Posts filed in Canadian Politics

Canadian Politics

Canada is Warming at Twice the Rate of the Globe, Says New Report

April 20, 2019

For The Real News, I speak to Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada about a new study showing that Canada is warming at twice the rate as the rest of the world, and that northern Canada is warming at three times the global rate.

As Keith states: “It’s kind of a standard joke that oh, in Canada it would be nice if it was a little warmer. The problem is the rate of change. We haven’t historically– well, in the geological record climate has changed a lot over time– but we’re trying to pack change that usually take 50,000 to 100,000 years into 50 years. Because we’re burning fossil fuels and sort of increasing the greenhouse effect trapping heat, which it then causes a whole bunch of other changes. You might think oh, a little bit warmer that would be nice, but you’re also changing rainfall patterns. You’re going to have drought in some places. You are going to have more wildfires, the kinds we’ve seen in B.C. and Alberta the last couple of years where people literally couldn’t breathe. Walking outside in Vancouver was like breathing eight packs, smoking eight pack of cigarettes. In urban areas, one of the warnings in the report is we’re going to see even more flooding. In particular, the kind of flash flooding which in one incident here in Toronto back in 2013, we saw $960 million worth of damage in a couple of hours. We saw street cars under water. People had to be rescued from the GO train by boat. These kinds of severe impacts– the heat waves, the droughts, the wildfires, the flooding– these cause enormous damage to our economy, they cause enormous damage to our health, and we’re only seeing the thin edge of the wedge here.”

My discussion with Keith can be seen and listened to here:

Canada is Warming at Twice the Rate of the Globe, Says New Report

Canadian Politics

Federal Court Allows Independent Jewish Voices To Intervene in Wine Labelling Case and Dismisses Intervention Motion of B’nai Birth Canada’s League of Human Rights

April 19, 2019 

 

As I have previously reported on this website, I am legal counsel to Dr. David Kattenburg in a judicial review application pending in the Federal Court of Canada.

Dr. Kattenburg is Jewish and is the child of Holocaust survivors. In 2017, he complained to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) about wines produced in Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements and sold in Canada bearing “Product of Israel” labels.

Initially, after an exhaustive examination of Dr. Kattenburg’s complaint, the CFIA agreed with Dr. Kattenburg that the country-of-origin labels on those settlement wines were false and therefore violated Canadian law. The CFIA swiftly reversed itself, however, after it came under intense pressure from the Israel lobby and from staunchly pro-Israel members of Canada’s Parliament, particularly Liberal MP Michael Levitt.

After the Complaints and Appeals Office of the CFIA agreed with the CFIA’s decision to reverse itself, Dr. Kattenburg retained me to initiate a judicial review application. That application is scheduled to be heard in Toronto on May 21 and 22, 2019.

This past week, there were significant developments in Dr. Kattenburg’s case. Continue Reading ›

Canadian Politics

A Divided Liberal Party Cannot Stand – Except When It Comes To Israel

April 3, 2019

Yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expelled from his Liberal caucus former Justice Minister, Judy Wilson-Raybould, and former President of the Treasury Board, Dr. Jane Philpott.

Weeks ago, Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Ms. Philpott resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet as a result of attempts by the Prime Minister’s Office to interfere in the criminal prosecution of Canadian engineering giant, SNC-Lavalin. As I have explained previously, the SNC-Lavalin scandal likely constitutes the worst case of corporate corruption in Canadian history.

In announcing the expulsion of these two former cabinet members from the Liberal caucus, Trudeau declared “Our political opponents win when Liberals are divided. We can’t afford to make that mistake. Canadians are counting on us.”

Oh really?

Less than one year ago, Israeli snipers shot Canadian doctor Tarek Loubani in both legs. Minutes later, an Israeli sniper murdered Mousa Abu Hassanein, a Palestinian medic who was a member of Dr. Loubani’s emergency team. These atrocities were committed when Dr. Loubani and his team were in the field for the purpose of tending to wounded, unarmed civilians in Gaza’s Great March of Return.

The circumstances in which Dr. Loubani and his medic were shot left little doubt that the snipers who shot them understood that they were medical personnel who posed no threat to any Israeli. On June 13, 2018, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report in which it concluded that Israeli forces appeared to have committed war crimes in Gaza. Among numerous other Israeli atrocities – including the killing and wounding of Palestinian journalists and children – HRW cited the shooting of Dr. Loubani and the killing of Mr. Abu Hassanein in its report.

