LIV Tour is a PR tool for a reprehensible government seeking to wash away its human rights abuse
The things people will do for money … The way Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Graeme McDowell and other professional golfers tap dance while trying to come up with reasons to justify their move to the new LIV Tour is embarrassing. The LIV Tour has nothing to do with growing the game of golf,…
Queen Elizabeth represents continuity with the past, including the best developments in Canadian history
With the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation upon us, this is a useful opportunity to ponder the monarchy in Canada. Some will assert that the concept of royalty was long ago outmoded. Others oppose what Queen Elizabeth II represents – colonialism and the British Empire. It can also be argued that with an ever…
Gordon Hirabayashi took a principled stand against the internment of Japanese Americans
When Japanese Americans were evacuated from the West Coast and sent to internment camps during the Second World War, Gordon Hirabayashi refused to comply. Acting on the courage of moral conviction, the Quaker pacifist instead turned himself in to the FBI, prepared to challenge the unjust executive order and take the case as far as…
Cancel culture plays right into the wheelhouse of those who are angry, fearful and manipulative
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘cancel culture’ as “the practice or tendency of engaging in mass cancelling as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure.” This is nothing new; we see numerous examples of what we now call cancel culture in history. Society cancelled people it disapproved of during witch hunts. The aristocracy was…
Leaders in NATO countries are guilty of crimes against humanity, yet only Africans are tried
In recent months, words like genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes have been used extensively in the media. These are important legal terms, and they shouldn’t be used loosely. Using them as political weapons risks making them meaningless. The word ‘genocide’ was coined in 1944 by Polish-Jewish law professor Raphael Lemkin after he studied…
How is the Russian invasion of Ukraine different from the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq?
American writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Fiction reveals the truth that reality obscures.” I admit I’ve never been a great fan of fiction; I prefer writing that spells out the author’s perspective on what’s actually happening in the world. But there are times when nothing speaks the truth more effectively than a great…
U.S. should look to Canada to improve energy security instead of a hostile, oppressive government
The U.S. needs long-term solutions to replace energy imports from Russia. But rather than working to fast-track increased oil deliveries from Canada, among other negotiations, the administration of President Joe Biden is reportedly in talks to ease sanctions on Venezuela, where the government stands accused of a litany of human rights abuses. The U.S. has…
Canadian-Iranians must hold Trudeau accountable for his promises, including finding justice for the PS752 families
Canada’s treatment of Iranian immigrants demonstrates the Trudeau government’s double standards on Iran. On the one hand, Ottawa allows Islamic Republic officials to live openly in cities such as Toronto. On the other hand, it deports innocent Iranian residents back to Iran, where they could face imprisonment or even execution. Morteza Talaei, Tehran’s police chief…
The Canadian government has failed the Afghan people
For Fawzia Shah (not her real name), a middle-aged Hazara (Shia Muslim) woman from Central Afghanistan, the words “democracy,” “freedom,” and “women’s rights” mean nothing. Those were the stirring slogans with which political leaders in Canada, the U.S., and allied countries rallied the troops for a 20-year war. That war ended last summer when the…
The system of government we thought we had has proven to be illusory
If there is a historical precedent for the truckers’ revolt in Canada and the populist protests in so many other parts of the world, I would like to know what it is. It surely sets the record for convoy size, and it is historic for Canada. But there is much more going on here, something…