Stephen Harper

Trump And Cruz Aren't The Only Politicians In The Hemisphere With Fascist Tendencies

Corrupt right-wingers Otto Pérez Molina and Stephen HarperWhen I was a DJ at KSAN in San Francisco, the program director once told me that the day I felt I had played a song so many times that I couldn't stand hearing it again was the first time most listeners ever absorbed it. Nevertheless, for the sake of my own sanity, I have to take some time off from writing about Trump, at least for the rest of the day.

Harper’s Government Helping Canadian Mining Companies Plunder Africa’s Resources

Canadian policy in Africa can be summed up in nine words: Do what is good for Canadian-owned mining companies.
Despite rhetoric about aid to the poorest people in the world, the Harper Conservatives have worked assiduously to ensure that Canadian corporations profit from Africa’s vast mineral resources.

Harper’s Conservatives Pursuing Jewish Vote in Montreal Riding

Where are Conservatives most likely to be elected in Canada? Historically, rural and suburban White, Protestant ridings and the wealthiest parts of English-speaking cities have been where the Tories enjoyed the most success.
Certainly the Conservatives have never been the party of those marginalized for economic, social or religious reasons.
Yet, at the start of the month Stephen Harper launched his re-election campaign from the Ben Weider Jewish Community Centre in Mount Royal, one of two ridings in the country with a Jewish plurality (about 36% of the population).

UN Human Rights Committee Criticizes Harper Government

On July 20, 2015 the United Nations Human Rights Committee in its 7 page Concluding Observations Report adopted a number of critical observations of Canada’s human right practices, treatment of indigenous people and criticized Harper’s policies on Immigration and treatment of refugees. The Report was termed “A wake up call” on Canada’s human rights performance.

International al-Quds Day: A Global Cause?

Al-Quds Day, celebrated around the world by millions, is marked on the last Friday of Ramadan, coinciding with the most sacred time of Ramadan, the Night of Destiny. This year it is on July 11. This night especially empowers Muslims with God’s mercy, as the starting point of Muslims’ awakening and awareness in all aspects of life. Al -Quds Day was initiated in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and oppose Zionism and Israeli occupation, especially of Jerusalem.

Canadian Self-interest to Detriment of Africa

Should Africans pursue Stephen Harper for crimes against humanity?
The Africa Progress Report 2015 suggests they may have a solid moral, if not necessarily legal, case.
Led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Africa Progress Panel highlights Canada and Australia as two countries that “have withdrawn entirely from constructive international engagement on climate.” The mainstream group concludes that Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda have shown “far higher level of ambition” to lessen CO2 emissions than Canada.

Whose Truth are First Nations Supposed to Reconcile with?

A few days ago, some of my colleagues were discussing the findings of the so-called Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) — the Canadian-government established panel charged with a predetermined outcome: reconciliation, presumably under the status quo. After all, it was not called a Truth and Restorative Justice Commission.
I called the proceedings a whitewash because how could one conclude otherwise when the genocide is ongoing? ((See, for example, Kim Petersen, “