‘Canada out of NATO now!’

Following the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, the Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Canada issued a political statement. The party reiterates its condemnation of “this offensive, warmongering alliance, which – now more than ever – is fulfilling its role as the global army of the United States.” The statement calls for Canada’s immediate and unilateral withdrawal from NATO and from all other imperialist alliances, including the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

The central executive committee salutes the “tenacity and courage of our comrades in the Turkish Communist Party (TKP), who, defying bans, organised a counter-summit and several demonstrations.” The repression of the demonstrations in Turkey is interpreted in the statement as follows: “If the local servants of Western imperialism have shown such zeal in suppressing any action against NATO, this is not merely a product of the Erdogan regime’s authoritarianism. The local police went so far as to urge families of potential young protesters to prevent them from taking to the streets, making it clear that protests on other issues might be tolerated, but not those against NATO. This is proof that the struggle for peace, international solidarity and against imperialism is particularly subversive to the ruling class, because it lays bare the aphorism that cost Jaurès his life: ‘Capitalism carries war within itself, as the cloud carries the storm.’”

The communist party criticises Canada's negotiation of a free-trade agreement with the “Sublime Porte,” referring to Erdogan's neo-Ottomanist policy, which serves as a “true guardian power of NATO and Western imperialism, so that the latter grants him a sphere of influence.” 

While understanding the need for a sovereign and independent Canadian defence, the CP of Canada denounces the deadly war economy and warns against the "smoke and mirrors" used by the ruling class, which sees it as an opportunity to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

Canadian communists support their country’s withdrawal from NATO with the following arguments: “Canada’s withdrawal from NATO alone does not address all issues of peace and international solidarity – far from it. In itself, leaving NATO will not resolve Canada’s tacit complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine, nor its near-perfect alignment with Washington’s foreign policy. However, the united forces that will compel our ruling class – the monopolists who seek shelter behind the U.S. nuclear umbrella as a guarantee of their profits – will build a balance of power that, in turn, will succeed in pulling Canada out of the camp of imperialism and war.”