Elizabeth May Calls for Nuclear Disarmament While Supporting NATO’s Military Escalation

Green Party co-leader Elizabeth May attended the United Nations meeting on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons this week, joining activists to call for nuclear disarmament. In a statement, she declared

While May’s anti-nuclear stance is commendable, it stands in stark contrast to her party’s continued support for NATO’s military escalation against Russia—a nuclear superpower. Under her leadership, the Green Party of Canada has backed arms shipments to Ukraine and called for greater military preparedness against the United States, following co-leader Jonathan Pedneault’s suggestion that Canadians should adopt Ukraine-style guerrilla warfare.

May’s presence at a peace conference, singing “Give Peace a Chance” while endorsing policies that risk nuclear confrontation, highlights the contradictions in her foreign policy. If she is serious about disarmament, why does she continue to support NATO’s role in fueling global conflict?

Her participation in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) suggests she understands the catastrophic risk of nuclear war. Yet, when it comes to Canada’s role in escalating tensions with nuclear-armed states, she has been unwilling to challenge the military-industrial status quo or the position of the Canadian government.