Unctuous Trucking to Beijing

"We did speak about supply chain integrity. That was a core message that I conveyed to our Chinese counterparts, to say that, obviously Canada puts a lot of importance on [this] and that our bilateral trade [needs] to be conducted in accordance with international standards."

"This is a point that I've made very clearly to different counterparts that we've met here in China during our visit."

"We are focused and pragmatic in how we want to engage."

"It was very clear where we could trade when the interests of Canada and China would align."

Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne

 

"There is [the] existence of child labour and forced labour around the world."

"[There are] parts of China that are higher risk [for the practices]."

Prime Minister Mark Carney

From left to right: People's Bank of China Deputy Governor Xuan Changneng, People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and Canada's ambassador to China Jennifer May pose for a photo together in Beijing on Apr. 3, 2026. (Lisa Xing/CBC)

 

Canada's Liberal government led now by Mark Carney has carried on the practices of its immediate-predecessor government -- and for that matter the more distant Liberal government of former PM Jean Chretien -- in favouring trade with a human-rights-abusing nation whose territorial ambitions have swallowed whole the sovereignty of adjacent countries like Tibet, East Turkistan and Xianjiang, incorporating them militarily into a 'greater' China that continues to eye an opportunity to capture Taiwan into its orbit.

 

There was unanimous support in the House of Commons to view Beijing's ongoing persecution of its Uyghur population as a cultural genocide. The Chinese Communist Party is known to use child labour and forced labour in its vast labour market as it swiftly rose as the world's consumer-product manufacturer whose cheap labour put factory manufacturing out of business in many other global economies unable to compete with China, enabling it to sweep the world production market with a huge global consumer base.

 

China's cyber-interference with other countries' government and trade secrets is well known, as is its broad interference in other countries' social, manufacturing and political cultures. Its interference in Canada's political process has been well documented, yet this Liberal government insists it can do business with a country that views trade from a completely one-sided perspective. The Liberal government's recent embrace of a Chinese expatriate Chinese-Canadian Member of Parliament, Michael Ma, despite all indications that he is a Beijing agent demonstrates the depth of corruption it is capable of.

At a parliamentary committee on Thursday, Liberal MP Michael Ma asked Margaret McCuaig-Johnston of the China Strategic Risks Institute if she has personally witnessed forced labour in China. 'I work closely with Human Rights Watch where researchers did witness it,' McCuaig-Johnston said. CBC

 

First PM Carney visited China to fawn on its leadership and handily 'forget' Beijing's penchant for hostage-diplomacy that saw two Canadians kidnapped in China, and held for three years charged with bogus issues under the state's secret issues law. Chinese scientists involved in working as trusted allies in Winnipeg's high security Neational Microbiology Lab, unlawfully sent pathology samples to China's military-linked biology labs, until an investigation revealed the extent of their breach of  trust and they were removed from the lab.

 

Xiangguo Qiu wears a biocontainment suit while working in the containment lab at the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg. Qiu, her biologist husband Keding Cheng, and her students were escorted out of the NML in July 2019. Qiu and Cheng were fired in January 2021. The RCMP is still investigating a possible 'policy breach' reported by the Public Health Agency of Canada. (CBC)

 

Beijing's pilfering of Canadian market processes and innovations are legendary. Including the infamous case of Nortel Networks, once a giant in telecommunications, but brought to its knees by extensive cyber-espionage that led to the rise of Huawei on the ashes of Nortel's innovations. All of these assaults on Canadian industry, included interference in Canadian culture, academia and governments at all levels. Yet all is forgiven, and Canada is eager for more of the same as long as it is given access to the huge consumer base of China's immense population.

 

This current government is on a path that does not converge from one set by its predecessor Trudeau government that spoke glowingly of a 'post-national' Canada, and whose immigration/refugee/migrant policy flooded Canada with a population of those reflecting a heritage, culture and religious ideology at sharp odds with Canadian values, culture, social system, governance and justice. The DEI-infused, Critical Race Theory of the Trudeau government continues apace with the Carney government.

 

Vast expenditures of Canadian treasury have gone into projects of no value to the Canada that most citizens recall in the near-distant past. The country's deficit continues to grow as does its debt, to the point where there is little hope of economic retreat from this government's excesses that match its abject posturing in Beijing chasing a free trade dream that will never materialize, and in the process damning Canada to a relationship with a nation without scruples in controlling other countries as it claws its way toward global dominance. 

