Carney has announced over a billion dollars more to keep the Ukraine war going.
The latest round of funding includes $435 million in loan guarantees, $200 million in reconstruction loans, $40.1 million to support veteran rehabilitation, and $350 million to purchase American missile interceptors through the JUMPSTART program.
This comes on top of the $25.5 billion already committed to Ukraine since the war began in 2022.
We are told that for education, healthcare, and social services there is no money to be found. But with $26.5 billion, the past three years of tuition for every Canadian postsecondary student could have been completely covered—with $4 billion left over.
Instead, $26.5 billion is being thrown into a money pit despite the fact that half of Canadians are one paycheque away from having to use a food bank. A fifth of those using food banks are employed.
Meanwhile, it’s payday for Canadian arms manufacturers. Carney has awarded them contracts of up to $50 million to produce “millions” of Ukrainian-designed drones in the next two years.
According to a Canadian Lieutenant-General, military drones become outdated within six months of being produced. Essentially, Carney is paying arms manufacturers tens of millions to produce scrap metal.
Carney claimed the Canadian government funds Ukraine because its “cause—freedom, democracy, and sovereignty—is our cause.” But is it really?
“Freedom”—except when it comes to Israel’s strangulation of the Palestinian people or the U.S.’s medieval siege on Cuba. “Democracy”—except when it comes to Trump’s colonial subjugation of Venezuela. “Sovereignty”—except when it is Lebanon or Iran’s sovereignty that is violated by Canada’s allies.
And inside of Canada, Carney doesn’t have much more respect for “freedom” and “democracy”. At the time of writing, the Liberals are trying to pass Bill C-39, which would bestow the Labour Minister with the power to end strikes if they deem it in the “national interest”. Liberals have also passed Bill C-22, giving the government broad powers to spy on its own population. These measures are part of an all-out assault against workers and democratic rights, as Carney is trying to pass off the costs of the crisis of capitalism onto the working class, while trying to contain any backlash.
Carney throwing a billion dollars at continuing the slaughter in Ukraine is another example of how under capitalism, the wealth goes towards the interests of the wealthy. In this case, it’s payday for the arms manufacturers and their investors. The working class will foot the bill with cuts to social spending.
