Canada should sign anti-nuke treaty

Canada should sign the Treaty to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

The mission of the Vancouver Group Summit which occurred Jan. 16 was to propose new ways to pressure North Korea, at a time when North and South Korea are making progress toward de-escalating tensions. This irony was not lost on many worldwide.

North Korea, a country of 25 million people, lost four million civilians during the Korean War with the U.S. and its allies, a war that divided the Korean Peninsula along the 1953 ceasefire demarcation line.

While the U.S. and NATO maintain a policy of first use for nuclear weapons, North Korea committed to no first use in 2016.

Attempts to intimidate North Korea have not worked. The

U.S. needs to stop its sanctions against North Korea and start direct talks with North Korea now.

The existence of more nuclear weapons does not make the world secure; the opposite is true. We must eliminate these unimaginable destructive weapons or they, by intent or accident, will eliminate us and most other living creatures on our planet.

This realization was the motivation behind the framers of the Treaty to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, who received the Nobel Peace Prize awarded October 2017.

Canada has not signed this treaty. Approximately twothirds of the world’s nations have signed.

It’s time for Canada to join the nations of the world that promote peace. It is unconscionable that Canada, a country that possesses no nuclear weapons, has not signed. Larry Bergmann, Regina