Canadian Peace Alliance
Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs
MILITARY ASPECTS OF PEACEKEEPING
February 28, 1993
There is no greater moral issue than the issue of war and peace. The end of the Cold War provides a rare and possibly fleeting window of opportunity. The question is: opportunity for what?
Given the development of weapons of mass destruction and given the fact that (without even using these weapons) modern warfare typically kills as many or more civilians as it does military personnel, it is now more difficult than ever to justify the resolution of conflict by means of war.
The Canadian Peace Alliance applauds the Hon. Kim Campbell's call for a wide public debate on Canadian defence policy and therefore considers that the study of peacekeeping proposed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs is premature and should not be undertaken as described at this time. To do so would be to put the cart before the horse. With war as with disease, prevention is better than cure. It is illogical to discuss what we should do once war has broken out without first ensuring that we have done everything possible to prevent it.
Peacekeeping is not an end in itself, but rather an instrument of a global policy of common security that must address the social, economic and political roots of international tensions and war. There is wide recognition of Canada's responsibility to take a leading role at the UN in developing and implementing comprehensive policies of common security in light of changing conditions.
Important as peacekeeping is, its effectiveness has increasingly been called into question. This has led to redefinition and expansion of the concept to embrace "enforcement" and "intervention" which stress the use of military force to impose peace rather than favouring diplomatic negotiations and political solutions. Peacekeeping must not be reduced to "damage control" or "management" of wholesale disaster after the fact.
This trend is becoming a reality, and threatens to change the raison d'être of the United Nations, which was established to negotiate peace, not to be a military instrument. Recent events in Somalia and Bosnia testify to this regression. The Canadian practice of taking precedent-setting action and then citing it as policy is unacceptable.
We would welcome the opportunity to discuss Canadian peacekeeping in the context of a full public review of the role of Canada in the international weapons trade, the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, the conclusion of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and progress towards general and complete disarmament.
We therefore urge this Committee to recommend that the Government of Canada respond to the expressed wish of the Minister for National Defence by undertaking the widest possible public debate on all aspects of Canada's agenda for peace and security without delay. We further request the Committee to recommend that the parameters and guidelines for such a debate be drawn up in consultation with concerned Canadian individuals and NGOs, including the commissioners, co-sponsors and participants of the Citizens' Inquiry into Peace and Security. This commission of inquiry was initiated by the Canadian Peace Alliance and organized by a broad coalition of Canadian NGOs. It held public hearings across Canada in the fall of 1991. Its report, Transformation Moment, a Canadian Vision of Common Security (March 1992), is appended.
The Canadian Peace Alliance identifies with the major thrust of Transformation Moment (see Executive Summary, pp 1-4) and draws attention to the following general principle on page 3:
The use of force should be undertaken by the UN only as a last resort, after all other avenues have been tried and exhausted, and only if there is reasonable likelihood that the use of military force will do more good than harm.
We urge the Committee to recommend:
• that present UN regulations regarding UN peacekeeping forces be strictly adhered to;
• that Canada reject any effort to involve service personnel in the military resolution of current crises;
• that Canada use its good offices to work for negotiated solutions;
• and that Parliament conduct an immediate debate on these issues.
We are opposed to military intervention because it cannot resolve any of the problems facing the world today. To be effective, peacekeeping must become an increasingly civilian and decreasingly military function.
February 1993