 

He Lifeng, vice-premier of the People's Republic of China (left) shakes hands with Canada's Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne during a bilateral meeting in Beijing on April 3, 2026. (Lisa Xing/CBC)

 

"It is Slow, Meticulous and Can be an Extremely Deadly Process"

"We haven't seen big movements [since the U.S. bombing in June]. Maybe a car or a truck [but] not bulldozers digging things out." 

"[The cylinders are] not very big [and] not specially protected [though it is possible that some] decoys [have been placed among them to confuse and impede anyone trying to remove them]."

"[While not privy to any military decisions] what I can say is that this considerable amount of material ... is highly contaminant, so there could be some contamination if there was a direct hit on it."

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general, IAEA

 

"[To get to the buried Isfahan stockpile], you have to get excavation equipment, break through the concrete and lead shield [and any other protective covering], and then you somehow have to get to the bottom of this silo and remove the containers full of nuclear material and fly them out."

Anonymous expert 

 

"There's a lot of risks associated with it. This is a very high order of complexity. There likely will be casualties."

"But this is the problem set for U.S. Special Operations forces. It's what we do."

"We have people who are specifically trained to go into these types of environments."

"[The best way to recover the material would be following a ceasefire and accompanied by IAEA personnel.] But if you have to fight your way in [it could be feasible]."

Retired General Joseph Votel, U.S. Central Command/U.S. Special Operations Command 

U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be mulling over the possibility of monitoring or retrieving highly enriched uranium believed to be buried at the Iranian nuclear sites attacked by the U.S. last year at Isfahan. "Intense satellite surveillance" could help to monitor the location of the nuclear material. Should the plan be to seize Iran's uranium it "would be one of, if not the largest, most complicated special operations in history" in the opinion of former deputy assistant secretary of defence, retired CIA and Marine officer, Mick Mulroy. "It's a major risk to the force." 

"It's the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander-in-chief maximum optionality."

"It does not mean the president has made a decision."

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt 

Iran, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, has stockpiled some 970 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent; short of weapons-grade level. A nuclear facility outside Isfahan holds over half of that total stored in tunnels over 300 feet deep. Satellite imagery from early June analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security show a large flatbed truck carrying 18 blue barrels toward the southern entrance of the Isfahan facility. The barrels, it was conjectured, contained highly enriched uranium cylinders moved for storage within the tunnel mere days prior to Israel and the U.S. launching airstrikes on Iranian targets. 

 

The logistics of an operation of recovery of those barrels are extraordinarily complex; to begin with, striking Iranian defences and equipment to clear a safe passage for ground troops to fly hundreds of miles into the country to establish a defence perimeter at the facilities. The Army's 82nd Airborne and Rangers parachuting to seize the ground within range of enemy artillery, missiles and drones. Engineers might build an airstrip to bring in supplies and equipment airdropped from cargo aircraft; operations vulnerable to enemy fire.

 

A large number of support troops -- mechanics, drivers, refuellers and others would be required to work 24-7 with food and water resupplied constantly. Nuclear specialists would be on site to assess risks and supervise the removal of uranium. The need to blast through rock and enter the storage area would be a yard-by-yard process for commandos to enter an unknown facility. Saws and blow torches would be needed to breach the area, possibly the Army Delta Force or Navy SEALS, to pass underground facility obstacles. 

South tunnel entrance of the Isfahan underground complex near the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, Iran. (Bulletin / Google Earth)

 

Commandos geared with protective uniforms and rebreathers, carrying radioactive detection sensors while shooters covered them. Anything shot at, that might explode or cut through, could hit dangerous material. Radioactive exposure requires arduous and repeated decontamination of personnel and equipment. "It is slow, meticulous and can be an extremely deadly process", stated a former operator. Troops, equipment and nuclear material would be exposed to possible attacks by Iranians through the exfiltration process as personnel are airlifted through enemy airspace.  

 

An Iranian woman walks past a view of Tehran's research reactor in Tehran. Morteza Nikoubazl/Getty

 

"Disrupting and Degrading and Blinding Iran's Ability to See, Communicate and Respond"

"The Iranians are throwing everything they have at this."

"It is all hands on deck."

"If their cyber operators are breathing, then they will be on their keyboards."

