Paul Dewar's opposition to war on Iran earns endorsement from former UN ambassador
Charlie Smith
A day after NDP leadership candidate Paul Dewar delivered a speech outlining a broad foreign-policy agenda, he has attracted an endorsement from one of Canada's former UN ambassadors.
Today, Paul Heinbecker declared his support for Dewar, who was the NDP's foreign-affairs critic before entering the contest to succeed Jack Layton as leader.
Yesterday in Montreal, Dewar talked about his opposition to a war against Iran.
"We must be firm in our opposition to nuclear proliferation and in our support for the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people," Dewar stated in a speech at McGill University. "But initiating a war would be disastrous to regional stability, trigger a damaging Iranian response, hurt people on the ground and inflate energy prices during a time of fragile global economic recovery."
Heinbecker, director of the Laurier Centre for Global Relations, echoed that point, by saying: "Like Paul Dewar, I do not believe we should allow ourselves to be stampeded into supporting a war based on arbitrary timelines and hyped intelligence."
Dewar has attracted endorsements from prominent New Democrats in Manitoba and Ontario, but so far in B.C. (which has the most members), he hasn't fared quite as well. Vancouver-Kensington MLA Mable Elmore and former Vancouver Island NDP MPs John Brewin and Catherine Bell are the only three with elected experience who have publicly backed his candidacy.
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