No Nukes to India
OTTAWA -- The Canadian Parliament should not go along with the Harper government’s plans to undermine the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by ratifying a civil nuclear deal with India, says the Green Party of Canada. A side-deal made at the G20 may be ratified in February, allowing India access to Canadian nuclear technology and fuel. “This deal does not require that India sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, despite past infractions where India used civilian nuclear power reactors to build bombs. Given this history, why is it not a minimum requirement that India become a party to the Treaty? Instead, Canada is undermining the goal of global nuclear military disarmament by agreeing to trade in nuclear technology with India,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May.
Only four countries with nuclear weapons are not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.
In the early 1970's, a heavy-water research reactor built by Canada in India to provide nuclear power was utilized for military purposes and led to India exploding its first nuclear bomb. India's new military nuclear capacity sparked Pakistan to develop its own nuclear weapons program as a counter-balance to the perceived threat.
“Canada’s role in a potential nuclear arms race could serve to inflame the current conflicts in Pakistan and Afghanistan, putting at risk any progress Canadian troops have fought for. Canada’s policy of selling nuclear technology without adequate safeguards, even to dictatorships and now to a country with a known nuclear weapons program, is indefensible,” said Jacqueline Romanow, International Trade critic for the Green Party of Canada.
The Green Party calls on the Canadian Parliament to revert to past policy which would refuse the export of uranium and nuclear technology to countries that have a nuclear weapons program. This is particularly important given that Candu heavy water reactors are the only commercially available nuclear reactors that produce both the tritium and plutonium needed for nuclear weapon production and therefore represent a magnified risk to nuclear weapons proliferation.
“One reason nuclear energy is inherently dangerous is that it is inextricably linked to nuclear proliferation. On top of this, nuclear energy has proven to be neither economical or reliable. Reactors cost billions to build and maintain. The Green Party continues to call for a rapid phase-out of nuclear energy and a moratorium on uranium mining and refining in Canada,” said May.
“We must not lose sight of the important goal of global nuclear military disarmament,” said May. “As climate destabilization wreaks havoc across the world, maintaining peace will become even more crucial.”
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Contact Information:
Debra Eindiguer
Press Secretary
Green Party of Canada
media@greenparty.ca
c: 613.240.8921
www.greenparty.ca