Chris Krebs, former director, Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CSIA) 

 

"An Iran-linked group calling itself Handala claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Portage, Michigan-based medical device maker Stryker Corp., carried out on March 11, 2026. Handala said the attack was in retaliation for events related to the conflict in Iran."

"The cyberattack affected Stryker’s internal Microsoft software system, disrupting the company’s order processing, manufacturing and shipping."

"As a scholar who researches cyber conflict, I’ve found that in periods of geopolitical tension such as the current U.S./Israel-Iran war, cyber operations often sit right next to missiles and airstrikes as a tool that states and state-linked groups use to inflict damage, probe weaknesses and signal resolve to their enemies."

"The Stryker case is notable because it shows how quickly a regional conflict can translate into disruption for organizations far from the battlefield. It also illustrates the vulnerabilities of U.S. organizations, including those involved in critical infrastructure."

William Akoto, Assistant Professor of Global Security, American University School of International Service, The Conversation  

Iran has long had sophisticated hacking operations. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Gettyimages

 

Thousands of Israelis earlier this month received texts purportedly from the IDF that encouraged them to download a fake shelter app. Had they done so, reams of personal data could have been stolen. This, while others in Israel received a mass text that said: "Netanyahu is dead. Death is approaching you and soon the gates of hell will open before you. Before the fire of Iranian missiles destroys you, leave Palestine." An obvious play to strew panic and demoralization. According to cybersecu3rity experts, these messages represent a minuscule portion of a vast cyberwar between Iran, Israel and the United States.

 

Iranian hackers who have stabled themselves in the digital shadows for years are considered among the most reliably battle-hardened operatives Tehran can depend upon in this aspect of the Islamic Republic's existential war of survival. The ploy of sowing fear in the Israeli and American public is a powerful yet little-appreciated weapon remaining at the disposal of the Iranian regime, hoping to see some satisfying results in public chaos and a move in both countries to call off the conflict. These tactics, familiar to both Israeli and American cyber experts who have long engaged in their own counter battle, employ their own.

 

Three different levels of cyber operators have been identified in Iran, with boundaries that are frequently blurry, according to analysts and former cybersecurity officials. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran's Ministry of Intelligence operate the most experienced corps of cyber hackers, with a wide array of front organizations whose purpose is to introduce plausible deniability for attacks and the issuance of public threats.

 

Semi-autonomous hacking proxies, cybercriminals and contractors are also in the hire of the Islamic Republic, with volunteer hackers bringing up the rear to mobilize behind Tehran. Israel-based employees of a large U.S. defence contractor are believed by cyber experts to have been doxxed. Emails of politicians in Albania which hosts an Iranian opposition group have received similar treatment, while a Polish nuclear research centre has been infiltrated. The most sensitive espionage is thought to have gone unreported.

 

A hacking front named as Handala is believed by cybersecurity researchers and the American government to be tied to Iranian intelligence; the hacking group claimed to have wiped 200,000 devices in the most consequential wartime cyber attack against the U.S. ever seen, according to one of the most senior civilian U.S. cybersecurity officials, Chris Krebs. It was Handala that claimed to have broken into FBI director Kash Patel's personal email account, to publish personal photographs.

 

Iranian hackers, no matter their level and association, are not quite the match of the U.S. and Israel with their formidable offensive capabilities, an illustration being the significant damage the Iranian nuclear program sustained in 2009 with the unleashing of the mysterious Stuxnet offensive. According to General Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the U.S. launched cyber attacks just prior to the February 28 airstrikes on Iran "disrupting and degrading and blinding Iran's ability to see, communicate and respond".

 

Years ago, Israel's cyber intelligence dealt one of the most telling blows of the war, when it hacked the majority of traffic cameras in Tehran as part of an extensive intelligence-gathering operation preceeding supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's assassination. A popular Iranian prayer app was used by Israel to send notifications to millions inciting regime defections: "Only this way can you save your life for Iran", one of the delivered messages read. 

 

According to analysts in cyber security  Iran's more intensely threatening groups methodically search for vulnerabilities such as entry points to position themselves to target networks. Seedworm, a group the U.S. and U.K. state has links to Iranian intelligence has been identified through attempts to enter U.S. networks since early February, revealed cybersecurity firm Symantec. Resulting in the group being extracted out of a U.S. bank, an airport and software company supplying the defence industry.

