Canada 150 announcements

Walk for reconciliation, Ottawa, May 31, 2015.

On March 15, Minister of Heritage Mélanie Joly announced the Government of Canada’s vision for the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017. While promoting a chauvinist vision of “shared values” the government announced that it will pay a private organization to approve and disburse funds for official celebrations on this basis. None of it is conducive to a serious discussion on how to modernize Canada’s constitution and political system to bring them on par with the needs of the times.

Trudeau appoints NATO academic as foreign policy advisor

Trudeau Liberals treatment of important questions of war and peace

Roland Paris is former Founding Director of the Centre for International Policy Studies  (CIPS) at the University of Ottawa, from which he is now on leave. He is a NATO academic and involved with corporate think tanks and such subversive U.S. agencies as the Halifax International Security Forum (see here) advancing a warmongering foreign policy for Canada. The National Post called Paris “the man behind Justin Trudeau’s foreign policy.” A concern for Canadians is Paris’ foreign policy preoccupations, which include increasing military spending and Canada’s role in the aggressive NATO military bloc, as well as the so-called “digital diplomacy” – the Harper government’s use of social media tools to subvert sovereign governments that Washington deems hostile to its interests (see here and here). The Post reported on December 29 that Paris was working for the Liberals before the election was called and that “his fingerprints are clearly evident in the party’s election platform.” All the while Paris was also frequently quoted, before and after the election, as an independent academic and expert commenting on Liberal foreign policy prospects. Paris is also said to be present at “most, if not all, of Trudeau’s meetings with foreign leaders.”

By SAM HEATON

Roland Paris is Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He was appointed to this post in November 2015. Paris has played a significant role in the efforts of the Liberal intelligentsia and think tanks to sort out the problems of a Liberal foreign policy for Canada today. As a frequent commentator on Canadian foreign policy and collaborator with NATO and other institutions of U.S. imperialism such as the Halifax International Security Forum, Paris’ preoccupations are a cause for concern for Canadians, who would like to see Canada and its government as a force for peace.