Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Does It Make Sense to Arm Canada’s Coast Guard Vessels?

The Conservative government is considering arming Canadian Coast Guard vessels after coming under pressure from various countries in the Americas.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay has been quoted as saying that the Organization of American States has been putting pressure on the Canadian government to arm the coast guard as part of efforts to combat drug and other smuggling. “This is something we obviously have to contemplate whether to further up-armour some of these coast guard vessels and to have weapons aboard,” MacKay told journalists.

But will it happen? And does it make sense?

In 2010 a Senate committee on fisheries and oceans thought so……at least for the Arctic.

On December 14, 2010 that senate committee released a report entitled Controlling Canadian Arctic Waters, in which it recommended the Canadian government follow the U.S. model and arm its Coast Guard vessels for northern patrols.

The committee recommended deck weapons be installed on Coast Guard icebreakers and personnel from appropriate government agencies who have authority to enforce domestic laws using weapons serve on those ships.

“We’re saying that the Coast Guard’s vessels are what we need to be the sharp end of Canadian enforcement in the Arctic,” committee chairman, Liberal Party Senator Bill Rompkey told Defence Watch at the time. “Let the navy do its job around our other coasts and internationally.”

Rompkey said new vessels to be built in the future for the Coast Guard should also be outfitted with weapons.

The Coast Guard has pointed out that when it works with the RCMP, that federal police force provides arms on board, if needed for a particular mission. However, those are mainly small arms and do not include deck-mounted weaponry.

Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: David Pugliese

No comments:

Post a Comment