The politicians and media in Québec are widely unhappy about Amira Elghawaby’s appointment as the federal government’s representative to combat Islamophobia. Progressives should also be critical of Elghawaby, but for different reasons. Last week the Liberals appointed Elghawaby Canada’s first ever special representative on combating Islamophobia. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre immediately opposed her appointment. Concurrently... Continue Reading →
Support for Peru coup all about Canadian mining companies
Seven weeks after Pedro Castillo was ousted protests and blockades continue across Peru. Sixty protesters have been killed since the elected president was ousted, a move Canada immediately endorsed. Canada’s ambassador to Peru Louis Marcotte has worked hard to shore up support for Dina Boluarte’s replacement ‘usurper’ government. Since mid-December Marcotte has met president Boluarte,... Continue Reading →
Ottawa’s support for repressive Haitian police grows as democracy fades
Canada says one thing and does the opposite in Haiti. Despite Justin Trudeau saying Haitians must approve the solutions to their country’s crisis, in practice Canada simply imposes authoritarian measures. Last week Labour Against the Arms Trade tweeted, “on Tuesday, the last 10 remaining senators in Haiti’s parliament officially left office, leaving the country without... Continue Reading →
Time to use words of B’Tselem – ‘A regime of Jewish supremacy’
NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson recently published a statement critical of the aggressively racist new Israeli government. It decried “rising anti-Semitism” but ignored Jewish supremacy. But this is how B’Tselem described Israel in a landmark report two years ago: “A regime of Jewish supremacy between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea: this is... Continue Reading →
Farber’s ‘anti-hate’ must include Palestinians
Three weeks after smearing antiracist, social justice, protesters Bernie Farber backed away from his statement. The chair of Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) erased his tweet and made a partial mea culpa. Farber labeled a December 17 rally in front of an event put on by Israel settler colonial NGO Regavim “an antisemitic act no matter... Continue Reading →
‘Fact-free blather’ in Canadian foreign policy
“We need to make sure that the solutions are driven by the people of Haiti themselves,” noted Justin Trudeau after meeting US president Joe Biden in Mexico City last week. In December Canada’s prime minister was quoted in a release saying Canada was working to “support a Haitian-led solution” to the country’s crisis while in... Continue Reading →
Amplifying Israel lobby style attacks dangerous for the left
Canada’s preeminent left-wing publication has found itself on the same side as Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, B’nai B’rith and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). This doesn’t bode well for Palestine solidarity and the left’s ability to withstand being ‘Corbynized’. Recently the Ottawa Citizen published Royal Military College professor... Continue Reading →
NDP condemns only one of three Latin America coup attempts
It’s good Jagmeet Singh and Heather McPherson criticized the failed 'Bolsonarista' coup in Brazil. It would be better if they also challenged the Liberals’ support for overthrowing governments in Peru and Venezuela. After Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and a slew of global leaders expressed opposition to the rightist mob that ransacked Brazil’s presidential palace,... Continue Reading →
Canadian taxpayer-funded military chief promotes war, arms build-up
The business of war is very profitable for a few weapons makers and generals who end their careers as high paid shills. The recent warmongering by the head of Canada’s military is a troubling escalation that must be called out. But it is erroneous to frame his reaction as a fundamental change instead of part... Continue Reading →
Votes at UN reveal Canada as continuing supporter of US Empire
Justin Trudeau’s government refuses to support United Nations votes to make the world more just and less dangerous. Ottawa’s record on the General Assembly’s largely symbolic resolutions strips away Canada’s progressive veneer. Three weeks ago Canada was one of six countries to vote against a General Assembly resolution affirming the rights of Palestinian refugees to... Continue Reading →
In foreign policy Canada often inverts the Golden Rule
Rather than the Golden Rule, the ethos guiding Canada’s relations to weak nations seems to be: ‘Do Unto Others The Last Thing You Would Have Them Do Unto You’. For example, how many Canadians would want a foreign government to impose a gangster as our most powerful politician? But that’s exactly what this country did... Continue Reading →
Hey editor, writing Palestinians don’t exist is supporting genocide
The double standard is startling. A publisher whose newspaper is accused of making a questionable link to a horrific 80-year-old crime must be denounced by everyone who attended a large event, but few react to the editor of a paper that denies the existence of a people facing an ongoing injustice that many would label... Continue Reading →
Imperial hubris keeps Bob Rae blind to Haitian history
Bob Rae wants Canada to help re-establish a Haitian military with a brutal history. In making his case, Canada’s ambassador to the UN demonstrated his imperial ignorance and hubris. Upon returning from a recent trip to Haiti Rae told CBC he was in favour of rebuilding that country’s army, which was disbanded in 1995. “For... Continue Reading →
Ottawa cheers rather than mourns end of Japanese pacifism
The Liberals are celebrating the demise of one of the more positive outcomes of WWII. And, in pushing conflict with China, they are ignoring Canada’s ignoble role in some horrible history. Last week Global Affairs’ principal Twitter account praised Japan for massively increasing its military spending. “Canada welcomes Japan’s new National Security Strategy and increased... Continue Reading →
Antisemitism or anger at Palestinian solidarity in U of T medical faculty?
A recent ‘report’ on antisemitism at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine (TFOM) points to Jewish influence, not oppression, within the University of Toronto. Reaction to the dubious article highlights anti-Palestinianism. Recently, TFOM’s outgoing Senior Advisor on Anti-Semitism Ayelet Kuper published “Reflections on addressing antisemitism in a Canadian faculty of medicine” in the Canadian Medical Education... Continue Reading →
Why wasn’t Bernie Farber protesting racist, homophobic NGO?
Has the extreme right gone mainstream in Canada’s pro-Israel community? A number of prominent figures in Toronto’s Jewish establishment have rallied to support a “settler colonial NGO” set up by a racist homophobe. In so doing Bernie Farber and others aligned with the fascistic Jewish Defence League (JDL). On Saturday 15 rallied in front of... Continue Reading →
Portrait of prominent Israel defender who attacked me
The chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Québec recently assaulted me and then claimed to be the victim of my aggression. Reuben Poupko’s lie was defamatory. After I called UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer an “anti-Palestinian bigot” who “promotes religious and ethnic supremacy in Israel” I was punched, illegally detained... Continue Reading →
Who rules Peru? Canada sides with USA
The Trudeau government is helping Washington consolidate a coup that has sparked a furious popular backlash in Peru. Ottawa is defending an unelected regime that has suspended civil liberties and imposed a curfew while deploying troops to the streets. Security forces have killed 24 (mostly indigenous) protesters over the past week. On Saturday foreign minister... Continue Reading →
Interupting Irwin Cotler
On Saturday I interrupted Irwin Cotler. At the premiere of First to Stand: The Cases and Causes of Irwin Cotler I called Canada’s former justice a “fraud” who claims to promote human rights yet backs violence and apartheid against Palestinians. The audience’s reaction was priceless. There was a loud guffaw inside the Cinema du Musée... Continue Reading →
Sanctions against wealthy Haitians step in right direction
Ottawa’s Haiti sanctions are so surprisingly well targeted that one must ask, did the Liberals bid to lead a foreign military intervention drive them to target former allies? In recent weeks the Liberals have sanctioned former Haitian president Michel Martelly, Gilbert Bigio, the country’s richest man, and other politicians and members of Haiti’s light skinned... Continue Reading →
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