By now we have all heard about the U.S. administration's air strikes on Syria. The news of these attacks have sparked sadness, outrage, and an outpouring of support for the people of Syria. My social media was flooded with responses to the attack from people who normally don't comment on political issues. The majority of the responses I have seen were wonderfully and typically Canadian.
The day after the attack Prime Minister Trudeau came out with a statement that goes against everything Canada stands for. The first sentence in his statement reads: "Canada fully supports the United States’ limited and focused action to degrade the Assad regime’s ability to launch chemical weapons attacks against innocent civilians, including many children." Nothing could be further from the truth. The Canadian people have always been a voice for peace, even when our government wasn't. It was the Canadian people who put pressure on the Liberal government of the day, lead by then Prime Minister Jean Chretien, to not join the United States in the invasion of Iraq. Without this pressure from the people, there is a chance that Canada would have fallen in line with this invasion.
Mr. Trudeau's statement does not speak for the majority of Canadians. The Canadian people are peaceful and always come together to show support to the people in countries abroad when they are faced with war and many other issues. It's time the Trudeau government does the same.
Robert McCarthy lives in Sudbury, Ontario and has been an NDP activist and the Disability Rights Representative on the Federal Sudbury NDP Executive since 2008.
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