D-Day June 6, 1944. Normandy Landing during World War Two

By Hilary LeBlanc

D-Day landing in Normandy, June 6, 1944.

On June 6, 1944, during World War II, an invasion force comprised of U.S., British and Canadian troops landed on the coast of Normandy, France. This date known to history as D-Day, refers to the long-awaited invasion of northwest Europe to open a Second Front against the Nazi forces of Adolf Hitler who had occupied France and most of Europe and had been waging a savage war against the Soviet Union. To that time, the Soviet Union had borne the brunt of the fight against Hitler. From 1941 to 1945, the Soviet peoples fought more than 75 per cent of the German and Axis forces and suffered the loss during the war, all-told, of more than 20 million people.

This Day. 30th anniversary of the brutal military assault on the Mohawk at Kanehsatà:ke

Although the siege ended, the land issues that were at the core of the dispute persist to this day. For Nation-to-Nation relations and an end to genocide of Indigenous Peoples | Fernand Deschamps 

March marks 25th anniversary of Oka uprising, July 11, 2015.

“The plight of the Indigenous peoples of this country is a matter of great concern to everyone. This includes the Trudeau government. Unfortunately, the government’s concern is not to redress historical wrongs as the times demand. It is to achieve what has eluded previous governments – which is to extinguish Indigenous peoples’ rights once and for all, so as to steal their lands and resources. At the same time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seeks to restore Canada’s tarnished human rights record on the world stage. This is a reputation as a violator of human rights due to its abysmal record of criminal negligence of the conditions of life of the Indigenous peoples in Canada and crimes committed against them.”  – Pauline Easton[1]

Thirty years ago, at dawn on July 11, 1990, about 100 heavily armed officers of the Sureté du Québec (SQ) attacked members of the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kanehsatà:ke (Mohawk nation, member of Haudenosaunee Confederacy) who had set up a blockade on a dirt road leading to a sacred Indigenous burial site to oppose the expansion of a golf club on Mohawk territory located close to the town of Oka, Quebec. For the project to proceed, the forest known as the Pines, as well as the Pine Hill Cemetery, the community of Kanehsatà:ke’s graveyard, would have to be bulldozed. To prevent this destruction, people of Kanehsatà:ke erected a barricade on a small, secondary dirt road through the Pines, as early as March 1990.

Fortress America: 62nd anniversary of NORAD – The demand to dismantle NORAD is more urgent than ever

The 62th Anniversary of NORAD on May 12 is a time to draw warranted conclusions about the nature of the military alliance. NORAD is always described as responsible for the defence of North America. NORAD was conceived and brought into being during the Cold War, which has long since ended. Its survival is now justified by claiming the danger is from “rogue states.” However, NORAD, like NATO is an aggressive military alliance. From our archives: “Fortress America: 60th anniversary of NORAD – The demand to dismantle NORAD is more urgent than ever”

This year marked the 60th anniversary of the North American Aerospace Defence Agreement (NORAD) signed on May 12, 1958. It is the arrangement through which, along with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) founded on April 4, 1949, the Canadian armed forces are integrated into those of the U.S. and put under U.S. command.

Latvian Exhibit in Ottawa: Canadian War Museum should be condemned for falsifying what Canadians stand for

Exhibition at Canadian War Museum (Embassy of Latvia)

The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa is featuring a special exhibit titled “The Latvian Tragedy – 1941.” The exhibit coincides with Latvia’s use of March 16, to hail Nazi collaborators in that country as freedom fighters and to declare that in 1941 the Soviet Union, which was the first country to seriously prepare to counter the Nazi assault on itself and all of Europe, was the invader, not Hitler’s Germany. The exhibit runs from March 3-22, 2020.[1]

This Day. Remembering the earthquake in Haiti ten years on

Objective reality of the people of Haiti illustrates the pathetic fraud of “humanitarian aid.” “Canada disbursed $657 million from the quake to September 2012 ‘for Haiti,’ but only about 2 per cent went to the Haitian government.” Thirty-three per cent of U.S. aid went to the U.S. military | YVES ENGLER

The Haitian national palace shows heavy damage after an earthquake measuring 7 plus on the Richter scale rocked Port au Prince Haiti, January 12, 2009. This was originally a two-story structure; the second story completely collapsed.

