Despite its talk Canada sides with colonial rule again

Ottawa is once again backing colonialism in Africa. It recently endorsed Morocco’s “autonomy” proposal for occupied Western Sahara.

A sparsely populated territory in north-western Africa, Western Sahara was ruled by Spain until 1975. Moroccan troops moved in when the Spanish departed and a bloody 15-year war drove tens of thousands of Sahrawi into neighbouring Algeria, where they still live in camps. The International Court of Justice has upheld Western Saharan rights and the African Union recognizes Sahrawi independence.

Six years ago Donald Trump’s USA became the first significant country to officially recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. In a particularly odious tripartite colonialist exchange, they did so in exchange for Morocco formally recognizing Israel.

Since then, France, Germany and a few other European countries have shifted gears, effectively endorsing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Ottawa has also taken steps towards endorsing Moroccan rule.

On Tuesday foreign affairs minister Anita Anand released a statement backing Morocco’s 2007 “autonomy plan” for Western Sahara. In “Minister Anand and Moroccan counterpart discuss Canada’s position on Western Sahara”, Anand “affirmed Canada’s recognition of Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara as basis for a mutually acceptable solution and as a serious and credible initiative in achieving a just and lasting settlement of the conflict.” The autonomy plan grants the Saharawi authority over certain local matters, but Morocco maintains control over external affairs, defence and other important aspects of state sovereignty. It’s been rejected by the pro-independence Polisario Front as a bid to legitimize Morocco’s occupation.

According to Atalayar media website, Canada’s statement is viewed by Morocco “as a growing endorsement of its strategy and as an implicit recognition of the soundness of its initiative. The fact that a player such as Canada has adopted this wording reinforces the perception that the autonomy plan has become the main frame of reference within the international community.”

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East employed stronger language. Their statement noted, “Canada is affirming Morocco’s claims to sovereignty over Western Sahara and undermining the self-determination of the Sahrawi people… Once again, Canada has chosen to endorse the politics of ‘might-makes-right’ instead of standing up for the occupied and oppressed.”

For many years Canada was deeply implicated in Africa’s last colony. Saskatoon’s PotashCorp and Calgary’s Agrium (now Nutrien) partnered with Morocco’s state owned OCP to export phosphate mined in Western Sahara. Overseen by King Mohammed VI, OCP was the country’s largest industrial company with phosphate mining representing over a quarter of Morocco’s total exports. PotashCorp was the biggest customer of Western Sahara phosphates. “Accountability for Blood Phosphates: Western Sahara and Canadian Corporate Liability” explains that “In the 2010s, Canadian companies were responsible for importing approximately 50% of the phosphates sourced from this region, which are considered ‘blood phosphates’ because their trade finances the occupation.” International law prohibits an occupying power from exploiting the resources of territories they control unless it’s in the interest of, and according to, the wishes of the local population. In Western Sahara Moroccan tanks and troops protect phosphate shipments from Sahrawi independence forces.

Canadian corporate interests have long profited from colonial rule in Africa and this country has long backed it. From the Canadian soldiers who helped Britain conquer various parts of the continent to the missionaries who helped the colonial powers penetrate African society to the hundreds of Canadians who administered British colonies, there are long standing ties.

Throughout the various stages of the colonial project, Canada provided political, military, economic and moral support, as I detail in my book Canada in Africa: 300 Years of Aid and Exploitation. As independence struggles grew, Ottawa opposed or abstained on many anticolonial resolutions at the UN and repeatedly called for independence movements to be patient. Canadian officials regularly condemned liberation movements for engaging in armed struggle and despite delivering (free of charge) weaponry to the colonial powers, Ottawa never sold, let alone gave, arms to anticolonial movements.

It’s odious, but not surprising, that Ottawa is supporting Moroccan rule.

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