 

Iranian cyberhacking is focused on breaking through Israel's hardened cyber defences by launching thousands of wiper attacks on Israeli companies, with success in hitting 50 of them. Security cameras hacked across Israel and the Gulf aided Iran to target drone and missile strikes, pointed out Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point Software. Gill Messing at Check Point added Iranian hackers demonstrated a 'new level' of "scale, effect and sophistication" co-ordinating strikes with the mass text messages sent to Israeli citizens. 

 

There is also speculation that Tehran, in throttling its internet for the purpose of domestic censorship, might have inadvertently set back its own hackers' advances in cyber offences. Although there is  some fear that Iranian hackers may have infiltrated undetected into sensitive economic or military targets, biding time to suck up data. "They could have longterm access that they are not ready to burn", suggested Andy Piazza at cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks. 

 

Since war began, Iranian hackers have been at work throughout the Persian Gulf region – and far beyond. Still from YouTube video

 

 

 

When In Canada Speak as a Canadian in One of Two Official Languages

"The commission had before it an allegation pertaining to the English-only policy that claimed it was not only unnecessarily broad and disrespectful but a deliberate act of racism against Filipino employees."

"Nowhere in its decision does it consider this argument or the supporting evidence provided by Ms. Casila. This is concerning seeing its centrality to Ms. Casila's complaint, which claimed that the policy was racially motivated, not related to simply ensuring work-related tasks could be performed."

"Ms. Casila claimed that this then impacted her indirectly as a Filipina customer." 

Saskatchewan Court of King's Bench

 

"While SHA [Saskatchewan Health Authority] has now provided me with the relevant portions of its policy, I do not see how I can consider it. The policy was not before the Commission – it chose not to investigate Ms. Casila’s complaint."

"In sum, according to Ms. Casila, the policy prohibits employees from communicating with each other or the public in any language other than English or French, without exception."

"[This assertion that she was not denied service] failed to address forms of discrimination other than the complete denial of services." 

"Considering these deficiencies as a whole, I am unable to find that the Commission's decision was reasonable." 

Justice Shawn Smith 

The woman’s complaint argued that the health authority’s policy around languages amounts to discrimination against her as a Filipina customer and stems from racist complaints. (CKOM file photo)

 

In an exceedingly rare instance, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission finally got it right when it turned down a complaint from a Filipina woman who accused a coffee cafe of racism because it ignored her menu request in Tagalog, a language spoken in the Philippines, where the woman, Vanessa Casila, was originally from. She contended that the English/French-only policy in an officially bilingual Canada was racist because it excluded the language she was born to, and that included other Filipina women who worked for the coffee chain, specifically ordered to speak English to their clients.

 

At the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, there is a Starbucks in operation, as is frequently the case in hospitals throughout the country. When Vanessa Casila put in her order speaking Tagalog, the Starbucks employee who took her order explained that she would be in line for a reprimand from the manager should she respond to an order in any language other than English. It is likely that Ms. Casila, recognizing the employee as a Filipina like herself, felt it reasonable to order in their common language.

 

Her sense of dignity as a Filipina was outraged that Tagalog would not be accepted as an acceptable form of spoken communication, as a matter of company policy. Righteous anger propelled her to file a human rights complaint, that the "English only" policy was discrimination based on race, colour, ancestry, place of origin and nationality. Starbucks' language policy, she claimed, prohibited staff from communicating among themselves or with the public in any language but English or French. 

 

She was aware that customer complaints directed to the company relating to Starbucks staff not communicating in English, led to the company's English-only policy. This did not seem to resonate with her; it too became a part of her human rights complaint. What also did not register with her was that when living in a country with a national language that naturally dominated in social interaction, legal and governmental affairs, it is appropriate for all residents of Canada to become familiar with and use, the legally-designated official languages; not to do so is a symptom of disrespect.

 

Statistics confirm that Canada, a country of immigrants, hosts people with 400 different spoken/written languages. If all these people were affronted that their mother tongue was not recognized and could not be used anywhere and everywhere they wanted to do business, a virtual Tower of Babel would ensue. There must be a common,  unifying language -- or two, as the case may be -- and in Canada that would be English and French. In areas of the country with low Francophone numbers English always dominates. Furthermore it is a common universal language.

 

Ms. Casila appealed when the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission dismissed her complaint on the basis that enough evidence was not provided to convince the commission to give it further consideration; to come to the conclusion that there was "reasonable grounds to believe that there had been discrimination based on a prohibited ground". In the opinion of the commission this was missing, and as a result the complaint was dismissed. 