Ten years ago Sunday an earthquake devastated Haiti. In a few minutes of violent shaking hundreds of thousands perished in Port-au-Prince and surrounding regions and many more were permanently scarred.

It’s important to commemorate this horrifying tragedy. But this solemn occasion is also a good moment to reflect on Canada’s role in undermining the beleaguered nation’s capacity to prepare/respond/overcome natural disasters.

Sun never sets on Canadian military

By YVES ENGLER

Most Canadians would be surprised to learn that the sun never sets on the military their taxes pay for.

This country is not formally at war yet more than 2,100 Canadian troops are sprinkled across the globe. According to the Armed Forces, these soldiers are involved in 28 international missions.

Halifax International Security Forum: Attempts to recruit women for aggression and war will fail

By TONY SEED

The Sunday November 24 session of the Halifax International Security Forum (HISF) is on “Security Solutions, Women’s Contributions,” with the speakers depicted in this screenshot:

Opposition against war conference spreads from Halifax to Ontario

By TONY SEED in the The Nova Scotia Advocate

A scene from last year’s protest in Halifax against the war conference. Photo Simon de Vet

The U.S.-based Halifax International Security Forum (HISF), known to the anti-war movement as the Halifax War Conference, returns to our city for the 11th year in a row from November 22 to 24.

For the 11^th straight year, Haligonians will be opposing it, with two events Saturday, November 23^rd: a rally at 1:00 p.m. at Halifax Peace & Freedom Park (formerly Cornwallis Park), Hollis and South Streets followed by a meeting and panel discussion at the Dalhousie University Student Union Building at 6:30 p.m., concerning the HISF and Obama’s visit to Halifax on November 13. This meeting will feature Margaret Kimberly, Senior Editor of Black Agenda Report. [1] 

“This is an important opportunity for everyone to speak in their own name against war preparations and any role for Canada in aggression and war,” says Allan Bezanson, an organizer of the Halifax events from the No Harbour for War group, c-sponsor along with Halifax Peace Council, Global Afrikan Congress and others.

Haligonians have long declared that our city is ‘No Harbour for War!’ and should not provide a venue for warmongers and war criminals, and their handmaidens, to plan further aggression against the peoples of the world. Nor do we accept that the Canadian government should be funding this U.S.-based organization with tens of millions of dollars.

“This forum has simply stolen the name of our city. It has no organic connection whatsoever with Halifax except it is staged here. That is why we say, not in our name.”

The HISF does not reflect the desire of Haligonians for friendly relations with other countries, as epitomized by the recent conference hosted at Dalhousie, “The Cuban Revolution at 60” that highlighted Nova Scotia’s friendship with Cuba for over 100 years.

Some 300 participants from 75 countries – a dramatic expansion from 17 countries in the first 2009 HISF – will be taking part in this war conference, sponsored by NATO. One of the organizers very much in the headlines is Kurt Volker, the hawkish U.S. special representative to Ukraine, a participant in the HISF since 2009 and member of its agenda working group since 2012. [2]

At the 2018 HISF the Department of National Defence was represented by 25 participants from the Army, Navy and Air Force and military colleges – along with the Canadian Security Intelligence Network, Global Affairs, Veterans Affairs and MPs. Defence minister Harjit Sajjan declared that “Canada is punching above its weight” in its participation in NATO. He echoed the U.S. demand that “Russian aggression” become the chief security concern for Canada and NATO.

