America is leaving the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This is, by scientific consensus, a terrible outcome for the planet. But it is also a disaster for American foreign policy and its role as a global leader. With this decision I’m left scratching my head. What does America stand for?
Continue readingTag: Canadian foreign policy
Politics and its Discontents: This Needs Little Comment
H/t Toronto StarI do hope all of the equipment Trudeau is selling to the Saudis is stainless steel. You know how difficult it is to remove blood splatter.Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Some Disturbing Signs
I won’t for a moment pretend that I am not glad to see Justin Trudeau’s Liberals as our new government. But as happened with a vice-principal we teachers once welcomed with open arms as a relief from the previous administration, my early hopes for real…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: How Will Dion Justify This?
Given the ongoing contention surrounding Canada’s decision to sell $15 billion worth of armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, one wonders what sort of dance moves Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion will engage in to explain his government’s ongoing su…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Robert Fisk
Last evening my wife and I attended a talk given by Robert Fisk, the renowned British journalist who has lived in and covered the Middle East for almost 40 years. The talk was quite dense, given the complexity of the issues and dynamics of that region, and I realized how
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Another Nail In The Coffin Of Canada’s International Reputation
Ever the uncritical and obsequious friend of Israel and wooer of domestic Jewish votes, the Harper regime has once again shamed and blackened Canada’s international reputation: Israel has expressed its gratitude to Canada for helping to block a major international plan towards ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Elsewhere, however,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Egg On His Car
… but not on his face. Yes, our peripatetic and staunch, uncritical supporter of all things Israeli, Foreign Minister John baird, was spared the ultimate humiliation during a visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah today to meet with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki. The protesters, who were waiting
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Remembrances Of Things Past
It was with some surprise that Canadians finally saw something positive emerge from the always suspicious and hateful Harper regime: its facilitation of talks between the U.S. and Cuba to begin the process of normalizing relations. This echo of a time when Canada was looked upon as the world’s honest
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Perspective That Age Bestows
Unlike some, I do not bemoan the passage of time. True, I am of that generation known as ‘the baby boomers,’ but while I am at times mildly bemused about certain things (‘How can it be 50 years since the Beatles first played in Toronto?’), I was never beguiled by
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Prime Minister Hath No Honour In His Own Country
That paraphrase of a famous line from the Bible perhaps sums up the pitiable plight of Stephen Harper, gallant man of the world and fearless foe of evil on the world stage. Despite his indefatigable efforts to denounce the Teutonic tendencies of Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine or stand unreservedly
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Praising Stephen Harper
Now that I have your attention, let me assure that I am not the source of that praise. No, a site called Breaking Israel News is. Drawing heavily upon a piece written by the Ottawa Citizen’s Mark Kennedy, it offers the following effusive approval of Stephen Harper: The support he
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thomas Mulcair Speaks
Noted recently is the widespread criticism that both Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair have earned by either their silence or their very timid comments about the slaughter in Gaza. While most Canadians have probably come to expect the reflexive uncritical endorsement of all things Israeli by the Harper regime, many
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: John Oakley Hosts Harper Clone
Many thanks to The Salamander, who, in his response to a post from last evening, sent along this link to the John Oakley Show. On the show, the Reverend Charles McVetey, as unhinged and extreme an evangelical you are ever likely to encounter, explains the evangelical Christian validation for Stephen
Continue readingeaves.ca: Canada’s Opaque Transparency – An Open Data Failure
Yesterday, at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) Canada Minister of Natural Resource, Joe Oliver, announced with great fanfare a new initiative to compel mining companies to disclose payments of over $100,000′s to foreign and domestic governments. On the surface this looks like a win for transparency, particularly for
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: University of Calgary Liberals mentioned in Wikileaks
Turns out the Young Liberals at the University of Calgary is seen as an organization of real influence by the US State Department. Below is a quote from Wikileaks that talks about how the UofC Liberals were able to influence the policy of the party and shake up a whole
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Gum On Their Noses
The international community knows by now that the Harper Government — remember, the moniker is now on official documents — is full of navel gazers. And navel gazers aren’t concerned with facts. The ramifications for Canadian foreign policy are deeply disturbing. Natalie Brender writes in The Toronto Star that: The
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Best line to pick up a Canadian woman: “Hi, I’m NOT Stephen Harper”? (VIDEO)
by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Feb.3, 2013: Seriously, you can actually get laid in Canada for introducing yourself as NOT Prime Minister Stephen Harper and certainly having nothing to do with the Conservatives? For saying that you got nothing to do with the Alberta tar sands and Canada’s oil-driven foreign policy? That you got
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Global Mining and Tar Sands Oil Drive Canadian Foreign Policy
by Guest Blogger | Jan. 28, 2013 In the era of dictatorial Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his right-wing Conservatives, global mining and tar sands oil drive Canadian foreign policy. Canadian author, activist and political commentator, Yves Engler, argues that Harper’s right wing foreign policy protects interests of big oil and mining at home and
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Harper’s Debasement Of Canadian Foreign Policy
That Canada once enjoyed a sterling reputation in the international arena is something beyond dispute. That its standing has fallen precipitately under the misguided direction of the Harper regime is a truth that I suspect only the most rabidly ideological would disagree with. Perhaps the most egregious departure from norms
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