 

She argued further that the policy of English-only was the result of racist customer complaints, disproportionately affecting the Filipino employees working at the hospital-adjacent Starbucks, and indirectly affected her. In her possession was a memo an employee had been sent as a reminder in the interest of not excluding workers and customers, to speak English. That memo was interpreted by the complainant as labelling Tagalog speakers as rude. 

 

If the shoe fits, wear it; it most certainly IS rude to speak a language unknown to others with whom the speaker is involved; it is insulting and exclusionary; a sign of entitlement that is undeserved ,and bad manners at the very least. Her claim was once more dismissed by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, citing commercial transactions as being immune from protection of language. A policy meant for employee conduct should not concern her, as a non-employee.

 

This is one determined woman. She approached the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, where she finally found satisfaction. The court found that the Commission had been too swift to reject the woman's complaint. Justice R. Shawn Smith ordered the commission to revisit the case since its decision "failed to address forms of discrimination other than the complete denial of services". Sometimes, it's true...justice is an ass.

  

Last month, Saskatoon Court of King's Bench Justice Shawn Smith ordered the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission to reconsider a complaint brought by a woman who says she was denied service in her preferred language while ordering at the Royal University Hospital Starbucks. Photo by Michelle Berg /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

 

The U.S. Strong-Arming Canada on NORAD Defence

"Frankly we don't need fifth [generation jet fighters] to defend our borders."

"Those capabilities are better used overseas where their stealth, air-to-ground weapons and penetration capability are needed." 

"I would like to see continued modernization of [the] fourth-generation fighter fleet."

U.S. Air Force General Gregory M. Guillot, head, joint U.S.-Canada NORAD   

A U.S. F-35 fighter jet performs during the Dubai Air Show in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)  

 

 In Canada, General Jennie Carignan, chief of the defence forces, is on record as stating that the 
Canadian Forces require the U.S.-built fighter jet F-35 to defend Canada's Arctic territory. The Canadian Forces themselves emphasize that the F-35 is a required component in plans to modernize the North American Aerospace Defence Command of NORAD. Also stressing an absolute requirement for fifth-generation aircraft for Canada's defence is Commander Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

 

The Liberal government of then-prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2023 announced the purchase of 88 F-35 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin in the United States. This, when years earlier Justin Trudeau had expressed his disdain for the planes when the previous Conservative-led government of then-prime minister Stephen Harper planned to order them. Trudeau's intent was to 'scrap' the planned purchase claiming Harper's "dream" aircraft would turn out to be a "nightmare" for the Canadian taxpayer.

 

Then along came Mark Carney with the Liberal government carrying on its agenda, with an review ordered of the F-35 contract spurred by threats made by President Trump against Canadian sovereignty. It seemed feasible that 15 of the F-35s which the Liberals had committed to would proceed, leaving an additional 72 of the Stealth fighters in doubt, while flirting with the prospect of filling in with Sweden's Saab fighter planes, the Gripen fighter jet, as a F-35 alternative. 

 

An illustration provided by Saab shows its fighter jet concept. The company was tasked by the Swedish military to design the next generation of fighters and autonomous flight systems. (Saab)

 

The Canadian Forces remain steadfast in recommending Canada proceed with its original intent to contract for all 88 F-35s; an expression of Canadian military leaders committed to working closely with their American counterparts, viewing the F-35 as pivotal in full integration between the two forces. There is a troubling aspect of the F-35 contract, parts of which would be produced in Canada, but entirely controlled by the U.S. military to the extent of their software which could be manipulated at any time against Canadian wishes. 

 

Another issue is the type of plane Canada plans to buy, the Block 4 version of the F-35, $6-billion over budget, five years behind schedule, revealed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Pressure has been applied by the U.S. on Canada to return to its original purpose of the full contract. The American ambassador to Ottawa, Pete Hoekstra, warned Canada dire consequences could ensue should the  government fail to commit to the F-35; that the Gripen would fail to be "interchangeable, interoperable" with the U.S.-operated F-35s. 

 

And here is General Guillot, head of NORAD, refuting the notion that the F-35 is needed by his combined U.S.-Canada force. Considered the most advanced type of aircraft, General Guillot hit back against its use for NORAD. NORAD's needs, he stated, are for fourth-generation fighter jets, modernized for current usage; the F-015EX, an aircraft produced by Boeing, in service with the U.S. and Israel. 

