Canadian Author and Activist
The real story is much more than an adventure starring a Canadian hero. A CBC story about an ex-Canadian soldier who helped dozens flee Afghanistan ought to have considered the role of the private security industry in the disastrous 20-year-long war in that central Asian country. The large number of private security companies... Continue Reading →
Erin O’Toole brags about attending the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). This tells us a lot about his politics, world view and priorities given the troubling history of the Kingston-based university. O’Toole spent four years at RMC. Friends say the Conservative party leader and possible future prime minister was heavily involved in RMC life... Continue Reading →
The growing campaign to oppose spending tens of billions of dollars on 88 new fighter jets faces an important, if unconventional, obstacle: the warplanes themselves. Fighter jets are an important tool of militarist propaganda. In recent weeks Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) planes have done numerous flyovers and participated in airshows across the country. As... Continue Reading →
While recent events have destroyed the credibility of militarists who pushed for the invasion and 20-year-long occupation of Afghanistan, the moral bankruptcy of their supporters in the aid industry has also been stunningly revealed. A quick Taliban victory over the foreign trained “Afghan army” at least (momentarily) embarrassed Canadian militarists. But what about their... Continue Reading →
Toronto’s waterfront shouldn’t serve as a prop to promote violent warplanes. With the air force set to select a new fighter jet, the controversial F-35 Stealth Fighter will be participating in this weekend’s Canadian International Air Show. As a father of a young child, I understand the appeal of some excitement in the sky, especially... Continue Reading →
The forest fires, torrential floods and other extreme weather events wreaking havoc around the world are a cry from Mother Earth to take bold action. It’s time for environmentalists to directly challenge militarism, which is inherently anti-ecological and divides the world into good guys and bad guys at a time when we need international cooperation... Continue Reading →
The quick collapse of the US-backed government in Afghanistan has revealed how little ordinary people should trust Canada’s military, arms industry and associated ideological supporters. Their justifications for war, their claims of progress and then victory have proven to be no more than propaganda and lies. Canada’s biggest military deployment since World War II, more... Continue Reading →
What a waste of human life and resources! With the Taliban quickly taking control of all major Afghan cities we should be asking what was the point of all that bloodletting? More than 200,000 Afghan civilians and combatants have been killed since the US, Canadian and British invasion two decades ago. A few thousand Canadian,... Continue Reading →
How about a little friendly pressure? Hopefully that’s all it would take for Left NDP MPs to join Neil Young, Stephen Lewis, Teagan and Sarah, David Suzuki and many other notable Canadian and international figures in calling for government resources to “be used to eliminate boil water advisories on reserves, build light rail lines across... Continue Reading →
Progressives should be pushing to defund or abolish the Canadian military. But, first we need to stop bolstering its capacity to kill in US and NATO lead wars. Wednesday the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and Canadian Voice of Women for Peace released a public letter opposing Canada’s plan “to spend tens of billions of dollars... Continue Reading →
Why does the NDP defence critic promote militarism and anti-Palestinian racism? Shouldn’t all critics promote their party’s policies? And if they don’t, what should the party leader do? Randall Garrison complained to the Hill Times that the government’s recent budget didn’t devote enough to the military. In “Opposition MPs say they’re worried about lack of... Continue Reading →
Details of former Chief of the Defence Staff Jonathan Vance’s sexual relations with a subordinate has put the patriarchal character of the military back in the spotlight. But there’s been insufficient discussion of the ways in which the issue highlights the authoritarian nature of the armed forces and its negative impact on pluralistic, democratic, values.... Continue Reading →
Interesting how the military “defends” this country by sending ships 7,000 kilometres from Canadian soil. Canada’s navy is running provocative maneuvers in the South China Sea. While they claim to be upholding the “international rules based order” in these missions, their main partner refuses to recognize the Law of the Sea. At the end of... Continue Reading →
What should be expected from a “defence critic” for a left-wing political party? An easy answer might be criticism from the left, but in the case of the NDP that doesn’t happen much. The Department of National Defence/Canadian Forces is far and away the largest federal government department. It has the biggest budget, staff, public... Continue Reading →
The job of the opposition in Parliament is to hold the government accountable, in part by asking questions. The role of an NDP critic should be to criticize from the left. So why the silence from Randall Garrison after Canada’s leading military reporter David Pugliese published a 5,000 word expose on the Canadian Surface Combatant... Continue Reading →
A recent report about the weapons on Canada’s new Navy frigates is frightening. Equally troubling is the lack of parliamentary opposition to expanding the federal government’s violent “maritime power projection” capacities. Naval News recently reported on the likely arsenal of Canada’s new surface combatant vessels, which are expected to cost over $70 billion ($213-219 billion... Continue Reading →
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” ― Frederick Douglass “Tell no lies, claim no easy victories.” ― Amílcar Cabral To win any social justice victory of import you will invariably ruffle some feathers. The individuals who dominate Canada’s main nuclear disarmament organizations don’t appear to understand that.... Continue Reading →
Despite polls that suggest most Canadians do not support warplanes used to kill and destroy things around the world, the federal government seems determined to spend tens of billions of dollars to expand that capability. While there is a growing movement afoot to block the Liberals’ fighter jet purchase, it will require significant mobilization to... Continue Reading →
As we approach the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month our political, media and military elites are once again blanketing the public sphere with martial patriotism. NDP MP Don Davies got the ball rolling with some Yankee capitalist bashing that cheaply covered for his jingoism. After Whole Foods blocked its employees... Continue Reading →
“Why hasn’t Canada signed the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty?” is the title of an upcoming webinar featuring Liberal MP Hedy Fry, Green Party MP Elizabeth May, NDP deputy foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson, Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, as well as Setsuko Thurlow, who accepted the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the International... Continue Reading →
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