The Communist Party of Canada has sharply condemned the Trudeau government’s decision to expel four Russian diplomats from Canada, in lock step with the Conservative government of Theresa May in UK, who demanded ‘solidarity’ actions from European and NATO countries, including the US, declaring she had led “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history”.
In fact, the expulsions exceed any equivalent action taken since the height of the Cold War. Nearly 150 Russian diplomats have been expelled from 24 countries, including 60 from the US.
The reason given for this unprecedented attack is the poisoning of a former Russian double agent, living in England, and his daughter, allegedly by Russian security forces though there is no evidence pointing to the culprit or culprits responsible.
What does exist is clear evidence of a political decision by May, Trump, and EU heads of state who concluded last week (without any evidence) that “it was highly likely the Russian state was responsible for the attack.”
The Russian government has denied responsibility and demanded a full investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Under the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the UK government is obliged to turn over the poison and any evidence to the OPCW. The UK government has refused to do this, or to provide the Russian government with access to the poison and to the investigation.
The CPC is warning Canadians that the real purpose of the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats is part of a plan to justify a new diplomatic and political deep-freeze between NATO countries and Russia, while – in lock-step with Trump and Theresa May – diverting attention from US, Canada and NATO continuing troop deployments on Russian borders, and support for the western-backed fascist regime in Ukraine.
The expulsions also serve to divert attention from the faltering economies in Europe and North America, and the war-mongering and anti-immigrant policies of the US and other NATO countries. Canada has joined the war-mongering with its interference in the affairs of Venezuela and DPRK (North Korea), including the unacceptable expulsion of Venezuelan diplomats from Canada, and the convening of a meeting in Vancouver of combatant countries on the US side in the 1950-53 Korean War. In both cases, the outcome of these actions was to inflame already inflamed global hotspots and to increase the danger of an outbreak of war. These actions stand in sharp contrast to the initiatives of Venezuela and the DPRK to de-escalate global tensions and reduce the danger of war.
When asked by reporters April 4th at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg how exactly the four expelled Russian diplomats sought to undermine Canada, PM Trudeau said it was “the efforts of Russian propagandists to discredit our Minister of Foreign Affairs through social media and sharing stories about her.” It’s a well-known fact that Chrystia Freeland’s grandfather was the chief editor of a Nazi newspaper in Poland during World War II.
This line of reasoning is leading us down a very dangerous road – for Canada and for the world.
We call on the government and on Parliament to reverse course, and to speak up against the new Cold War descending on the world from London and NATO headquarters in Washington.
The politically motivated explusions should be reversed, and any sanctions being considered should be discarded. Diplomatic relations should be re-established on the footing they were on before the new iron curtain descended.
Canada must adopt an independent foreign policy of peace and disarmament, and oppose the new Cold Warriors in Europe and North America while there is still time to prevent global catastrophe through conventional or nuclear war.
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada