10 other cities, including St. John’s, Newfoundland; Guelph and Windsor, Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Calgary, Alberta, the hometown of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Ottawa organizer Dylan Penner distributed the prime minister’s phone numbers and asked protesters to “try to get in touch with Stephen Harper today, tomorrow and every day until he brings the troops home.”

Canadian Union of Postal Workers national president Denis Lemelin spoke in Ottawa and pledged his support for the anti-war effort: “We’re here to say no to the war. We will come back every time we have a chance to say, ‘Our soldiers must come home and this war must end.’”

Hundreds of protesters marched through downtown Toronto until they reached the U.S. Consulate, chanting, “From Iraq to Palestine, occupation is a crime!”

Besides costing the lives of many Afghan people, Canada’s intervention in Afghanistan has cost the lives of 97 Canadian soldiers, a diplomat and two aid workers. Many soldiers have also been severely wounded, but the government has not released those figures.

An official report from the Parliamentary Budget Office estimates that Canada will spend at least $18.1 billion on its efforts to aid the Western occupation of Afghanistan by the time it finishes in 2011, and it has already spent between $7.7 and $10.5 billion.

Before the U.S. Consulate, prominent New Democrat Member of Parliament Olivia Chow referred to this report, saying: “That is shameful. Can you think of other ways to spend that money? How about dropping student fees, not bombs? Affordable housing or a national childcare program and make poverty history.”

Canada has four parties represented in its parliament: the Conservatives, the Liberals, the New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois, the latter only running candidates in Quebec. Both the Conservatives and the Liberals support Canada’s participation in Afghanistan, while the NDP and the BQ oppose it.

In the election Canada held Oct. 14, the Conservatives won 143 seats, the Liberals 76, the BQ 50 and the NDP 38. The issue of Afghanistan did come up, but the main focus of the elections was the economy.

While opposition to Canada’s participation in the imperialist intervention is high throughout Canada, it is the strongest in Quebec. Besides the major march in Montreal, the smaller city of Sherbrooke also had one targeting the armories in that city.

In Montreal, hundreds turned out to march on a military installation and to demand Canadian troops come home.

“The majority of the population does not support any increases in military spending,” said Raymond Legault, a spokesman from Echec à la guerre.

Legault said the protesters were not just a small group of people against the war. “We’re the majority.”

“Who are our governments serving?” he asked. “Is it NATO, the military industrial complex? Or are they there to answer to the Canadian people?”