 

Boeing, F-15EX

 

"Canada has been flying different aircraft from the USAF in NORAD for 40-plus years and controls its jets through Winnipeg, and the F-35's stealth is irrelevant in NORAD because Russian bombers do not have air-to-air radar."

"[Hoekstra is] babbling nonsense." 

Bill Sweetman, U.S. aviation writer 

The Solidarity of NATO Allies

"The president and our country will have to re-examine all of this after this operation is over."

"If NATO is just about us defending Europe if they're attacked, but them denying us basing rights when we need them, that's not a very good arrangement. That's a hard one to stay engaged in." 

"When this operation is over, it [Strait of Hormuz] will be open and it'll be open one way or another."

"It will be open because Iran agrees to abide by international law and not block the commercial waterway, or a coalition of nations from around the world -- and the region -- with the participation of the United States, will make sure that it's open."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Global Banking & Finance Review

 

"Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options."

"It would also mean we had to be there [on Kharg Island] for a while." 

"I would only say that we're doing extremely well in that negotiation but you never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump

 

"An Iranian regime that launches ballistic missiles at homes, weaponizes global trade and supports proxies is no longer an acceptable feature of the regional landscape."

"We want a guarantee that this will never happen again."

Noura Al Kaabi, minister of State, Foreign Ministry, UAE 

 

"This [use of Spanish airspace] was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran."

"[The war in Iran is] profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust. [The U.S. was made aware of Spain's position] from the very beginning."

"You cannot respond to one illegality with another, because that's how humanity's great disasters begin."

 Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles 

Tehran has faced waves of US-Israeli strikes since the war began in February   Getty

 

Spain's airspace has been completely off service to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war; the latest step announced by one of the loudest opponents in Europe of the U.S.-Israeli conflict in the Middle East. This announcement links to Spain's earlier denial for the U.S. to make use of jointly operated military bases during the conflict. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez  described the war as illegal, reckless and unjust. Following Spain's denial of the Rota and Moron military bases in southern Spain, President Trump suggested the U.S. could do without trade with Madrid.

 

Spain's Sanchez has been on a roll as one of the most vocal critics of Israel's invasion of Gaza and the war being waged against the Gazan government's Hamas terrorist group that had been responsible for five thousand Palestinian terror operatives swarming across the border from Gaza for a wholesale atrocity of sadistic savagery committed against Israeli civilians, highlighted by body cams worn by the terrorists while they mass-raped, tortured and murdered women and girls, infants and the elderly, entire families torched in their homes. According to Sanchez is it inhumane for the Israeli Defense Forces to hunt down the murderers of Jews.

 

The military alliance's lack of enthusiasm to fulfill their mandate does not sit well with the Trump administration, finding the lack of support during this latest military chaos in the Middle East "very disappointing", in the Secretary of State's opinion. Having largely rebuffed Trump's frequent requests to assist in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, blocked by Iran following the February 28 start of the U.S.-Israel aerial  war on the Islamic Republic, it is actually Europe that finds itself in increasingly dire straits, depending largely on oil and gas from the Middle East.

 

First to inspire anger has been Spain distancing itself from the conflict by blocking U.S. use of bases in Spain. And nor has U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's position been appreciated following his initial rejection of the request to permit the U.S. access to its military bases to assist in the carrying out of strikes on Iran. In a reversal since, the U.S. has since been given allowance to use bases for "limited defensive action". 

 

Perhaps most disappointing, but yet not surprising is the hesitation of the Gulf nations to take action themselves against Iran's constant bombardment hitting, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Aside from suggestions of action emanating from them time to time, no concrete moves have yet been taken to respond to the deadly missiles and drones targeting Gulf oil depots, airports and civilian areas, by an Iran that now has nothing to lose in breaking loose and making good on its decades-old threats against its neighbours. Aside from intercepting missiles, no counter-action has yet been taken by Saudi Arabia et al.

 

Large oil tankers berthed at the Port of Mutrah in Muscat, as regional tensions in the Strait of Hormuz raise concerns over global oil supply disruption and energy market instability. Muscat, Oman, Feb. 28 2026. Craig Hastings, Getty Images

"Without the United States, there is no NATO."

"An alliance has to be mutually beneficial. It cannot be a one-way street."

"Let's hope we can fix it."

Marco Rubio 

And The Winner Is : A Dynastic Scion

"There's so much love out there for Jagmeet out there in our base, in our party and beyond."

