Unions are a force for good in the world. Too bad not all of them are a force for good everywhere in the world. Canadian unions are largely indifferent to international affairs. And when they engage it’s rarely to challenge Ottawa’s foreign policy. Over the Labour Day weekend the Ontario Federation of Labour and some... Continue Reading →
If Canada is a colony why are our banks so rich and powerful?
Strange how some people think Canada is a colony, a victim of U.S. power, when so much evidence points to the Great White North being an imperial power. For example, Canada is an international banking powerhouse. The Globe and Mailreport on TD’s third-quarter results noted that its “international operations – mostly in the United States and... Continue Reading →
Response of Canada’s ‘defence’ community to Trump threats: silence
A volatile leader in charge of a military behemoth prone to aggression has repeatedly attacked Canada and its prime minister in recent weeks. But, this country’s “defence” community, which often hypes Russian, Jihadist and other threats, has barely made a peep. Citing a concern for its “national security”, the US slapped tariffs on Canadian steel... Continue Reading →
Ottawa’s foreign policy swamp an unhealthy quagmire
Drain the swamp’ was a popular Donald Trump campaign slogan that referred to reducing the influence of Washington lobbyists. While the three words reflect an extreme lack of ecological consciousness — wetlands need to be protected and recreated, not destroyed — the image of politicians slogging their way through lobbyist infected, tangled, dense vegetation and... Continue Reading →
Understanding the ways Canada underdevelops Africa
The question gets asked often: How can Africa be so poor when it receives so much aid? The answer is simple. The world economic system sucks more out of the continent than it puts in. And tax evasion by Canadian firms plays a significant role in this impoverishment. The May report, Honest Accounts 2017: How... Continue Reading →
Canada a settler state helping pull imperial strings, not a colony
Colony or settler state? Recently foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland dismissed concerns that Canada was seeking "regime change" in Venezuela by saying "Canada has never been an imperialist power. It's even almost funny to say that phrase: we've been the colony." As I detailed in an initial response, Ottawa has passively or actively supported numerous U.S.-backed military coups against progressive... Continue Reading →
Time for Canada to withdraw from NATO
Ottawa should withdraw from NATO before the alliance draws Canada into an even more destructive conflict. This instrument of US-led imperialism has become more belligerent as its Cold War pretext fades further from view. In 1948 US, British and Canadian officials met secretly to lay the basis for NATO, which was established the following year.... Continue Reading →
Undermining Venezuela’s socialist government nothing new for Canada
Alongside Washington and Venezuela’s elite, the Trudeau government is seeking to oust President Nicolás Maduro. While Ottawa’s campaign has recently grown, official Canada has long opposed the pro-poor, pro-working class Bolivarian Revolution, which has won 19 of 21 elections since 1998. Following a similar move by the Trump Administration, Global Affairs Canada sanctioned 40 Venezuelans... Continue Reading →
Do Canadians really want monuments to racist colonialists?
Some good might come in Canada from neo-fascists marching in Charlottesville, Virginia. Taking advantage of media interest in protests over monuments to historical figures with racist views activists in Halifax are pushing to removecommemorations to two individuals who helped conquer Africa. And there’s no lack of other such memorials to target across the Great White... Continue Reading →
NDP foreign affairs critic marches in step with US Empire
Does the NDP consistently support a foreign policy that benefits ordinary people around the world? Or does the social democratic party often simply fall in line with whatever the American Empire demands? Hélène Laverdière certainly seems to support the US-led geopolitical order. While the NDP foreign critic has called for stronger arms control measures and... Continue Reading →
‘Free trade’ has come to mean powerful interests get whatever they want
"Free trade" has become a euphemism for "whatever power wants," no matter how tangentially tied to transfering goods across international borders. In an extreme example, Ottawa recently said its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Israel trumps Canada’s Food and Drugs Act since accurately labelling two wines might undermine a half-century long, illegal, military occupation. Of little connection... Continue Reading →
Canada enables Barrick’s bad corporate behaviour
Will the Canadian government continue to support Barrick Gold’s exploitation of mineral resources in Tanzania no matter what abuses the company commits? Would the Trudeau government stop backing the Toronto-based firm if it bilked the impoverished nation out of $10 billion? Or, what if one thousand people were raped and seriously injured by Barrick security?... Continue Reading →
Aid and exploitation: Canada in Congo
Imagine if the media only reported the good news that governments and corporations wanted you to see, hear and read about. Unfortunately, that is not far from the reality of reporting about Canada's role internationally. The dominant media almost exclusively covers stories that portray this country positively while ignoring or downplaying information that contradicts this... Continue Reading →
Canada’s contribution to the Belgian Congo holocaust
Canada’s 150th anniversary offers a unique opportunity to shed light on some darker corners of Canadian history. One of the dustier chapters is our contribution to one of the most barbarous regimes of the last century and a half. In a bid to extract rubber and other commodities from his personal colony, Belgian King Léopold... Continue Reading →
Canadian, US complaints about Russian election meddling hypocritical
If a guy does something bad to someone else, but then complains later when another person does that same thing to him, what do we say? Stop being a hypocrite. Either you change direction or you got what you deserved. Does the same moral logic apply to countries? Purported Russian meddling in U.S., French and other... Continue Reading →
Canadian companies caught with hands in African colonial cookie jar
The recent seizure of phosphate from a Moroccan state company in South Africa and Panama is a blow to corporate Canada and a victory for national independence struggles. It should also embarrass the Canadian media. This month courts in Port Elizabeth and Panama City okayed requests by the POLISARIO Front asking South Africa and Panama... Continue Reading →
Canada no friend of Haiti or rest of Caribbean
Can cute Canadian Caribbean dreams about enchanted islands come true? Or is reality more complicated and Canada a far less benign actor than we imagine ourselves to be? In a recent Boston Globe opinion titled “Haiti should relinquish its sovereignty”, Boston College professor Richard Albert writes, “the new Haitian Constitution should do something virtually unprecedented:... Continue Reading →
Canada should apologize for its role in colonizing Palestine
The year 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a crass expression of colonial thought that Canada helped realize. Just before capturing Jerusalem in late 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour proclaimed support for a Jewish homeland on land occupied mostly by Muslim and Christian Palestinians. In a letter to Walter Rothschild and... Continue Reading →
UN ends occupation of Haiti, but legacy of abuse remains
Last week the UN Security Council finally voted to end its military occupation of Haiti. Instigated by the US, France and Canada, it has been responsible for countless abuses during the past 13 years. At the same time as the Security Council voted to draw down its military force (a police contingent will remain), the... Continue Reading →
The plunder of Africa: A Canadian connection
As Black History Month draws to an end it is important to reflect on the European conquest of Africa. Is there a connection between colonial rule and the continent’s impoverishment today? Should the beneficiaries of European imperialism pay reparations or at least acknowledge the injustices committed? When thinking about these questions it’s important to look... Continue Reading →
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