Editorial

The Surrender of Sovereignty in the Pursuit of Profit

The Chretien government is facing a crisis of sorts over the revelation that Defence Minister Art Eggleton lied to parliament about the activities of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Despite the refusal of the United States to abide by the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war, Canadian forces in Afghanistan have been handing over prisoners to the American army. The Bush administration has stated that if it were to follow the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of Afghan prisoners of war, it would be unable to "extract intelligence information" from them, a clear indication that the U.S. military is using torture and/or other outlawed methods to force the prisoners to talk. All of America's allies, including Britain, have expressed opposition to this violation of international law by the United States. Despite being a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, Canada, alone, has stated that it has no problem with the practice.

Faced with embarrassing questions in the House of Commons over the past couple of weeks, Prime Minister Chretien repeatedly stated that the issue was "hypothetical", as Canadian forces in Afghanistan had not captured any enemy prisoners. While Chretien was issuing such denials in parliament, Eggleton had been informed by military officials that such illegal transfers of prisoners had actually occurred, but kept that information to himself for several days. He then lied to Parliament about when he received the information Apparently the Liberal betrayal of Canadian sovereignty has gone so far that the Minister of Defence thinks that he is no longer accountable to the Canadian parliament and is answerable only to Washington. The Prime Minister obviously agrees with this assessment, refusing to ask for Eggleton's resignation and dismissing the incident as a trifle, with the comment, "He (Eggleton) made an honest mistake, and I said, 'Fine.'"

In New York on February 1^st, Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew justified the Liberal government's complete abandonment of principles (and sovereignty) on the basis that unquestioning support for the U.S. "war on terrorism" could pay "dividends" in trade disputes with the United States over such issues as softwood lumber. While most politicians would not be quite so candid in admitting that their principles were for sale, Mr. Pettigrew may soon regret having made the admission before getting the "dividends" guaranteed in writing. Far from exhibiting signs of appreciation to its allies since September 11^th, the Bush administration has made it quite clear that it has adopted a ruthless unilateralism towards friends and foes alike. As the economic crisis continues, Pettigrew's "dividends" are going to evaporate in the face of an even more vigorous wave of American protectionism and predatory trade practices.