Of the 34 sessions, 28 are secret and held behind closed doors where everything is discussed and decided behind the backs of the Canadian people. Only six are “on the record” with video streaming and CPAC broadcasts for propaganda purposes. The HISF is aimed at pushing the foreign and military policy of Canadaand other NATO bloc members to be more aggressive and to disinform Canadian people, and is thus increasingly being condemned across Canada, not just in Halifax.

Opposition in Ontario

Rallies are being held this year in Ontario. In Toronto, the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace and the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) are uniting to protest at the NATO Association of Canada headquarters, 49 Yonge Street in the heart of the central business district.

Philip Fernandez of CPC(M-L) and an educator says, “The HISF is a matter not only for Haligonians but for all Canadians. The notion of security promoted by HISF is intrinsically linked to NATO and its aggressive agenda and demand for Canada to increase military spending by tens of billions of dollars.

“It is part of further integrating Canada into US Homeland Security, putting its people, lands, seas and harbours such as Halifax at the disposal of US imperialist aims. It is also linked to NATO’s political apparatus (of which the Canadian chapter is the NATO Association of Canada), which is pushing an agenda that opposition to NATO constitutes ‘foreign interference’ in Canadian affairs.” [[ii]]

“We are saying NO! to this war conference and staking our claim on Canada as a Zone for Peace!,” he affirms.

Toronto picket against the Halifax war conference, outside Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland’s constituency office, November 17, 2018

The Windsor Peace Coalition (WPC) is also raising its banner against the HISF at its weekly pickets held every Saturday from 11 to 12 p.m. in the border city.

Margaret Villamizar, spokesperson of the WPC and a foreign affairs analyst and journalist, says they are “posting information about the HISF and the demonstrations taking place against it on our Facebook Group, indicating that our picket this week will emphasize the need to get Canada out of the US war machine, so the holding of this secretive US /NATO war conference in Canada paid for out of public funds becomes a thing of the past.”

The WPC has been holding weekly pickets since 2007. “We have been quite persistent and as a result have a definite standing in the community.” It works together with Women in Black, who have their own weekly action and whose numbers include retired teachers and nurses, some well into their 80s.

Tamara Lorincz, a well known Halifax environmental and anti-war activist now doing a Ph.d in Ontario, has been leading the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace in monthly protests at the NATO branch headquarters as well as the Toronto offices of foreign minister Chrystia Freeland. She participated in organizing the inaugural protest against the first security forum in 2009.

Speaking on behalf of the women’s group at two public forums on foreign policy in Toronto and Windsor during the recent election organized by CPC(M-L), she gave spirited presentations entitled “Canada’s Role in NATO Must Be Ended and NATO Dismantled.” A former NDP candidate in Halifax West (finishing second to Liberal Geoff Regan), she argues that all the political parties sitting in parliament are pro-NATO. This is dangerous for Canadians and goes against their will.

Anti-war activist and former Haligonian Tamara Lorincz addresses election forum organized by the CPC [M-L]) in Windsor on October 19 to discuss Canada’s foreign policy and how to make Canada a zone for peace.

The details of Canada’s military spending surprised many in attendance as to its extent. The Trudeau Liberals have worked to keep people in the dark all the while committing more than $500 billion for defence spending over the next 20 years, escalating the integration of the armed forces with the U.S. and deploying troops and warships to the Baltics, Poland, Ukraine, Iraq, Palestine, Mali, the Caribbean and Asia. The government places great importance on attracting youth from a very young age to identify with and join the military; the cadet program is the single largest youth program in the country. These billions being spent for war and destruction of the planet could be better used to serve human needs, she pointed out.

Opposition against NATO is unfolding on a national and international scale. For example, demonstrations have taken place yearly at the HISF dating back to the 60th anniversary of NATO in 2009. Internationally, actions took place in Washington DC at the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting on the occasion of its 70th anniversary and in other Canadian and American cities this past April. Actions will be held on December 3rd In Toronto and London to protest the NATO 70th anniversary events taking place in Britain which Trudeau is attending.

