Section: iPolitics (Canada)
Don’t mention the war, Europe
As Germany wrestles with whether to finally permit the publication of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” controversies in a number of European countries make it seem as though World War II never ended. One has to wonder if, with the passing of the generation that actually fought the war, the time hasn’t come to set a cut-off date for its...
No need to bring Russia back to G8, Nicholson says
Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson told reporters Wednesday morning he doesn’t see a need to bring Russia back into the G8. Speaking on teleconference from a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Lubeck, Germany, Nicholson said the “affable” meeting touched on a range of issues, from Ebola and Iran to Ukraine and Yemen. Earlier this...
Russia is shaking off the curse of oil
Signs are multiplying that the Russian economy will not die a painful death, but is just taking some long-overdue strong medicine. The country posted unexpected growth in the fourth quarter of 2014 and it can now look beyond oil for drivers of recovery. Today, the Federal Statistics Service said the Russian economy expanded 0.4 per cent in the...
Canada to send military advisors to Ukraine
The Canadian Forces are signing onto a training mission in Ukraine. iPolitics has learned Canadian trainers will joining American troops currently serving in that role. Observers are set to deploy to the eastern European country in mid-May to shadow the Americans, with the remainder of the contingent to follow near the end of the month. The...
Mr. Alexander’s fantasy Cold War
That was some speech Immigration Minister Chris Alexander gave the Ukrainian Canadian Congress last week. It combined a scathing attack on Vladimir Putin with a rousing call to arms. The minister’s barn-burner began with a quite reasonable proposition: that the West’s escalating confrontation with Russia is a threat more dangerous...
While Ukraine’s oligarchs squabble, Putin laughs
As if its festering conflict with Russia and war-torn economy weren’t enough, Ukraine is facing a growing self-inflicted problem: a showdown between the government in Kyiv and an influential billionaire with his own private army. Sadly, this is not a righteous fight on either side. The standoff — which started last week — entered a new...
Ukraine tops Iraq, Syria as global security threat, Alexander says
Russian aggression in Ukraine is a bigger threat to global security than the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Chris Alexander says. Video recorded of Alexander giving a speech to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress on Feb. 22 – and posted on YouTube last week – shows him ranting against Russian President...
Harper meets with NATO chief in Ottawa
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg met today to discuss the war in Iraq and the crisis in Ukraine. The meeting just comes days ahead of the planned introduction of a motion to extend and expand Canada’s combat mission against extremists in Iraq — and possibly Syria. Stoltenberg, a former prime minister...
Mr. Harper’s phoney cold war
To the world, Canada is not a player in Russia’s proxy war in Ukraine. We give speeches — intended solely for domestic political consumption — but we’re nowhere near the centre of events. To the Harper government, however, Canada is more than a player — it’s a target. And not even NATO can convince it otherwise. The prime...
A pigeon in hawk’s feathers: Harper on security
Stephen Harper’s gotten me so scared, I feel like hiding in a closet. The prime minister is quite right — the highest purpose of government is to protect its citizens. Why, then, does he try to scare the bejesus out of them every day? I thought leaders in times of crisis were expected to keep calm and carry on, maintaining stiff upper lips...