After the Canadian media widely reported the shooting of Dr. Loubani and the murder of Mr. Abu Hassanein, Prime Minister Trudeau issued an unprecedented statement condemning the conduct of Israeli forces:

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This was a bridge too far for Liberal MPs Michael Levitt and Anthony Housefather. Levitt and Housefather are arguably Parliament’s most fanatical supporters of Israel. As The Globe and Mail reported at the time, Levitt and Housefather “broke with Mr. Trudeau’s criticism of Israel” and issued their own statement. The Globe and Mail identified no other Liberal MPs who “broke with” the Prime Minister. Levitt and Housefather blamed the violence on Hamas, and did so despite the complete absence of evidence that Hamas was in any way responsible for the shooting of Dr. Loubani and the murder of Mr. Abu Hassanein:

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Two months later, Housefather sent a letter to Quebec’s largest English weekly newspaper in which he gloated about his support for Israel’s criminal regime and professed to have been “disappointed” by his Prime Minister’s entirely justified condemnation of Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

Subsequently, Conservative Senator Linda From – another Canadian politician whose support for Israel knows no bounds – authored an op-ed in the Canadian Jewish News in which she pontificated that “MP Housefather and MP Levitt felt the need to distance themselves from their own government by releasing a statement at odds with their Foreign Minister and their Prime Minister.”

So how did Prime Minister Trudeau react to Levitt’s act of disobedience?

Trudeau promoted him.

On September 24, 2018, Levitt proudly announced that he had been named as the Chair of the powerful House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Meanwhile, in a bitter irony, Housefather chaired the recent hearings held by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights into the PMO’s political interference in the SNC-Lavalin prosecution. The fact that an MP who relentlessly defends an apartheid regime would chair the “Justice and Human Rights Committee” is shocking enough. Even worse, Housefather voted with his four Liberal colleagues on the House committee to end the SNC-Lavalin hearings prematurely, over the vociferous objections of opposition parties.

It is often said by Israel’s apologists that Israel and its defenders are subject to a different standard. That is entirely true, but what those same apologists are not telling us is that Israel and its defenders are held to a far lower standard than just about everyone else.

 

Canadian Politics

When it Comes to Silencing Israel’s Critics, John Tory and James Pasternak Won’t Take ‘No’ For An Answer

(In the photograph above, John Tory and James Pasternak pose with 30 Israeli students visiting Canada in March 2015.)

March 22, 2019

On March 21, 2019, I spoke at Toronto City Hall on behalf of the organizing committee of the Al Quds Day rallies in Toronto.

The Al Quds organizers, who give their time freely to defend Palestinian human rights, have been smeared repeatedly by advocates for Israel, particularly Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak.

Pasternak has an extensive history of seeking to silence Israel’s critics. As reported by Now Toronto, Pasternak led the charge at Toronto City Hall to ban Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade. Pasternak has also condemned Israeli Apartheid Week.

Like Pasternak, Mayor John Tory works closely with the pro-Israel lobby groups, including the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). In 2016, in cooperation with CIJA, Tory led an “Innovation Mission to Israel.”

With the support of Mayor Tory, Pasternak is now seeking to prevent Al Quds rallies from taking place on Toronto City property, in violation of the constitutional rights of my clients to free speech and free assembly.

Pasternak launched his initiative in November 2017 by seeking advice from city staff on ways to counter ‘hate-infested’ rallies on city property. This month, after more than a year of careful consideration, city lawyers and staff advised the Executive Committee that the city’s existing policies with respect to hate rallies are essentially adequate.

But when it comes to silencing Israel’s critics, James Pasternak and John Tory will not take ‘no’ for an answer. On March 21, 2019, they persuaded an embarrassingly compliant Executive Committee to send Pasternak’s inquiry back to city staff for further consideration.

This is the video of my 5-minute speech to the Executive Committee and of my exchanges with Mayor Tory and Pasternak following my speech:

Continue Reading ›

Canadian Politics

Prime Minister Trudeau Effectively Admits That Electoral Concerns Played a Role in SNC-Lavalin Interference

Along with Yves Engler, I speak to Sharmini Peries of The Real News Network about the latest revelations in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

As I explain, Justin Trudeau’s argument that his government’s actions were justified by a concern for Canadian jobs is highly problematic.

Our discussion can be watched and listened to here:

https://therealnews.com/stories/pm-justin-trudeau-admits-electoral-concerns-are-primary-in-snc-lavalin-interference

Canadian Politics

Trudeau “Disappointed” his Ex-Justice Minister Resigned After He Demoted Her

On the Real News Network, I discuss with Sharmini Peries the resignation of the former Justice Minister of Canada, Jody Wilson-Raybould, from the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau has reacted to her resignation by professing to be “surprised” and “disappointed”, but after all of the promises that Trudeau has made about transparency and the rights of women and indigenous peoples, no one should be surprised that Ms. Wilson-Raybould resigned after Trudeau demoted her for no good reason.

My discussion with Sharmini can be seen and heard here:

https://therealnews.com/stories/trudeau-disappointed-his-ex-justice-minister-resigned-after-he-demoted-her