A talk given June 20, 2024 at the University of Winnipeg
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In the history book Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, the late great author and journalist William Blum documented more than fifty documented incidences of military or covert U.S. interventions on countries around the world. The book shows that the aim of these many interventions, from Albania to Zaire being in service of democracies is hard to justify, especially as a large percentage of these displays of “the American Way” were actually used against democratic countries. [1]
He, together with figures like Noam Chomsky, Alexander Cockburn, and Howard Zinn distinguished himself as a prominent U.S. foreign policy critic and incited both praise and criticism for daring to speak out on a subject that smeared the profile of the world’s biggest champion of “democracy and human rights.” Hence, a lot of listeners out there are prepared to question the latest conflict with another major threat equated with the likes of Adolf Hitler.
Seldom, however, is the country of Canada equated with the U.S. in this regard. Even people who may not be friendly with the Prime Minister of the day are not seen by the people of Canada as launching a war, or aiding in the destruction of a democracy. From a young age, Canadians are trained to see Canada as a champion of democracy that tries through diplomacy and good will to aid nations in their struggles to hold and maintain democracy. And in war, they “punch above their weight” in order to ensure democracy. [2]
But author Yves Engler is one author who continues to relentlessly soil this vision of Canada as the Boy Scouts (and Girl Scouts) on the world stage. Together with his co-author Owen Schalk, Yves takes the Northern community on a discursion similar to William Blum’s epic journey of the more than 20 elected governments around the globe – from Mohammad Mossadegh in Iran to Patrice Lumumba in Congo, to Salvador Allende in Chile to Jean Bertrand Aristide in Haiti – that has witnessed Canada’s participation in coups and ousting of governments. [3]
The replacing authorities have less to do with the failings of democracy as devotees to traditional imperatives understand them, and more to do with furthering the corporate and imperial goals of the governments in office. Both Liberal and Conservative governments are complicit iin this endeavour.
On this week’s Global Research News Hour, we bring the listeners a talk, organized in the University of Winnipeg campus within the UW Hive on the evening of June 20, 2024. Owen Schalk was present at the talk. Yves Engler appeared via Zoom. The talk was sponsored by Peace Alliance Winnipeg and host station CKUW.
It was recorded with the assistance of videographer Paul Graham. Video of this talk is available here:
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Owen Schalk is an independent researcher and writer whose work focuses on domestic and foreign policy. His articles have been published by Alborada, Monthly Review and Protean magazine, and he contributes a weekly column to Canadian Dimension. He is the co-author of Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy, 2024 and also the author of Canada in Afghanistan: A Story of Military, Diplomatic, Political and Media Failure, 2003-2023, James Lorimer & Co., 2023. He lives in Petersfield, Manitoba, Canada.
Yves Engler is one of Canada’s foremost Canadian foreign policy critics and dissidents. He is the author of ten books on Canadian foreign policy including Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy (with Owen Schalk) (2024) and Stand on Guard for Whom?: A People’s History of the Canadian Military (2021). His articles have appeared at globalresearch.ca, rabble.ca, canadiandimension.com, and on his own site yvesengler.com.
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