Vigilance: Government resumes militarist spectacles

Oppose the Militarization of Culture! Make Canada a Zone for Peace!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT⚠️

An #RCAF CF-18 will conduct a flyby over @BMOField for the @TorontoArgos #CanadianArmedForces Appreciation game on September 24, 2021 at approximately 7:30 pm. #Toronto pic.twitter.com/NPFbD7WsNc

— Royal Canadian Air Force (@RCAF_ARC) September 23, 2021

Four days after the election and the Afghan debacle before that, the Canadian Forces is launching yet another U.S.-style militarist spectacle, a “flyby” over a Canadian Football League (CFL) game featuring an “appreciation” of the military and war and its brutality. The spectacle is co-sponsored by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the latest owner of the CFL franchise Argonaut franchise of the CFL. This oligopoly also owns Raptors of the NBA cartel, Maple Leafs of the NHL cartel, Toronto FC of the MLS cartel, Scotiabank Centre, operator of BMO Field (owned by the City of Toronto), lucrative downtown real estate, cable TV channels, you name it.

Protestors at Toronto Air Show reject presentation of war and its brutality as ’entertainment’

Oppose the Militarization of Culture! Make Canada a Zone for Peace!

Anti-war activists held a protest on September 5 at the Toronto annual air show held at the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds. The air show is a venue for weapons manufacturers to showcase their armaments, including Lockheed Martin, lead sponsor, to advance its bid to sell its F-35 jet to the Canadian military and was broadcast live by 680 news. It is also a venue to promote the military’s role in the Covid pandemic, a public health crisis, codenamed Operations Inspiration and Laser. On Labour Day, September 6, the RCAF Snowbirds overflew a CFL game held at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, the Labour Day Classic. Previously they participated in airshows in London, Ontario, Abbotsford, BC, and Camrose, Alberta.

Banner drop decries Air Show killer jet ‘entertainment’

“End the Illegal Occupation of Palestine” read the Banner dropped over the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, on September 4, the opening day of the Toronto Air Show at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds. The F-16 and F-35 fighter jets featured in the airshow are the kind used by Israel in the bombardment of unarmed men, women and children in Gaza earlier this year.

Palestinian flags were also boldly flying in defiance of the killer jets on exhibition as “entertainment.”

Canada has provided training to scores of Israeli pilots flying F-16s at the US-Canadian Exercise Maple Flag held in Cold Lake, Alberta.

Photo: GMP21

The US of A(rms)

The United States dominates the global arms trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the Middle East | WILLIAM D. HARTUNG

Infrastructure of US bases in the Middle East | David Vine

The United States has the dubious distinction of being the world’s leading arms dealer. It dominates the global trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the endlessly war-torn Middle East. There, believe it or not, the U.S. controls nearly half the arms market. From Yemen to Libya to Egypt, sales by this country and its allies are playing a significant role in fuelling some of the world’s most devastating conflicts. But Donald Trump, even before he was felled by Covid-19 and sent to Walter Reed Medical Center, could not have cared less, as long as he thought such trafficking in the tools of death and destruction would help his political prospects.

Oppose spending another $19 billion to support US aggression

The Justin Trudeau Liberal government plans to spend $19 billion buying 88 fighter jets from a not-yet-chosen foreign war contractor to replace Canada’s aging CF-18 fighter fleet. This works out to about $216 million per aircraft. The war contractors had until the end of July 2020 to submit their bids, a deadline first extended from May 2019 to March 2020, then to June 2020. So far Boeing (U.S.), Lockheed Martin (U.S.), and Saab (Sweden) have entered the competition. The Trudeau government is expected to announce the chosen contractor by 2022, with the first aircraft delivered by 2025. On July 24 vigorous protests against the purchase plan were held at 18 MPs’ offices across Canada.

The question is not which fighter jet but who controls Canada’s air defence

By GEORGE ALLEN

The monopoly media announced on June 5 that the Justin Trudeau Liberal government plans to buy an unknown number of Super Hornet fighter jets from war contractor Boeing as a temporary measure to replace Canada’s aging CF-18 fighter fleet. In May, Defence Minister Hajjit Sajjan claimed that there was a pending gap in Canada’s military capabilities and that this called for swift action. Sajjan, who recently visited Australia, a country which bought 24 Hornets five years ago, warned that Canada’s CF-18s “need to be replaced now.” He indicated the government planned to move quickly on the deal, and that the purchase of the Hornets would take place without competitive bidding.

St. John’s Telegram: MacKay’s double-dealing

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” — George Orwell

Massive protest against closure of Marine Rescue Coordination Centre, St. John’s, NFLD, June 26, 2011.

Editorial entitled ‘A rebuttal’ published on May 10, 2013

THE editorial in this space last Friday (“To the rescue,” May 3) questioned whether any meaningful changes to search and rescue services can be expected from Defence Minister Peter MacKay. The reason? MacKay has a tendency to say one thing and do another.

The minister’s communications director, Jay Paxton, responded with a letter in which he described said editorial as “partisan drivel.” It is not unusual for a person charged with partisan duties to see all contrary argument as partisan in itself. It matters not which foot the shoe is on.