"I would be delighted to get advice from Jagmeet."

"And he's got some kind of magic that I would love a part of."

"If it isn’t already obvious, we are building a new foundation for our party, and we are ready to come roaring back on the Canadian political stage." 

"Of course, we can already hear the howls from the establishment: 'But how will you pay for all this?' Well, let's remind them, this country is awash in wealth, we can have nice things."

"It is time, far past time, to properly tax the corporations and billionaires that have been riding a tidal wave of profits while the 99 per cent have been suffering and struggling."

Avram David Lewis, newly-appointed leader, federal NDP 

Avi Lewis speaks after he was elected leader of the New Democratic Party, on the last day of the party's convention, in Winnipeg on Sunday. (Shannon VanRaes/Reuters)

 

Could that be a death-wish for the New Democratic Party, already wobbling on uncertain legs, with no real official status in the House of Commons given its paltry 7 elected Members of Parliament when the 

'magic' leadership of former head of the NDP Jagmeet Singh led his party to the absolute worst election showing in the party's memory. If Avi Lewis, as new leader, takes any advice from Jagmeet Singh, the party that abandoned its original purpose in favour of supporting the Palestinian 'cause', where at the leadership convention Lewis was backgrounded by supporters in keffiyehs waving a large Palestinian flag to great acclaim, with no flag of Canada in evidence, the party will be buried in inglorious history. 

 

Avi Lewis speaks after winning NDP leadership in front of a waving Palestinian flag. CPAC screenshot

 

The most pressing of the tasks before this man is to find a seat in the House of Commons, to become a Parliamentarian. Not that he hasn't tried on previous occasions and failed. This time the momentum of a new leadership is with him and he will select a 'safe' riding and come galloping into the House to prod the Liberal government to 'tax the rich' and give the honest working family a leg up on the  upward mobility scale of success. He would, after all, know what it's like to live in an ambience of privilege, wealth and security.

 

David Lewis, left, who at the time was federal NDP leader, and former leader Tommy Douglas talk over coffee in Nanaimo, B.C., on Oct. 20, 1972. David Lewis is the grandfather of Avi Lewis. (Doug Ball/The Canadian Press)

 

His grandfather, David Lewis led the party from 1971 to 1975. His son, Stephen Lewis, Avi's father, who passed away the day his son became NDP leader (an omen of some kind, or just misfortune?) attended Oakwood College Institute in Toronto as a teen, and although his well-off family lived in walking distance of the school, Stephen Lewis was driven to school and picked up daily in a chauffeured limousine. Although Oakwood was a fairly prestigious school at the time, son Avi had his education at the private all-boys Upper Canada College.

 

Married to the notoriously uber-left political activist Naomi Klein, his mother progressive columnist and author Michele Landsberg, Avi Lewis is well steeped and marinated in progressive socialism. His background has been in broadcasting, well known to those who compulsively tune in to Canada's broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which itself has turned its programming inside-out in DEI progressive internal politics and decidedly un-neutral reportage. 

 

Avi Lewis even enjoyed a stint co-hosting Fault Lines for Al-Jazeera. He co-wrote A Message from the Future with U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019. What amazing credentials for his current position ... He worked in academia as a lecturer in media studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and later became an associate professor at University of British Columbia in their geography department. Places where Critical Race Theory, the inalienable rights of transgenderism, and DEI are held sacred.

 

In 2015 Avi Lewis with wife Naomi Klein launched the Leap Manifesto with other progressives calling for a 'leap' away from fossil fuels in favour of environmentally friendly economic action, along with use of taxes to improve equality, and promotion of greater respect for Indigenous communities. According to one who should know, former NDP leader Thomas Mulcair stated an NDP  under Lewis with a rigid position on fossil fuels would see the party unelectable in remote communities (read: Indigenous) that depend on resource industries for their economic base. 

 

The NDP celebrated the great breakthrough  in New York City with the election of Muslim imperialist Mayor Mamdani with his forward-looking plans for city-subsidized grocery stores, free public transportation, free university approaches, and other people-loving, corporate-hating initiatives to make working peoples' lives less mundane and fraught with failure, to enable them to seamlessly enter the success platform of American prosperity. Now it's the NDP's turn to emulate that superb scheme for the betterment of non-capitalist humanity.

 

NDP Leadership hopefuls with the winner   still from video, CBC