The propaganda about NATO being a successful organization is a lie since all its interventions have been failures. Tamara emphasized the importance of stepping up the organizing against NATO and its “We Are NATO” campaign. Everyone should be active in working for peace and against war, and the peace movement should take an active stand against NATO and for it to be dismantled.

NOTE

[1] Margaret Kimberley of the Black Agenda Report will speak on her experience in organizing the anti-war movement in the USA. Other panelists, including Isaac Saney and El Jones, will speak on issues arising from the security forum, the previous week’s Obama visit and his legacy of drone warfare, the need to dismantle NATO and the need to develop a vibrant anti-war movement in Nova Scotia. 

[2] In an October 24 press release, HISF President Peter Van Praagh stated that this year’s conference will “highlight the need for a coordinated strategic response among democratic allies to the challenge posed by China, the increasingly urgent problem of climate change, the security of our democratic systems from foreign interference, international law and order, inclusive security, and how the world is responding to American leadership.”

The press release indicates that the HISF is considered a platform where the U.S. will issue its dictate.

“As is customary, the conference features a delegation from the United States Congress, as well as leaders in the United States military and wider security community. Internationally, joining them from more than 75 countries are ministers, experts, chiefs of defense staff, and top media personalities.”

 

Windsor discussion highlights role of the people in making Canada a Zone for Peace

A meeting was organized by the Marxist-Lenininst Party of Canada in Windsor on October 19 to discuss Canada’s foreign policy and how to make Canada a zone for peace. The meeting which was chaired by Laura Chesnik, the MLPC candidate in Windsor—Tecumseh who outlined the main points of the MLPC platform calling for a change in the direction of Canada’s foreign policy and emphasized the need for discussion on these matters during the federal election. In keeping with the MLPC’s call for political renewal she said the Canadian people, and no one else, must be empowered to decide the aim and direction of Canada’s foreign policy.

75th Anniversary of D-Day: Deepest respects to all who contributed to the defeat of the Nazis in World War II

D-Day landing in Normandy, June 6, 1944.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the World War II allied landing on the coast of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. On this anniversary, Canadians pay deepest respects to all the men and women who contributed to the defeat of the Nazis in Europe. Nearly 150,000 Allied troops landed or parachuted into the invasion area on D-Day, including 14,000 Canadians at Juno Beach. The Royal Canadian Navy contributed 110 ships and 10,000 sailors and the Royal Canadian Air Force contributed 15 fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons to the assault. Total Allied casualties that day reached more than 10,000, including 1,074 Canadians, of whom 359 were killed.

Reality check. Canada’s role in Haiti

As surely as night follows day, the Canadian government is planning its involvement in US military aggression against Venezuela. Military engagement will justify humanitarian engagement and “democracy promotion.” It will violate the rule of law and appease the U.S. imperialists in their striving for domination, as it did in Haiti in 2004 and Libya in 2011.

Canada being used for NATO military training

Members of the next contingent taking part in Operation REASSURANCE in Latvia, participated in the training exercise on the Valcartier Base and in the Quebec municipalities Portneuf and Jacques-Cartier, October 17-23.

By CHRISTINE DANDENAULT

From October 19 to 21, the troops of the next contingent that will take part in Operation REASSURANCE used the regional municipalities of Portneuf and Jacques-Cartier in Quebec for training. They surveyed the roads of Portneuf, Cap-Santé, Saint-Basile, Pont-Rouge, Fossambault-sur-le-Lac, Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Shannon and Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier on foot or in armoured vehicles.

Centenary of end of WW I: The need to make commemorations significant

In Europe’s reeking slaughter-pen
They mince the flesh of murdered men,
While swinish merchants, snout in trough,
Drink all the bloody profits off! 
– In Wartime, Stephan G. Stephansson, 1916

By PAULINE EASTON

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of this year, one hundred years will have passed since the fighting in World War I ended following the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.

