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The Press Release below (also in French) went out Thursday Nov. 16th 2006 during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meetings in Quebec City. It is largely based on the report of the Canadian Pugwash/Science for Peace Forum held
recently in Toronto.

Thanks go to Erika Simpson, Debbie Grisdale, Mike Wallace, Robin Collins and all others involved in the work of drafting the text, seeking media contacts, then organizing translation and distribution all within a 4 day period to allow us to communicate our concerns during the NATO meetings.

The following groups have endorsed this statement:

The Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility

Canadian Pugwash Group (CPG)

Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW)

Pacific Campaign for Disarmament & Security (Canada)

Physicians for Global Survival

Project Ploughshares (Calgary)

Science for Peace (SfP)

World Conference of Religions for Peace (Canada)

World Federalist Movement (Canada)

*PRESS RELEASE
November 16, 2006
*
*
CANADA AND NATO 'DOUBLESPEAK' ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
*

"NATO's nuclear policy and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime are incompatible,” concluded representatives of many Canadian and international NGOs at a workshop sponsored by the Canadian Pugwash Group and Science for Peace. As a signatory to the NPT, Canada supports the "unequivocal undertaking" for the total elimination of nuclear weapons while at the same time affirming the central tenet of NATO’s Strategic Concept that nuclear weapons are "essential".

"Canada and its NATO allies must reexamine the fundamental contradiction inherent in their simultaneous loyalty to both the NPT and NATO nuclear policy," says Professor Michael Wallace from the University of British Columbia. "That the Canadian government remains silent about this glaring inconsistency is yet another example of its reflexive compliance with American wishes."

Among its recommendations in support of the threatened nuclear non-proliferation regime, delegates to the working group strongly advise the Canadian government to re-open NATO's decade-long debate about the viability of its Strategic Concept. "Canada cannot allow the NPT to be further weakened by NATO's policies--policies that without question undermine the very purpose of the NPT," says Professor Erika Simpson, a Board Member of the Canadian Pugwash Group and author of /NATO and the
Bomb/.

The intransigence of NATO members was further demonstrated in recent voting patterns at the UN Committee on Disarmament. Canada and its NATO allies refused to support tough resolutions calling for immediate negotiations on a phased program of nuclear disarmament or to criticize the nuclear weapons states for their modernization programs. The overall voting demonstrated that Canada and the other non-nuclear NATO countries are caught in a giant contradiction.

"Canada has taken a leadership role in support of NATO nuclear policy reform before. We must push even harder now or proliferators may learn lessons that result in real security threats," warned Robin Collins, Chair of Council for the World Federalist Movement -Canada. “The NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting this week in Quebec City is an important venue for elected officials to raise the issue of NATO nuclear
policy reform,” he added.

Full report is available at: http://www.pugwashgroup.ca/

*
MEDIA CONTACTS*:
Dr. Mike Wallace, Professor, Department of Political Science, University
of British Columbia, Vancouver, (Cell) 604-822-4550
Dr. Erika Simpson, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science,
University of Western Ontario, London: (w) 519-661-2111, ext. 85156;
(home) 519 -438-1938
Robin Collins, Chair of Council, World Federalist Movement-Canada (cell)
613-791-5198
Debbie Grisdale, Executive Director, Physicians for Global Survival
(Canada) (w) 613-233-1982
*

The full report is also endorsed by:

*Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR)
Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW)
World Conference on Religions and Peace (WCRP)

posted by Annamarie at 7:37 PM