Canadian Author and Activist
NATO’s proponents often claim it’s a democratic force but in Canada’s case the alliance highlights the hollowness of our democracy. A healthy polity requires vigorous debate on important issues, but no major party opposes this country’s most significant and destructive military/foreign policy alliance. In fact, the NDP leadership has gone to great lengths to block... 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 →
Undoing centuries of racism requires looking at major government purchases through the lens of whether or not they challenge, or reinforce, existing structural power imbalances. For example, would spending billions of dollars on 88 new fighter jets reinforce white domination? To answer that question, one must look at history and current affairs. Historically, the Royal... Continue Reading →
Canadians truly committed to a rules-based, peaceful international order need voices in Parliament to speak up against militarism and the US empire. Instead we get a supposed ‘left’ party indistinguishable from the right. The recent flap over an award given out by the Halifax International Security Forum highlights how the NDP is jumping into... Continue Reading →
NATO is a bad influence. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization strengthens the worst tendencies of our political culture. Ricochet recently reported on internal government documents regarding a discussion about selling sensors for armed drones to Turkey. Last spring the Trudeau government approved an exemption to an arms export ban to Turkey, allowing Ontario-based L3Harris Wescam... Continue Reading →
For thousands of years folk wisdom has insisted that ‘you shall be known by the company you keep’. This is also true of countries. A recent United Nations vote condemning the “glorification of Nazism, neo‑Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” generated significant commentary... Continue Reading →
Justin Trudeau presents himself as “progressive” on foreign affairs. The Liberals claim to have brought Canada “back” after the disastrous Harper Conservatives. But their nuclear weapons policy demonstrates the emptiness of this rhetoric. Reducing the chance nuclear weapons are used again should be a priority for any “progressive” government. But, powerful Canadian allies oppose nuclear... Continue Reading →
Would it surprise you to learn that Canada’s minister of defence is an arms pusher? Last Friday members of Mouvement Québécois pour la Paix interrupted a $135-a-plate luncheon to confront defence minister Harjit Sajjan. At an event sponsored by SNC Lavalin, Bombardier, Rio Tinto, etc., we called for cutting military spending, for Canada to withdraw... Continue Reading →
Final in a four-part series on the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The first two installments discussed how NATO was set up to blunt the European left and to enable global dominance while the third focused on NATO’s role in spurring conflict and military spending. This article details the Left’s relationship with... Continue Reading →
Third in a four-part series on the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The first two installments of the series showed how NATO was set up to blunt the European left and to justify European/North American dominance across the globe. Recently, the alliance has intensified pressure on Canada to increase spending on the... Continue Reading →
You must be logged in to post a comment.