Canadian Author and Activist
Canada is at war with Russia. But the government doesn’t want to talk about it. On Saturday the New York Times reported that Canadian special forces are part of a NATO network providing weapons and training to Ukrainian forces. The elite troops are also in the country gathering intelligence on Russian operations. The Department... Continue Reading →
Irwin Cotler has long been an aggressive proponent of Israeli apartheid. But the crass nature of his anti-Palestinian activism may be thwarting the efficacy of his position as Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, which is designed to not-so subtlety protect Israel from criticism. On Monday I discovered that Cotler is scheduled... Continue Reading →
The Liberals are intent on funneling ever more of our collective resources to bolster the US Empire, spending lavishly to “modernize” Canada’s chief bi-national military accord. On Monday Defence Minister Anita Anand announced the government would spend $4.9 billion to upgrade the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The federal government said it will... Continue Reading →
Gustavo Petro’s election victory in Colombia is a major blow to Justin Trudeau’s bid to bolster pro-empire/corporate governments in the hemisphere. Sunday’s presidential vote strengthens the socialistic, regional integrationist forces Ottawa has sought to undercut. An ex-rebel fighter, Petro is widely considered Colombia’s first ever left-wing leader. While the senator and former mayor of... Continue Reading →
In a world of vast injustice, one cannot expect a government’s foreign policy to be principled or consistent. But there should at least be some limit to hypocrisy. On June 16 Justin Trudeau spoke with Rwandan president Paul Kagame about this week’s Commonwealth Summit in Kigali. Half the government’s readout about the discussion was devoted... Continue Reading →
Liberal MP Ya’ara Saks is claiming to have been the victim of “hate” when young people yelled “stop supporting killing of Palestinians”. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center Canada and B’nai B’rith, as well as NDP MPs, amplified her hypocritical claims on Twitter. A self-described “unapologetic Zionist”, Saks recently... Continue Reading →
A military funded academic, working at a school launched by Condoleezza Rice, claims leftist journalists engage in Russian disinformation. His report doesn’t provide any evidence or refute anyone’s argument, but the mainstream media laps it up. On Thursday the University of Calgary School of Public Policy released “Disinformation and Russia-Ukrainian war on Canadian social media”.... Continue Reading →
The Justin Trudeau government threw its diplomatic weight behind Canada’s most controversial mining company in the country where it’s committed its worst abuses. Canadian officials threatened to cut off aid to Tanzania and justified Barrick Gold’s killings, according to newly released internal government documents. Barrick Gold’s African subsidiary, Acacia Mining, was embroiled in a... Continue Reading →
“Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.” Noam Chomsky Propaganda isn’t a euphemism for how the other side controls information. Nor is it simply about jailing journalists or shuttering media outlets. A serious discussion of the matter must look at the broader forces shaping information dissemination and suppression.... Continue Reading →
The Canadian government’s financing of rape investigations in Ukraine warrants healthy skepticism. A similar initiative in Libya was used to justify violence. Canadian officials have repeatedly criticized Russian soldiers for raping Ukrainians. Last week a Global headline noted “Ukrainian sexual assault victims need reproductive health care, Sajjan says” while a few days earlier Ottawa put... Continue Reading →
Over the past year the NDP’s Palestine policy has dramatically improved. It could portend a decisive break from the social democratic party’s anti-Palestinian history. Recently NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson sent a letter to foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly on “Canada’s position on Israel–Palestine”. The accompanying tweet read: “The NDP will fight for the... Continue Reading →
A new initiative claiming to combat antisemitism in Canada’s federal service is primarily about defending apartheid. In December Canadian diplomats launched an initiative ostensibly designed to oppose anti-Jewishness within the federal government. The Jewish Public Servants’ Network, reported the Canadian Jewish News, “was formed last year in response to a global spike in antisemitism following... Continue Reading →
The war in Ukraine can continue for years. Or it could escalate into something far worse. Or it could end in the near future. Canada has limited influence over its direction, but what influence it has should be used to support, rather than undermine, peace negotiations. The Italian, French and German governments have all recently... Continue Reading →
“A Haitian president demands reparations and ends up in exile”, declared the front-page of Wednesday’s New York Times. Eighteen years later those who opposed the US, French and Canadian coup have largely won the battle over the historical record. French ambassador Thierry Burkard admits that President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s call for the restitution of Haiti’s... Continue Reading →
A little over a month ago eight miners disappeared in a flood at a Canadian-run mine in Burkina Faso. The men’s deaths should elicit more discussion of Canadian mining policy in Africa. On Tuesday four of their bodies were found. At this point it’s exceedingly unlikely the other miners working for Vancouver-owned Trevali remain alive. As... Continue Reading →
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