To effect change people need to know what and who they are up against. By nakedly suppressing debate on the Palestine Resolution at its recent convention the NDP leadership did internationalist minded party members the favour of clarifying that. They demonstrated the need to directly confront anti-Palestinianism within the party. Over the next year NDPers... Continue Reading →
How can First Nations believe Canada is a force for good in the world?
The power of foreign policy nationalism is immense. Even the primary victims of the Canadian state have been drawn into this country’s mythology. Dispossessed of 99% of their land, Indigenous people have been made wards of the state, had their movement restricted and religious/cultural ceremonies banned. Notwithstanding their antagonistic relationship to the Canadian state, indigenous... 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 →
The lies told to justify Canadian foreign policy
Lies, distortions and self-serving obfuscations are to be expected when political and business leaders discuss far away places. In a recent Toronto Star column Rick Salutin observed that “foreign policy is a truth-free, fact-free zone. When leaders speak on domestic issues, citizens at least have points of reference to check them against. On foreign affairs... Continue Reading →
Condemning neo-fascists is anti-Semitic? Really?
Weirdly, even some self-declared “anti-fascists” who claim to be intent on “punching Nazis” get uncomfortable when you criticize the Jewish Defense League. In an incident akin to Canadians organizing to thwart freedom riders during the US civil rights movement, the Toronto-based JDL organized a mob that attacked protesters at last month’s American Israel Public Affairs Committee... Continue Reading →
Why does mainstream media keep repeating lies about Lester Pearson?
While coverage of Justin Trudeau’s recent visit to Washington was embarrassingly banal in its emphasis on “bromance” between Obama and the Canadian PM, at least it was accurate (in the limited sense valued by the dominant media), except for the 60 Minutes feature that comically confused a photo of Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall for Margaret Trudeau.... Continue Reading →
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