An interesting story out of Canada by journalist Tim Groves published in The Breach: Eleven days after Hamas attacked Israel in October, former prime minister Stephen Harper’s current business partner Yaron Ashkenazi wrote an op-ed about how their company would help the country “stop these evil terrorists in their tracks.” Their venture capital fund, Awz…
Showing all posts tagged Canada
How to make mining corporations in Africa respect human rights
The reality of international and Australian mining corporations in Africa can be grim for local civilians. My latest Guardian investigation examines these issues. I interview a journalist from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Will Fitzgibbon, about his organisation’s recent work on the subject and the following is the full interview extracted in the Guardian:…
Why it's time for UN sanctions against Australia
My weekly Guardian column is published today: This month, the United Nations accused Canberra of… potentially breaking international law… by forcibly repelling refugee boats back to Indonesia.… Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for refugees,… said… that the international body was “concerned by any policy or practice that involved pushing asylum-seeker boats back at sea without a proper…
"No Fire Zone" is devastating film about Sri Lankan war crimes
This is a remarkable film that clearly details the range of crimes committed by the Sri Lankan military and government during the civil war that ended in 2009 and continues to this day. The regime in Colombo is desperate to discredit it but this is miserably failing. The Commonwealth meeting begins in Sri Lanka this…
Disaster capitalism strikes at the heart of African mining
A key focus of my forthcoming book and film about disaster capitalism is the way Western resource companies exploit poor nations and often commit human rights abuses in the process (I’m looking at Papua New Guinea and Haiti). Here’s an interesting Human Rights Watch report about Eritrea: International mining firms rushing to invest in Eritrea’s…
The power and beauty of protest in Quebec
This is no longer just about rising tuition fees and a government that loathes public protest. It’s the power of the #Occupy movement with a broad base of support. This beautiful film captures a moment:
One more Western government far too keen to assist the private security industry
A worrying global trend sees Western officials increasingly working with unaccountable private security firms in the name of “efficiency”. Canada’s conservative government is joining in: This fall the Government of Canada will reintroduce… legislation that would expand the power of citizen’s arrest. In 2010 Bill C-60, as it was called, died on the order paper; this…
Protesting the proposed dirty tar sands from Canada to Obama’s US
Now that’s imaginative civil disobedience: Occupy Wall Street take note: when garnering headlines that don’t have anything to do with NYPD brutality, nudity—or more specifically, orgies—may be the way to go. At a meeting between British and Canadian officials yesterday in London, to discuss the UK’s purchase of Canada’s sweet sweet tar sands oil, two…
Legacy of Tamil Tigers still resonate
Renouncing terrorism as part of a national liberation struggle is a complex business, either done for pragmatic reasons or genuine remorse. Whatever the reason, Tamils in Sri Lanka remain deeply oppressed: Five years after they were caught buying arms for Sri Lankan rebels, three Canadians have signed an open letter from prison acknowledging they were…