Canadian Author and Activist
Canada said their war in Libya was to defend human rights and enable democracy. But, NATO’s 2011 assault has unleashed a decade of instability and violence as well as deteriorating social and economic indicators. And they still haven’t held presidential elections. Since the start of the month there has been an uprising against living conditions... 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 →
Eight miners in Burkina Faso have been stuck underground for nearly a month. Unlike other mining disasters, it’s received little attention outside West Africa. Over the weekend K. Diallo tweeted, “for 20 days, 8 African miners have been stranded more than 500 meters deep in a zinc mine operated by a Canadian company in Burkina... Continue Reading →
Another election postponement in Libya is a reminder that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a threat to Africans. Last month, Libyan presidential elections were postponed partly out of fear that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi would win. He is the son of former strongman Muammar Gaddafi who was overthrown and killed in the 2011 NATO-led... Continue Reading →
At the English language election debate Conservative leader Erin O’Toole claimed Canada “led the fight against apartheid” in South Africa. The absurd statement has gone largely uncontested, reflecting a racist, mythologized, view of Canada’s place in the world. Does anyone believe that Canada was a stronger opponent of White minority rule in South Africa than... Continue Reading →
Canadian imperialism in Africa has had a rare social media moment. On Twitter K. Diallo recently posted a map of the continent with the sum of Canadian mining investment in each African country under the words “75% of mining companies globally are now Canadian. Canada is a great source of corporate neocolonialism expansion.” The tweet received 25,000... Continue Reading →
Which is more believable as motivation to send soldiers to other countries, altruism or self-interest? Canadian forces don’t train their African counterparts out of a commitment to professionalism or democracy but to extend this country’s influence. Recently the Ottawa Citizen reported that Canadian special forces will continue to participate in “U.S.-led training exercises despite links... Continue Reading →
Justin Trudeau understands that his path to a UN Security Council seat runs through Africa. The continent shouldn’t give it to him. As part of his bid for a two-year seat on the UN’s most powerful decision-making body Canada’s prime minister has called the leaders of Ghana, Sudan, Rwanda, Namibia, Liberia, Botswana, Mozambique and Uganda... Continue Reading →
Despite the prime minister’s show of visiting a place where thousands of people were sold as commodities, the point of his trip was not to acknowledge the great wrong done to Africa during the slave trade but rather for Canadian companies to get their hands on Senegal’s resources. During Justin Trudeau’s expedition to Senegal last... Continue Reading →
The Federal government wants Canadian corporations to profit from Ethiopia’s minerals. During his recent trip to the Horn of Africa country Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced negotiations on a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). As I detailed in this article, bilateral investment treaties with African countries are overwhelmingly designed to solidify the... Continue Reading →
The Trudeau government, just like the Harper Conservatives, has used Canadian foreign policy to protect the profits of wealthy mining companies against ordinary Africans desire to benefit from resource extraction. During a recent visit Justin Trudeau announced negotiations on a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) with Ethiopia. FIPAs empower international investors by giving... Continue Reading →
Justin Trudeau wants us to know he’s buddies with Africa’s most ruthless dictator. At the recent African Union Summit in Ethiopia Trudeau met Paul Kagame. The Prime Minister’s press people released a photo of him laughing with the Rwandan President and announced that the two discussed the upcoming Commonwealth summit Trudeau is set to attend... Continue Reading →
If the New Democratic Party wants to be part of the solution and not a barrier to creating a better foreign policy it needs to start telling the truth. Stephen Lewis is a liberal imperialist who largely ignores Canada’s contribution to African subjugation. Just before the election Svend Robinson for Burnaby North-Seymour published an endorsement... Continue Reading →
Shame on Unifor. Applauding Roméo Dallaire is wrong and giving him an award named after Nelson Mandela is simply embarrassing. At its convention in Québec City next week Canada’s largest private sector union is set to give Dallaire its Nelson Mandela Award, which is supposed to go to an individual advancing the cause of... Continue Reading →
Toronto Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri claims to be an ambassador for Africa. But, his embrace of the most bloodstained African leader makes a mockery of any pan-Africanist pretenses. On July 26 Ujiri traveled to Kigali to visit Rwandan president Paul Kagame. He was photographed next to the ruthless dictator sporting a T-shirt with a small... Continue Reading →
Is Roméo Dallaire a genocide denier? After a (question free) talk at Concordia University this week I followed the famous Canadian general out of the room to ask why he still supports ruthless dictator Paul Kagame. Kagame is the individual most responsible for the mass slaughter in Rwanda in mid-1994 since his forces invaded the... Continue Reading →
The Toronto Star should get its facts straight and stop distorting Rwanda’s tragedy. A day after the 25th anniversary of when two Hutu presidents were blown out of the sky, the Star’s editorial board published “There’s no excuse for ignoring lessons of Rwanda’s genocide”. It claims, “on Jan. 11, 1994, Canadian Maj.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire, at... Continue Reading →
It is time to call a technical foul on Toronto Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri for his ties to one of the world’s most ruthless dictators. Through his Giants of Africa charity Ujiri has bestowed legitimacy on Paul Kagame even as local newspapers document the Rwandan president’s violence. Before their December 5 game against the... Continue Reading →
Now that November 11 and the official “remembering” of our “heroes”, their “bravery” and “greatness” is over, it is a good time to take a deeper, more critical look at Canada’s participation in wars. While on Remembrance Day we are told to “thank a soldier for your freedoms” and the commemorations talk about “defending democracy”,... Continue Reading →
Canadians should express their solidarity with Tanzanians facing politically inspired homophobia. But, we must also be suspicious of journalism that ignores Canadian complicity in the promotion of anti-gay ideology. Last weekend the Globe and Mail and CBC both reported on a Christian politician in Dar es Salaam who announced a scheme to track down and arrest... Continue Reading →
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