Steven Staples, president of the Rideau Institute, a public interest and research advocacy group in Ottawa, will be speaking at the Roberts Creek Community Hall on Sunday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m. His subject, Canada After Bush, looks ahead at Canada's David and Goliath sovereignty struggle with the U.S. Staples is the devil's advocate of the $18 billion plus Canadian military-industrial industry. He is pitted against such hawkish thinkers as Jack Granatstein and David Bercuson, whose sound and fury on Parliament Hill is diminished by Staples' critical analysis that indicates there are better, more peaceful means to Canada's diplomatic ends - ends that would favour Canada's traditional long-term national interests.
By his constant prodding of our elected representatives, who may otherwise cave in to U.S. pressure, he has been credited with many political successes. One, for which Canadians may be proud, is the Paul Martin government's decision not to join the U.S. missile defence program in 2005. Another is his gaining industry minister Jim Prentice's confidence to block the sale of Canada's $1.3 billion remote sensing satellite, Radasat-2, to U.S. technology giant Allied Transystems Inc.
For further information, go to the website for Steven Staples and the Rideau Institute at www.ceasefire.ca.
