Posts filed in Canadian Politics

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.

Canadian Politics

The Time Has Come To Build A More Caring Society In Canada

In this week’s episode of Dimitri Live, I and my co-hosts Lia Tarachansky, Wendy Goldsmith and Atul Bahl discussed how we can build a more caring society as we emerge from the pandemic.

We talked in particular about the need for a national mental healthcare strategy and the strengthening of our healthcare system.

For example, Canada ranks 51st in the world in the number of doctors per capita (behind Ukraine, Mongolia and Kuwait). Cuba, by contrast, has the highest number of doctors per capita in the world.

Our healthcare system needs more doctors, and there is no reason why a country as wealthy as Canada cannot do much better. I hope you will listen to our discussion:

Canadian Politics

Fossil Fuels Are A Threat To National Security: A Debate With Former CSIS Analyst Phil Gurski

Last month, in a letter to the Hill Times, I responded to an op-ed by Phil Gurski, a former senior strategic analyst with Canada’s spy agency (CSIS), in which Mr. Gurski raised the spectre of potential violence by environmental activists. After the Hill Times published my letter, Mr. Gurski kindly invited me onto his weekly program to debate national security, the threat posed by the fossil fuels industry and terrorism.

In our debate, which Mr. Gurski published today, I argued (starting at 8:58 of the podcast) that one of the greatest threats to Canada’s national security is in fact the fossil fuels industry and that, far from being a threat to national security, those who resist the fossil fuels industry are acting in the national interest.

I also argued that the legislation governing CSIS is broad enough to authorize CSIS to treat the fossil fuels industry as a national security threat, but that the government appointees who manage CSIS have a pro-fossil fuels bias – just like the Liberal and Conservative politicians who appointed them.

Finally, I argued (starting at 25:50 of the podcast) that Western governments and intelligence agencies are ignoring the true causes of terrorism, that there is no military solution to terrorism and that the true solution to terrorism is political in nature.

You can listen to our debate here:

Canadian Politics

Cuba Battles Coronavirus Despite Punishing U.S. Sanctions

To date, on a per capita basis, Canada and the United States have suffered far more COVID19-related deaths than Cuba.

This week on Dimitri Live, I asked Cuba-based, British journalist Ed Augustin to explain how Cuba has managed to control the virus despite punishing U.S. sanctions.

As Ed explains, an important part of the reason for Cuba’s ability to limit the loss of life is that Cuba has a far higher proportion of doctors, and its doctors and other medical personnel have been going door-to-door to treat and test the citizenry.

I hope you will listen.