The United Party will put the Canadian values of decency and the rule of law back at the heart of our foreign policy. We will always put the country’s security first, but national interest demands that we work with allies, stand up for human rights, and help people in the poorest parts of the world.

We ask a huge amount of our armed forces, but they have never been properly rewarded with the pay and conditions they deserve. We will make the welfare of the men and women of our armed forces a priority. We would give them a fair deal and reward them properly. We would spend taxpayers’ money more effectively on equipping our armed forces properly for the tasks of the future.

Afghanistan and torture inquiries – We want a full inquiry into the Iraq war with meetings held in public. We also want a full judicial inquiry into Canadian collusion in torture and extraordinary rendition. We want to see rules upheld and international law observed. To meet the challenges of economic globalisation, international terrorism and climate change we must work effectively with our partners in the UN, the EU, NATO and the WTO.

Lead the campaign to make nuclear weapons history – We believe that multilateral disarmament is the best way to work towards the eventual eradication of nuclear weapons.  We would use this policy to kick start multilateral disarmament at the next Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.

Hold a new Strategic Security and Defence Review – Canadian defence policy is based on an out-dated strategy. Its assumptions have been undermined by Iraq and Afghanistan and the black hole in the defence budget. It is time for a thorough wide-ranging strategic security and defence review.