Afghanistan: a general admission of abject failure – again

By TONY SEED

U.S. General Scott Miller, who took over command of the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on September 2, admitted in an exclusive interview with NBC News on Tuesday, October 30, that the war in Afghanistan “is not going to be won militarily.”

Hurricane Juan and Depleted Uranium

Canadian navy and weapons of mass destruction

This Saturday, September 29, marks 15 years since Hurricane Juan ripped through Halifax in the middle of the night toppling trees, smashing boats and knocking out power for many days and even weeks in some neighbourhoods. Wind speeds of up to 178km an hour were recorded at McNabs Island in Halifax Harbour. Amunition shells from the 1940s and “other debris” were being washed ashore. | The late MITZI BOWMAN* with TONY SEED

BLUE ROCKS, NS (October 24, 2003) – THE Halifax Chronicle Herald reproduced on October 4, 2003 a capsule commentary from the Canadian Press that the Canadian Forces were cleaning up unexploded shells from the 1940s (WW2) “and other debris”.

Why isn’t the Chronicle Herald telling us what this “other debris” is or could be?

War preparations in Montreal

File photo from 2017 Contested Urban Environment exercise in Australia

From September 10-21, various parts of the city of Montreal are serving as a venue for the 2018 Contested Urban Environment Experiment (CUE). These war exercises are being conducted under the auspices of the Five Eyes, a U.S.-led global spying network that also includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Make Quebec a Zone for Peace

 

By Christine Dandenault*

On Monday, September 10, nearly 150 scientists and technicians from the security agencies of the member countries of the Five Eyes and about 100 soldiers from the Canadian Armed Forces Royal 22nd Regiment 3rd Battalion’s ‘B’ Company began testing some 50 or so new technologies in Montreal.

Canada seeks expanded military role in Asia-Pacific

BY ENVER VILLAMIZAR

Picket and signature collection, November 23, 2017, at the University Skytrain station in Vancouver. More than 2,500 Canadians thus far have signed the Canadian Petition Against War and Aggression on the Korean Peninsula.

While Canada claims it is for diplomacy and solidarity, it is not well known that the Canadian military has joined the massive annual U.S.-Republic of Korea joint military exercises Key Resolve and Foal Eagle in the spring and Ulchi-Freedom Guardian in August as well as others, all aimed at provoking the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) into a war on the Korean Peninsula. In September 2017, after participating in joint naval manoeuvres with the U.S., south Korean and Japanese military, HMCS Ottawa and HMCS Winnipeg docked at the U.S. naval base on Jeju Island which the people are fighting to demilitarize.

Extreme weather, extremist governments

The social effects of extreme weather for the homeless, the poor, the elderly and the colonized, in the cities and on the roads; the abnegation of social responsibility and the public interest by the media and governments shows the need for empowerment. “When tragedies do occur, the monopoly media focuses on the technical mechanics of the disaster, excluding who should be held accountable, how the concerns and campaigns of the community were dealt with or ignored, and the response of the public bodies” | TONY SEED

(December 30, updated January 5) – According to the CBC, the main “news” and social consequences of the record extreme cold weather seems to be the status of outdoor civic New Year’s parties, the condition of the ice on a short-term, multi-million dollar outdoor rink erected on Parliament Hill, polar bear dips, and an outdoor World Junior hockey game between Canada and the U.S. in Buffalo on Friday December 28th.

A fiery crash of a tractor trailer truck on the QEW (pictured above) that shut down the Niagara bound lanes near Bartlett Ave. in Grimsby was reported merely as a freak obstacle or an inconvenient “long delay” to the many Canadians heading to the game. While no one was hurt this time, the damage to the highway was extensive and will take time to repair.

One CBC anchor, Hanna Thibodeau, joked with meteorologist David Phillips as to whether Russia was to blame for the Arctic front.

In seeming contrast, CBC published on December 29 a long photo feature titled “Toronto has officially frozen over. See it here in all its icy glory” highlighting the beauty of a nature that is benign. The kicker called on readers to “Take in the stunning sights of the city during the deep freeze.” (The photos were submitted.)

