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When Canada became a war-making nation, its elite worried about public reaction. They fretted a cover story; something clever and convincing, along the lines of a national mythos to quiet the conscience of citizens made uncomfortable by the truth of horrors and suffering being inflicted on distant others. As it turned out, those troubled nights were wasted.
It seems no damning deed done can shake Canadians’ indomitable self-congratulation, nor dim their ineffably lofty self-regard. Though the richest nation in Africa be destroyed, creating a chaos the likes of which has not been writ since the time of Pharaoh, Canada and its paragons bray of their part played – as if heroes.
Yves Engler is a Montréal-based activist, essayist, and author. His articles appear at Dissident Voice, The Palestine Chronicle, Rabble.ca, and Pacific Free Press among other places. Some of his ten book titles include: ‘A Propaganda System—How Canada’s Government, Corporations, Media and Academia Sell War and Exploitation’, ‘Canada in Africa — 300 Years of Aid and Exploitation’, and ‘The Ugly Canadian — Stephen Harper’s Foreign Policy’.
Yves’ new book, ‘Left, Right: Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada‘ is freshly off the press and tries, as reviewer David Swanson notes, “to provide 10% of the explanation for why many Canadians suffer under the delusion that their nation’s government is a benevolent force in the world…”
Yves Engler in the first half.
And; Canada’s complicity in international criminality is not limited to the destruction, with NATO compatriots, of countries like Libya or the Former Yugoslavia, it too works diligently to undermine democracy in countries like Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Honduras. And, even as it vociferously champions human rights best practices, Canada tacitly supports the oppressive military occupations conducted by friends America, Britain, and Israel.
Michael J. Carpenter is a post-doctoral fellow with the Borders in Globalization project at the Department of Political Science at the University of Victoria whose dissertation explored the theory and practice of civic struggle – struggle also known as “nonviolent direct action”, “civil resistance”, and “people power.” His work is focused especially in the context of the Middle East, and Palestine in particular.
He recently presented, with retired trial lawyer, William Geimer and Adrian Fine of Independent Jewish Voices ‘Israel: Canada’s Human Rights Exception‘ to audiences in Comox, Duncan, and Victoria.
Micheal J. Carpenter and taking exception to human rights exceptionalism in the second half.
And; Victoria-based activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin of some of the good things to be gotten up to in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Yves Engler and the dark underside of the Great White North.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/
