There is a Way to Control Arms Exports, But Does Canada Have the Will?

The Trudeau government has significantly undermined its stated commitment to human rights by going ahead with a $15-billion sale of light armoured vehicles (LAVs—combat transports that can be armed with lethal high-calibre weapons) to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi regime’s vicious repression of its own population is well documented by human rights groups, and a two-year […]

Women: The Oppressed Majority

A three-part radio documentary Written by Asad Ismi Produced by Kristin Schwartz Narrated by both The series can be heard and downloaded from the Community Radio Exchange of the National Campus/Community Radio Association. Click here for the program, and thank you for listening. All interviews conducted by Asad Ismi or Kristin Schwartz except with Matilde […]

The World Might Need Less Canada: Canada in Africa: 300 Years of Aid and Exploitation (Book Review)

By Asad Ismi YVES ENGLER Red Publishing/Fernwood Publishing 2015, 326 Pages, $24.95 Mainstream academics and journalists like to portray Canada as a positive force on the international stage, but Yves Engler’s new book, Canada in Africa, shows how frequently Canadian governments and corporations play a destructive role abroad. In Africa, Canada’s government and mining companies […]

Mexico’s Human Rights Crisis and Canada’s Silence

By Asad Ismi The 21st anniversary of NAFTA in September finds Mexico in the throes of a shocking human rights crisis that, since 2006, has seen more than 150,000 people killed and more than 27,000 disappeared. According to Amnesty International, torture in Mexico is “out of control,” and police and security forces have “blood on […]