Welcome to the first day of Summer here in the green and pleasant climes of the western reaches of the country for now called Canada; where the people go about their business, never fearing the sudden eruption of distantly-fired Tomahawk missiles, helicopter-delivered barrel-bombs, gas rocket attacks, or rat-a-tat-tat of automatic gunfire.
Despite the placid demeanor of the place and people within though, it is not a perfect peace.
Two weeks ago, Canadians were reminded of the true peril that lay just beneath the deceptively calm surface of our civic existence with the release of 2017’s Defence Policy Review, a document my first guest describes as including:
“a significant increase in lethal fighter jets and secretive special forces, as well as enhancing offensive cyber-attack capabilities and purchasing armed drones.”
Not to mention a massive minimum expenditure increase of more than $62 billion over the next twenty years.
Yves Engler is a Montréal-based activist, lecturer, and author whose book titles include: ‘The Ugly Canadian — Stephen Harper’s Foreign Policy,’ ‘Lester Pearson’s Peacekeeping — The Truth May Hurt,’ ‘The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy,’ ‘Canada in Africa — 300 Years of Aid and Exploitation,’ and his latest, ‘A Propaganda System: How Canada’s Government, Corporations, Media and Academia Sell War and Exploitation.’ In a recent Rabble.ca article, Engler called for opposition to both the spirit and specifics of the so-called “Trudeau Doctrine” but is there anyone left around here to do so?
Yves Engler in the first half.
And; as the World, thanks to the muscular military mentality so elegantly elucidated by our princely PM’s Foreign Affairs ministry, hurtles towards an Armageddon-like conflagration in the Middle East, there are still people imploring we clever hominids take heed the better angels of our nature and move the species clear, away from abyss’ rim.
Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh is founder of the Palestine Museum of Natural History, Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University, past chairman of the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People, and a tireless social justice campaigner whose main civic interests lie in media activism and public education. To that end, he has given hundreds of talks around the world, and is even now in the middle of a tour of the United States encompassing Colorado, New Mexico, Louisiana, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and Texas, from where we’ll reach him today. Mazin’s e-book on human rights activism, ‘Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle,’ is available from his website, Qumsiyeh.org.
Mazin Qumsiyeh talking to Americans in the second half.
And; horticultural guru and intrepid green entrepreneur, Christina Nikolic will join us at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events update, bringing us up to speed with some of the good things planned in and around our town for the coming week. But first, Yves Engler and who’s left to complain about Canadian militarism?
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Wednesday, 1-2pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/
G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.