The Senate Brings Hope for GAC Reform

• May 13, 2022

The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade has initiated a review of the Canadian foreign service, the first such focused examination since the Royal Commission on Conditions of Foreign Service, which reported in 1981.

While the …

How about a Supply and Confidence “Human Rights” Addendum?

• April 22, 2022

In March, the federal Liberals and NDP entered into a Supply and Confidence Agreement, Delivering for Canadians Now. The NDP has pledged support for the Liberal minority government through to 2025 in return for promised progress on several important …

Expedience over Justice: Implications of the Fate of the Khashoggi Trial for Activists-in-Exile

• April 19, 2022

On 7 April, a Turkish court ordered that the murder trial of those accused of killing and dismembering Jamal Khashoggi be transferred to Saudi Arabia. This will effectively end the case and put pay to any chance of achieving …

Federal budget 2022: More Defence Funding in Wake of Canada’s F-35 About-Face

• April 12, 2022

The Canadian government recently announced its decision to enter negotiations with American aerospace giant Lockheed Martin to buy 88 F-35 fighter jets. The $19-billion contract is separate from $8 billion in additional funding for defence that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland …

Budget 2022: What to Expect from Canada’s International Assistance

• April 12, 2022

We have to give credit when credit is due, but also recognize obfuscations when we see them. The Canadian government’s 2022 budget, released on April 7, provides opportunities for both regarding development assistance. There is not much to parse, though, …

Coopération arctique post-Ukraine: suspension ou rupture?

• April 4, 2022

L’invasion russe de l’Ukraine a eu des conséquences sur les relations internationales bien au-delà de la région directement concernée. Parmi bien d’autres, la région arctique a connu depuis la fin février des changements importants en réaction à cet acte de …

1500 Kilometres: The Distance between War and Refuge

• March 29, 2022

One thousand five hundred kilometres is roughly the distance between Hamburg and Kyiv. A week after Putin started his invasion of Ukraine, the city government of Hamburg proclaimed proudly that it had prepared 750 beds for refugees from Ukraine. As …

The Injustice of Statelessness in Canada

• March 29, 2022

A young man named Deepan Budlakoti remains caught in a legal limbo created and perpetuated by the Canadian government’s refusal to acknowledge his citizenship. He was born in Ottawa in 1987, and until 2009, he assumed that meant he was …

What was Behind the Indian Farmers’ Protests?

• March 28, 2022

Extreme nationalism and anti-Muslim hatred are mounting in India, all at the expense of its democracy. It is being led or coddled by the sitting Government of Narendra Modi and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But the Indian …

Amnistie internationale : un réquisitoire essentiel

• March 14, 2022

Amnesty International vient de publier un document choc sur les droits de la personne en Israël et dénonce la politique d’apartheid du régime en place. Les réactions pavloviennes du côté tant du gouvernemental israélien que de la diaspora juive dans …

Africa, Ukraine, and the New Geopolitics

• March 9, 2022

When the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the African vote split right down the middle. Of the 54-member strong bloc, 28 voted for the resolution, 26 abstained or absented themselves, while Eritrea stood …

Afghanistan: Tying Aid to Women’s Rights

• March 8, 2022

As the world’s attention shifted dramatically to the Ukraine crises unfolding rapidly, the challenges posed by the humanitarian catastrophe threatening Afghanistan have been overshadowed and moved to the backseat. However, Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate as the country’s economy …