A formation of Nigerien soldiers from the 322nd Parachute Regiment march to a training site where they will learn combat and counterterrorism skills from US Army soldiers during Operation Flintlock, US Africa Command’s premier and largest annual special operations exercise. Photo courtesy US Navy/Wikimedia Commons. On March 16, the military
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Canadian Dimension: NDP motion on Palestine a step forward, but not nearly enough
NDP MP and Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson rises to introduce a motion on the situation in the Middle East, Monday, March 18, 2024. Photo courtesy Heather McPherson/X. On March 18, the House of Commons passed an opposition day motion put forward by Heather McPherson, the NDP’s foreign affairs critic,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Did Mulroney really ‘lead the fight’ against apartheid?
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney speaks after a visit to the United States, 1984. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. On February 29, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney passed away at the age of 84. A champion of free trade and neoliberal economics, Mulroney’s premiership resulted in widespread deregulation, the privatization of more
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: AMLO’s push for environmental reforms angers Canadian mining sector
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador waving the flag of Mexico. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. In early February, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) proposed a package of 20 constitutional reforms. Though the entire package is unlikely to survive congressional pushback—AMLO’s MORENA party lacks a two-thirds supermajority—the proposed reforms
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The NDP is incoherent on Gaza genocide
While criticizing the Trudeau government’s military exports to Israel, NDP leadership has largely adopted Israel’s framing of the war and condemned voices speaking out in support of Palestinians. This has occurred at both the federal and provincial level. Photo courtesy Jagmeet Singh/X. On February 10, The Maple published a story
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: How Canada benefits from instability in Ecuador
Military personnel stands guard at Canela Radio in Quito. Photo by Franklin Jacome/Agencia Press South. On January 7, infamous drug lord Adolfo Macías (Fito), leader of the Los Choneros cartel, escaped from prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Newly elected President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency, prompting a nationwide and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ottawa shrugs off ICJ genocide verdict while cutting funds to Palestinian refugees
Health center operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the southern Gaza Strip. UNRWA was established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5.6 million registered Palestine refugees. Photo by United
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Events in Iraq and Niger put spotlight on Canadian troops abroad
Special Forces Operators from the Canadian Special Operations Regiment alongside soldiers from the Forces Armées Nigériennes in Niger, 2016. Photo courtesy Canadian Armed Forces/Facebook. In the latest episode of On Contact, Scott Taylor’s video series for Esprit de Corps military magazine, the journalist and former infantryman drew attention to two
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: While Canadian workers struggle, CEOs keep getting richer
While living conditions across Canada decay and the future looks increasingly grim for many, the richest CEOs in the country continue to fatten their pockets at the majority’s expense. Image from Shutterstock. A new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) has shined a light on the disturbing
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: As French embassy closes in Niger, West Africa charts a new course
French embassy in Niger. Relations between the two countries have broken down since a July coup d’état overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum. Photo courtesy France24. Over the past few years, numerous West African states have taken steps toward greater economic and security sovereignty, often in opposition to Western (specifically French) designs
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Refaat Alareer: Literature as resistance
“If I Must Die.” Illustration by @beqararkarke/X. In contexts of class struggle, national liberation, and the fight for self-determination, art is a cultural weapon. It is a tool for educating, for inspiring change. It gives voice to the injustices of the past and present and gestures toward a more just
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canada votes against democracy, human rights at UN—promotes mercenaries, sanctions
United Nations General Assembly hall in New York City. Photo by Patrick Gruban/Wikimedia Commons. On November 7, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) convened to vote on 12 draft resolutions, nine of which were presented by Cuba. The Third Committee deals with pressing social, humanitarian, and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: After years of public pressure, Panama finally closes Canadian copper mine
Environmentalists and workers march during a protest against Canadian miner First Quantum’s contract for an open-pit copper mine in the Central American country. Photo courtesy the National Union of Workers of Construction and Similar Industries (SUNTRACS). On November 28, Panama’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the 20-year contract granted to
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Merkelism is collapsing in Europe. What will succeed it?
Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom won 37 seats in the Netherlands’ 150-seat legislature, the largest single bloc, after an historic election win last week. Photo from Flickr. The victory of Geert Wilders in the Dutch general elections should provoke intense self-reflection in the European Union. Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ottawa silent as Panama rises up against Canadian copper mine
The government of Panama is pushing ahead on a deal with Canadian mining giant First Quantum Minerals, which operates the contentious Cobre Panamá mine. Photo courtesy @SuntracsPanama/X. The Cobre Panamá copper mine, owned by Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals, is once against facing widespread grassroots resistance from Panamanian activists. With almost
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ontario NDP and Conservatives unite to punish Sarah Jama for criticizing Israeli violence
On October 23, Ontario NDP MPP Sarah Jama was expelled from the party’s caucus and censured in the provincial legislature for comments she made about Palestine. Photo by Bobby Hristova/CBC. The situation in Gaza is unimaginable. The number of deaths since Israel began its bombardment of the crowded coastal strip
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canada’s weak stance on Gaza crisis gives green light to Israel’s war crimes
People gather around the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes on the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza after they were transported to Shifa Hospital. Photo by Dawood Nemer/AFP. Editor’s note: In the fog of war, reactions to the blast at al-Ahli Arab Hospital have been contested. Both
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Scandal builds at University of Alberta over Nazi endowments
Ukrainian-born Canadian lawyer Peter Savaryn. During World War II, he belonged to the Waffen-SS Galician Division. Photo courtesy the University of Alberta. The fallout from the Canadian Parliament’s decision to honour a Ukrainian Nazi veteran continues to expand. Anthony Rota, the former speaker of the House of Commons and the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canada’s Nazi war criminal past can no longer be ignored
Volunteers of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS are sworn in, 1943. As many as 2,000 members of the unit arrived in Canada in the 1950s. Photo courtesy the National Digital Archives of Poland/Wikimedia Commons. Growing up, I always heard about the Nazi SS veteran who lived in
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: World War II revisionism on full display in Nazi’s visit to Parliament
Parliamentarians gave a standing ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, a former member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, the military wing of the Nazi Party, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Ottawa. Photo courtesy CBC News. World War II revisionism in Canada is leading to some shocking,
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