Yesterday, I saw a post from a Dutch antiwar organization: Geen Bommen maar bomen. “Not bombs; trees instead.”
I love it.
Today, I saw a campaign from MCC: “bread, not bombs.”
So I wrote adapted their letter to write to the prime minister et al.:
Sure, money is important, but even more crucial is air to breathe and food to eat.
War makes money for a tiny fragment of human population, but for the vast majority, war means displacement, loss, deprivation and at worst death. Even for those far away from war, like here in Canada, every bomb that drops leaves not only a crater in some distant soil but also further deepens the desperate carbon crisis we are in, which will exact its retribution faster and faster in wildfires, droughts and floods.
That is why I am writing to you today.
Canadians did not vote for war in the 2025 election.
War does not lead to security.
How could the hunger, displacement, and worsening impacts of climate change lead to security for another, either the victims or the oppressors?
My stomach clenches in fear at every headline I read – or worse, every small comment buried deep in an article – indicating how very much money you want to pour into the voracious maw of destruction. We did not ask for this.
The Liberal party likes the happy narrative of Canada as a good global neighbour by investing in peace, justice, and human flourishing. The path you are pursuing is the exact opposite of that.
Here are two important actions Canada can take:
- Invest in global peace by increasing funding for humanitarian aid and development, supporting grassroots peacebuilding and adapting to the impacts of – or even better, working hard to mitigate the increase of – climate change
- Prioritize diplomatic and peacebuilding efforts over expanding military spending.
As you shape Canada’s priorities, please consider policies that reflect care for our global neighbours and hope for our shared future — not fear and division.
For a more peaceful world, let’s invest in bread, not bombs.
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