A proposed ban on Burmese shipping lines from calling on Canada could see a reduced port of call schedule for the Port of Prince Rupert.
As the Daily News detailed in Monday’s paper, at the moment there are four ships that fly the Burmese flag when they call for goods in Prince Rupert, ships that have been fairly regular visitors over the last four years.
The proposed ban is one way that the Canadian government is thinking of using to register its disapproval over recent human rights violations in the Asian country, which recently saw the military junta crackdown on the nation’s monks and those that were seeking a more democratic lifestyle for the dictatorship.
The Daily News featured a front page story with the background on how these Global issues could have an impact on the local economic scene.
TENSION IN BURMA MAY END UP HITTING CLOSER TO HOME
Proposal calling for a ban on Burmese ships, some of which call at Prince Rupert
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Monday, November 19, 2007
Pages one and three
A proposed ban of transport between Canadian and Burmese shipping companies should only be the start of sanctions against the Myanmar junta, said Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen.
Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxine Bernier announced sweeping new sanctions against Burma because of the violent oppressing of monks and democratic protesters by the ruling dictatorship in recent months.
Among the sanctions being talked about are a ban on Burmese-flagged vessels entering Canada and Canadian ships entering Burmese waters.
Four ships flying the Burmese flag – The Global Explorer, Global Nextage, Global F and the Global Pioneer – are part of a fleet of ships that have loaded raw logs and agriproducts in B. C., for at least the past four years.
Ports of call have included Prince Rupert, Fraser River port, Vancouver, Campbell River, and Nanaimo.
“No one in Prince Rupert or the grain growers would ever want to be dealing with a dictatorship that is oppressing its own people,” said Cullen. “If Canadian companies are operating and making profit in a dictatorship like Burma, there seems to me a certain obligation we all share to make sure those operators find another market. Burma is not the only market for Canadian grain and it is important to consider the implications of everything we do.”
Canada will immediately ban all exports to and from Burma with the exception of humanitarian aid.
Other sanctions proposed by Bernier include freezing the assets in Canada of Burmese nationals connected with the Burmese government; prohibiting the Canadian financial services to and from Burma and it will prohibit the export of any technical data to Burma; and a ban on all new investment in Burma by Canadians.
For Cullen, the proposed sanctions are coming a little late in the game.
“The Burma question is very reminiscent of what happened in South Africa. said Cullen.
“We have a very important leader who has been put in jail by a dictatorship and our government’s response up to this point has been to offer her honourary citizenship, rather than actually doing anything that can rectify the terrible situation in Burma,” said Cullen.
“If all we did for Neslon Mandela had been to offer him citizenship while he was still in jail, he would still be in jail.
“We need to apply whatever pressures we can”, added Cullen.
“We need to look at the best way introduce sanctions and to this point our government was late to the game and the sanctions are frankly insufficient to achieve what we want – which is to allow the Burmese people to elect their leadership.
As the Daily News detailed in Monday’s paper, at the moment there are four ships that fly the Burmese flag when they call for goods in Prince Rupert, ships that have been fairly regular visitors over the last four years.
The proposed ban is one way that the Canadian government is thinking of using to register its disapproval over recent human rights violations in the Asian country, which recently saw the military junta crackdown on the nation’s monks and those that were seeking a more democratic lifestyle for the dictatorship.
The Daily News featured a front page story with the background on how these Global issues could have an impact on the local economic scene.
TENSION IN BURMA MAY END UP HITTING CLOSER TO HOME
Proposal calling for a ban on Burmese ships, some of which call at Prince Rupert
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Monday, November 19, 2007
Pages one and three
A proposed ban of transport between Canadian and Burmese shipping companies should only be the start of sanctions against the Myanmar junta, said Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen.
Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxine Bernier announced sweeping new sanctions against Burma because of the violent oppressing of monks and democratic protesters by the ruling dictatorship in recent months.
Among the sanctions being talked about are a ban on Burmese-flagged vessels entering Canada and Canadian ships entering Burmese waters.
Four ships flying the Burmese flag – The Global Explorer, Global Nextage, Global F and the Global Pioneer – are part of a fleet of ships that have loaded raw logs and agriproducts in B. C., for at least the past four years.
Ports of call have included Prince Rupert, Fraser River port, Vancouver, Campbell River, and Nanaimo.
“No one in Prince Rupert or the grain growers would ever want to be dealing with a dictatorship that is oppressing its own people,” said Cullen. “If Canadian companies are operating and making profit in a dictatorship like Burma, there seems to me a certain obligation we all share to make sure those operators find another market. Burma is not the only market for Canadian grain and it is important to consider the implications of everything we do.”
Canada will immediately ban all exports to and from Burma with the exception of humanitarian aid.
Other sanctions proposed by Bernier include freezing the assets in Canada of Burmese nationals connected with the Burmese government; prohibiting the Canadian financial services to and from Burma and it will prohibit the export of any technical data to Burma; and a ban on all new investment in Burma by Canadians.
For Cullen, the proposed sanctions are coming a little late in the game.
“The Burma question is very reminiscent of what happened in South Africa. said Cullen.
“We have a very important leader who has been put in jail by a dictatorship and our government’s response up to this point has been to offer her honourary citizenship, rather than actually doing anything that can rectify the terrible situation in Burma,” said Cullen.
“If all we did for Neslon Mandela had been to offer him citizenship while he was still in jail, he would still be in jail.
“We need to apply whatever pressures we can”, added Cullen.
“We need to look at the best way introduce sanctions and to this point our government was late to the game and the sanctions are frankly insufficient to achieve what we want – which is to allow the Burmese people to elect their leadership.
.
“It’s a privilege we enjoy and the Burmese people should have that as well.”
“It’s a privilege we enjoy and the Burmese people should have that as well.”
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