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 readingAuthor: Owen Schalk
Canadian 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,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: How Canada’s bombing of Libya contributed to the flooding disaster
On September 6, the Libyan poet Mustafa al-Trabelsi attended a meeting at the House of Culture in Derna. The meeting was held to discuss the risks that a flood would pose due to the city’s neglected dam infrastructure. After returning home from the meeting—whose advisements went unacknowledged by the city’s
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Despite widespread abuses, Canada maintains support for Rwandan government
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on the margins of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France, August 2019. Photo courtesy the Prime Minister’s Office. For three decades, Rwanda has been ruled by Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), first as a powerful vice president,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: How Canada came to be one of the world’s leading arms dealers
LAV-25 of the 12th Armoured Regiment, January 14, 2012. Photo courtesy the United States Marine Corps/Flickr. For several decades, Liberal and Conservative governments have steadily militarized Canada. Since the end of the Cold War, peacekeeping numbers have dwindled while Canadian contributions to military interventions abroad have increased (Iraq, Somalia, the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: As West African states take greater role in mining sector, how will Canada respond?
Illegal gold mining in Ghana. Photo by Randy Olson. Canadian mining companies are some of the largest investors in West African gold. Every year, these firms generate billions in revenue from countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ghana, while local populations struggle in poverty and underdevelopment. The destruction of pan-Africanist,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ecuador oil drilling referendum a victory for biodiversity
On August 20, 2023, Ecuadorians voted overwhelmingly to stop oil drilling in the Amazon’s Yasuní National Park (pictured here) by a margin of nearly 20 percent. Photo by Paul Bertner/Minden Picture. August 20 was a busy day for Ecuadorians. The general election narrowed the field of presidential candidates to Luisa
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canadian mining, oilsands companies saw huge revenue increases in 2022
Photo by Chris LeBoutillier/Unsplash The Canadian Mining Journal, an industry magazine catered to insiders, has released its annual ranking of Canada’s top 40 miners. Describing 2022 as “a remarkable year” for Canada’s largest mining companies, editor Tamer Elboki praised the Canadian mining sector for “prov[ing] to be as solid and
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Why is Niger’s junta so popular—and so feared?
Supporters of the coup with a picture of General Abdourahamane Tchiani in Niamey, Niger. Photo by Sam Mednick. Events in Niger have been moving fast. After overthrowing President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, the military government of Abdourahamane Tchiani established itself as an independent and anti-Western force in the region,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Niger coup will have global ramifications for the US, France, and Canada
Protesters display the flags of Niger and Russia during a protest in Niamey, Niger. Photo by Efe Issifou/Flickr. On July 26, the African continent was rocked by news of a military coup in Niger, the fourth in West Africa since 2020. Cooperation between the US and Nigerien militaries has been
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Indigenous resistance challenges Ontario’s ‘mining boom’
The Ring of Fire is located in northwestern Ontario. Many First Nations along the James Bay coast, pictured here, are located downstream of the development. Photo courtesy the Government of Ontario/Flickr. As Canada’s governments hungrily scour domestic and foreign territory in search of critical minerals—an essential part of Ottawa’s new
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Feds cut off Toronto while sending billions to Ukraine
Toronto’s new Mayor Olivia Chow is seen by many progressives as a welcome change from conservative rule, thirteen years of which transformed Canada’s largest city into a troubling icon of the “neoliberal city.” This was especially true under Chow’s predecessor John Tory, whom activist John Clarke describes as “the very
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: EU-CELAC summit fails to convince Latin America to abandon neutrality
L-R: Ilan Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s President, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s Prime Minister, and Sergio Diaz-Granados, President of the Corporacion Andina de Fomento take a group photo during the European Union and Community
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: In Latin America and Asia, Canada supports the US government’s new Cold War
The amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (foreground) and Peruvian navy Makassar-class landing platform dock ship BAP Pisco (background) conduct tactical maneuvers and naval formations during a training exercise in the Pacific Ocean. Photo by James Ho/US Navy/Wikimedia Commons. Over the past few weeks, two events have occurred
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