As 2017 ends, the working people face a media onslaught about what is going on in Canada and around the world, of which the weather occupies one sphere. We think that a sober approach going into 2018 is of importance.

Canada’s Iraq war mission extended

Since September 11, 2001, Canada has consistently been expanding its foreign military and police presence in Central and West Asia under U.S. and NATO command. While openly participating in the invasion of Afghanistan, the Chrétien Liberal government would not openly join the “Coalition of the Willing” and provide more than a handful of troops for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, despite having provided troops, warships and jets during the previous U.S. invasion of Iraq – the Persian Gulf War. The Trudeau government has now taken up the challenge to provide an air of legitimacy for Canada’s ongoing military actions in Iraq and their expansion. On June 29, the Trudeau government announced that its mission in Iraq would be extended for two more years and that the mission would be “adjusted.” This is a far cry from its election claim that it would end Canada’s combat mission in Iraq, giving the impression that it was against foreign military escalation. Shortly after being elected, the Trudeau government launched a new mission in the Middle East, focusing on Iraq and neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon.

Canadian Forces take part in US military exercise off coast of Venezuela

(September 11, 2017) – From June 6 to 17 Canadian military personnel participated in Operation Tradewinds, an annual military exercise in the Caribbean sponsored and led by U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). The operation was being conducted in two phases: from June 6-12 in Barbados and from June 13-17 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Department of National Defence (DND) described Operation Tradewinds as “a multinational maritime interdiction, ground security and interagency exercise that focuses on countering transnational organized crime and practicing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief […] in order to promote regional security cooperation.”

No to Canada’s warmongering defence policy!

The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) calls on everyone to condemn the “new defence policy” announced by the Trudeau Liberals on June 7. The policy does not respond to Canada’s defence needs but to the demands of the U.S. imperialists through NATO and the biggest defence monopolies and other private interests to increase military spending and step up war preparations. The announcement included a 70 per cent increase to Canada’s military budget over the next 10 years, increasing the size of the armed forces, the adoption of drone and cyber-warfare, further militarization of the arctic and purchasing additional warplanes and ships.

Canada leads NATO mission in Latvia

Trudeau government’s missions abroad | HILARY LEBLANC

Banner in mass actions at Munich Security Conference February 18, 2017: “Peace Instead of NATO – No to War!”

(March 25) – In June, the first of 450 Canadian soldiers will arrive in Latvia to lead a battalion in a large military buildup of NATO countries on Russia’s frontiers. According to reports, the Canadian-led battalion will have troops from Albania, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. Three other battalions of foreign soldiers, led by the U.S., Britain and Germany, respectively, are being placed in Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. The result will be thousands of NATO troops indefinitely stationed in two countries bordering Russia (Estonia and Latvia) and two others bordering Belarus (Lithuania and Poland). Canada will also deploy light armoured vehicles (LAVs) and up to six CF-18 warplanes to conduct air patrols.

Unacceptable military intervention in Ukraine

Montreal picket January 31, 2015 opposes attack on peoples of eastern Ukraine.

By TONY SEED

(March 25) – On March 6, the Trudeau government announced an extension of Canada’s military intervention in the civil war in Ukraine for another two years. Since January 2014, Canada has allocated $700 million in funds for Ukraine, some of which was used to purchase military equipment. The Trudeau Liberals are now adding untold more hundreds of millions to this amount.

Trudeau at the UN: Canada’s international agenda

Prime Minister Trudeau is in New York City as part of the Canadian delegation to the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly from September 19 to 20. Before the opening of the UN General Assembly, Trudeau held meetings in Montreal with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and musician Bono.

When US troops exercised against ‘aggressive protesters’ in Canada

“This exercise will practice operations in urban and semi-urban areas, defence of vital points and resources, and the complex operating requirements of facing an opposing force ranging in scope from combat elements to aggressive protesters.”

