Canadian Coalition for Democracies
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The Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD) is a Canadian political action organization that advocates greater support for Israel, India and several other states. The CCD professes to maintain a non-partisan, issue-oriented approach to its objectives.
The CCD has placed particular emphasis on calling for the Canadian Government to adopt a more Israel-friendly stance, and opposes foreign aid directed to the Palestinian Authority. It has supports the notion that Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorist acts. The group has a fair amount of media presence through op-ed contributions to Canadian newspapers and various press releases. It also hosts a public message forum on its website.
The group has also urged that the Canadian government support Taiwan instead of the People's Republic of China. It advocates that Canada take a hard-line against countries such as Iran and North Korea, supports the Iraq War and supports continued Canadian involvement in Afghanistan. It has also been vocal in opposing terrorist Hamas in the Middle East and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and supports India's claims to Kashmir. CCD also has called for the abolition of the Canadian International Development Agency
The CCD has generally supported the policies of the Conservative Party government of Stephen Harper, because it believes that foreign policy under the Harper government is more supportive of other democracies than past Liberal governments. One of its earliest high-profile members was Conservative MP (now federal Minister of Health) Tony Clement, who served as Chair of the Advisory Board and National Spokesperson. [1] However, CCD will criticize Conservative policy from time to time. As an example, the group issued a press release that was critical of Canada's voting record relating to Israel and the Middle East conflict during the 2006 UN General Assembly.
Among the supporters of CCD are former Conservative candidates Michael Mostyn (the CCD's Director) and Peter Kent. Fellows of CCD include David Harris and Salim Mansur.
