CTV reported Sunday that the U.S. has asked Canada to join the program amid heightened concerns over North Korea, which has been threatening to launch missile strikes against North America’s western seaboard.
Canadian officials have refused to confirm or deny the report.
In the House of Commons on Monday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay noted Canada had “declined in the past to participate in U.S.-led ballistic missile defence.”
But MacKay refused to rule out any future involvement, saying: “We have, in the past . . . consistently reviewed our security policies with a mind to ensuring that Canadians were protected at home and abroad.”
NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said Canadians have opposed any Canadian participation in the missile defence “scheme” for decades.
“The new proposal is an expansion of a system that the National Academy of Sciences calls, and get this, ineffective,” he said.
Dewar noted Public Safety Minister Vic Toews refused to rule out Canada participating in the system Sunday, telling CTV: “We need to have a broader discussion about that.”
“Why are Conservatives now opening the door to a potential military boondoggle yet again that would actually make the F-35s really look pale in comparison?” Dewar said. “Why not, instead, do the hard diplomatic work necessary, including with China, to reduce ballistic missile threats?”
The question of participating in a U.S.-led missile defence system has been a prickly issue for Canadian governments since it was first proposed by then-president Ronald Reagan during the 1980s.
Most recently, Paul Martin’s Liberal government declined joining the program in 2005.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Lee Berthiaume
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