Canadian Politics

A Message Of Thanks To Our Supporters / Un message de remerciement à nos supporteurs

On my own behalf and on behalf of the passionate, inspiring and dedicated members of our campaign team, I am writing to thank you for your support in the Green Party of Canada leadership race.  

Throughout our campaign, we put forward a boldly progressive platform – a platform unlike any that mainstream Canadian politics has seen. Despite the obstacles put in our way, we came within a hair’s breadth of winning, and did so by doing politics honourably.

We drew thousands of new members to the party. We raised the hard questions and answered them with thoughtfulness and integrity. We spoke from the heart. We spoke truth to power.

With your amazing support, we have begun to build a movement. 

In the days and weeks ahead, we will engage with Greens and other progressives to transform that movement into an unstoppable force of principled, progressive politics. 

We know with every fibre of our being that the time is now.

We warmly welcome your thoughts as to how to build upon the foundation we have laid in this campaign. Please feel free to share those thoughts with us by sending an email to info@teamdimitri.ca.

Finally, we again congratulate Annamie Paul on her victory and wish her every success as the new leader of the Green Party of Canada. And we thank all of the other leadership candidates (Judy Green, Meryam Haddad, Courtney Howard, Amita Kuttner, David Merner, Glen Murray and Andrew West) for the countless ways in which their voices enriched the conversation in this campaign.

We look forward to remaining in touch with you.

Peace and solidarity, Dimitri 

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Cher militant, chère militante :

En mon nom personnel et au nom des membres passionnés, inspirants et dévoués de notre équipe de campagne, je vous écris pour vous remercier de votre soutien dans la course à la direction du Parti vert du Canada.

Tout au long de notre campagne, nous avons présenté un programme audacieux et progressiste – un programme qui ne ressemble à aucun autre programme que la politique canadienne dominante a connu. Malgré les obstacles qui se sont dressés sur notre chemin, nous avons été à un cheveu de gagner, et nous l’avons fait en faisant de la politique de façon honorable.

Nous avons attiré des milliers de nouveaux membres au sein du Parti. Nous avons soulevé des questions difficiles et y avons répondu avec considération et intégrité. Nous avons parlé avec notre cœur. Nous avons dit la vérité aux autorités.

Grâce à votre soutien extraordinaire, nous avons commencé à construire un mouvement.

Dans les jours et les semaines à venir, nous nous engagerons avec les Verts et d’autres progressistes pour transformer ce mouvement en une force imparable de politique progressiste fondée sur des principes.

Nous savons de toutes nos forces que le moment est venu.

Nous accueillons chaleureusement vos réflexions sur la manière de construire sur les bases que nous avons posées au cours de cette campagne. N’hésitez pas à nous faire part de ces réflexions en envoyant un courriel à info@teamdimitri.ca.

Enfin, nous félicitons à nouveau Annamie Paul pour sa victoire et lui souhaitons beaucoup de succès en tant que nouvelle chef du Parti vert du Canada. Et nous remercions tous les autres candidats à la direction du Parti (Judy Green, Meryam Haddad, Courtney Howard, Amita Kuttner, David Merner, Glen Murray et Andrew West) pour les innombrables façons dont leurs voix ont enrichi la conversation dans cette campagne.

Nous nous réjouissons de rester en contact avec vous.

Paix et solidarité, Dimitri

Human Rights

Supreme Court Dismisses B’nai Brith’s Leave Application in Lascaris v B’nai Brith Canada

In August 2016, on the eve of the Green Party of Canada’s biannual general meeting, B’nai Brith Canada, a “staunch defender” of the state of Israel, published an article in which it defamed me.

B’nai Brith’s defamatory article was plainly intended to influence a Green Party debate on a resolution calling for the Green Party to support the use of boycotts, divestment and sanctions to bring an end to Israel’s illegal settlements and occupation of Palestinian territory. I was the sponsor of that resolution.

Months later, after B’nai Brith repeatedly published more defamatory statements about me, I brought a defamation action against B’nai Brith in the Courts of Ontario. B’nai Brith immediately responded to my lawsuit by bringing a motion to dismiss my action under Ontario’s new anti-SLAPP legislation. That legislation is designed to bring an early end to lawsuits that lack merit and that are designed to stifle legitimate debate.

In March 2019, a three-judge panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that my defamation action against B’nai Brith had substantial merit and it dismissed B’nai Brith’s anti-SLAPP motion. It also ordered B’nai Brith to pay to me $15,000 in costs.

B’nai Brith subsequently sought leave to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed B’nai Brith’s leave to appeal application. The Supreme Court’s decision means that my defamation action can now proceed to trial.

I very much look forward to my day in Court.

Green Party of Canada Leadership Race

What is Eco-Socialism?

Recently, I spoke with Jack Etkin of Citizen’s Forum in Victoria, B.C.

As I discussed with Jack, for me, Eco-Socialism means simply that all members of society, without exception, have a fair and reasonable opportunity to achieve their individual potential.  The basic necessities of life are guaranteed to them: housing, education, health care, food security and access to the information they need to exercise fully their political rights, all of which must happen in a framework that preserves the health of our planet.

Canadian Politics

I Join With Amnesty International in Calling For An End to Weapons Sales to Saudi Arabia

Yesterday, at the General Dynamics plant in London, Ontario, I joined with Amnesty International and dozens of human rights activists to condemn the Trudeau government’s sale of weaponized personnel carriers to the brutal Saudi autocracy. As I explained in my speech, the Green Party of Canada has long opposed the sale of these weapons to Saudi Arabia. In the 1970s, with the help of Pierre Trudeau’s government, this plant was converted from peaceful purposes to the construction of armoured vehicles. If Canada’s government can expend taxpayer funds to convert these manufacturing facilities into producers of weapons, it can now invest taxpayer funds to ensure that these same facilities contribute to an indispensable transition to a renewable energy economy.