American soldiers form a fire-base to cover the rest of 32 Territorial Battalion Group (32 TBG) ‘F’ and ‘G’ companies assault to seize the Niagara Central Airport during EXERCISE STALWART GUARDIAN held in the Niagara Region, Ontario, on August 19, 2014 | Cpl D. Salisbury, 4 CDSB Ops Svcs © 2014 DND-MDN Canada

NEWS ITEM: A “Canada-U.S. Integrated Forces program” consists of secret discussions held in 2013 and “led at the highest levels, with then Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Tom Lawson and the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey (now retired), meeting on ‘several occasions’ to hash out a plan that included an option for ‘fully integrated forces’. “The planning was deliberate and sustained, and it happened at the highest levels of both forces.” Ostensibly, “efforts were ultimately shut down and refocused on improving interoperability between the forces.” – James Cudmore, “Canadian military explored plan to fully integrate forces with U.S.,” CBC report, September 30, 2015.

Remembrance Day: Canadian Forces collaboration with fascist forces

Demonstration in Ottawa on October 5, 2015 demanding Canadian government end its support for Ukrainian fascists, which continues to this day under the Trudeau Liberal government.

By TONY SEED and BILL SHPIKULA

Less than three weeks after a meeting between Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland and Toronto Liberal candidates, with officials of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) in Etobicoke preceding the 2015 federal election, the Canadian Forces deployed a contingent of cadets from the Royal Military College (RMC) in Kingston as well as members of different branches of the CF to participate in “Ukrainian Remembrance Day” events in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke on November 8, 2015.

Canada expands military mission in the Middle East to unprecedented level

Canada has now established the largest military “footprint” in the Middle East in its history. These forces include: special forces in Baghdad and Irbil in Iraq (2016 and 2014); unannounced border locations in Lebanon and Jordan (2016); a military base or hub in Kuwait established in 2010, now to be expanded; a military force in Ramallah, West Bank Occupied Palestine (Operation Proteus) established in 2005; and the warship HMCS Frederiction, deployed on February 11 to the NATO Fleet being positioned in the Aegean Sea. Canadian warships also deploy to the Persian Gulf. All are directly or indirectly under U.S. command. Renewal Update reports on the latest news.

Actions took place across Canada March 19, 2016, on the 13th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Photo shows Ottawa demonstration.

Coinciding with the 13th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq which began on March 19, 2003, Canada is expanding its military role in Iraq and the Middle East. The government argues that these actions are in line with what it calls Canada’s history of peacekeeping. In this way, it covers up that so long as Canada belongs to NATO and NORAD its peacekeeping missions are either part of imperialism’s plans of “no war, no peace,” as in Palestine which causes untold suffering, or as part of the U.S. striving for domination, which has been the case since the interventions in Yugoslavia.

The program to resettle Syrian refugees in Canada (2): Defend the rights of all

As of February 28 more than 25,000 Syrian refugees have come to Canada. A little over half came as government-assisted refugees with the rest having private or semi-private sponsorship. A recent issue of TML Weekly features a call from the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) for working people to be vigilant and make sure their rights are defended in the context of defending the rights of all. We are posting the full text below.

Back to the future all over again – ‘urban winter warfare training’ of Canadian Forces in Laval, Quebec

Canadian soldiers take over the streets of Montreal following the invocation of the War Measures Act, October 1970.

Forty-five years after the proclamation of the War Measures Act and the military occupation of Quebec by the Trudeau government, 600 reservists of the Montreal Territorial Battalion Group of the 34 Canadian Brigade Group (34 CBG) are exercising this weekend in “aid of the civil power” “for the purpose of territorial defence in the event of a crisis.” Exercise QUORUM NORDIQUE 2016 (Ex QN 16) is “urban winter warfare training” in Laval.

Reservists in action in an industrial sector of Laval during exercise QUORUM NORDIQUE 2016, January 24, 2016. (Canadian Army)