The measures taken by the Carney government since it took over power after the last election confirm this government's adherence to the methods Carney and several of his ministers and point men of the state learned at Goldman Sachs. Previous employment in that institution seems to be in fashion at this time.

To see how Carney rules over not only his cabinet, but also the Liberal caucus, the House of Commons and Canada as a whole, it is enough to look at the "One Goldman Sachs" approach: "Leveraging its collective intellectual capital and diverse talent to serve clients. Key principles include prioritizing client interests above all else, upholding the highest ethical standards [as per his British colonial values of course -- TML Ed. Note], striving for superior results, fostering a culture of teamwork and professional growth, and cultivating a diverse workforce."

All of the above is what Carney claims represents the interests of the polity and Canada's raison d'état – reason of state. Carney is proudly restructuring the state at the fastest speed possible, serving the interests of what are called "stakeholders," which match his own.

He deprives the many and varied different interests which exist in the society of meaning and renders them as values directed at identifying with whatever he says is the national interest at this time. The people are told that the national interest of the U.S., or Britain, or Canada, or the European Union, is the interest of the world's people for peace, democracy, and rights. The conception is that there must be no challenges whatsoever to the direction of this raison d'état and its national interest. That is how talk about values and identity become about raison d'état.

Carney's rendering of democracy is one of passive individuals who have no claims on society. Individuals and collectives are effaced while what are called are given recognition and the interests said to serve these "stakeholders" are validated; collectively aggregated to uphold the legitimacy of Carney's reasoning of state, for what is called capitalist democracy.

It underscores the important challenge currently facing the working class and people of this country. Among other things, it is important to discuss how Carney's definition of national interest is used to trump the public interest. There is a process on the basis of which, through sleight of hand, talk about values and identity become about raison d'état (reasoning of the state). Talk about values and identity are used to establish a nation-wrecking definition of national interest. To see through the actions of the Carney government, look at this definition of national interest which discards the legitimate claims of the working class and people on society. By creating all kinds of advisory groups comprised of "stakeholders," this government is denying the peoples' right to conscience and to speak, thereby denying the existence of the peoples' right to self-determination itself.

Carney's neo-liberal banker's mindset is stuck in the Covenant Thesis expounded by Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century which defined the Supreme Power above the rule of law. It is stuck in the 18th century philosophy expounded by the Philosophes in France which established the relationship of individuals to the state in pre-revolutionary France to favour a raison d'état and "civilized" rule of law over the "noble savage." It is also stuck in dogmas rendered by the Vatican and various Popes in the past 80 years to maintain the Catholic Church's anti-communist and pro-Nazi crusades against the movements of the peoples to empower themselves.

Finally, besides treasuring the "do or die" values of empire espoused by 19th century Victorian England, despite his talk about a "rupture" that the world faces at this time, his government pursues Cold War policies, practices and forms of organization, wrapped in pretentious bafflegab. It ignores that the conditions are no longer those imposed on the world under the auspices of the Anglo-American imperialists with the U.S. leading the way after World War II.

What is called for by the situation, especially amidst all the threats of war, environmental crises and impoverishment of the whole society, is a modern definition of democracy. This does not mean looking up the definition from some dictionary. Definition has to do with the actual functioning and sorting out of the real problems that exist in society as a result of the people's disempowerment. The sorting out is how one harmonizes the individual and collective interests that are in conflict with one another -- the interests of individuals in their collectives, and of the collectives within the ensemble of the general interest. This problem must be argued out. By exercising freedom of speech -- speaking freely -- modern definitions and the arguments which bring them into being are brought to centre stage.

Human reasoning and arguing have to be brought forward. A logic must be provided that it is possible to sort out the relations which exist and which create a clash between conditions and authority. It requires people having their own agenda, their own organizations, their own outlook, writing their own constitutions which guarantee their rights so that they can resolve problems, and express their own conscience against all the assaults of a state power whose raison d'état is to deprive them of power. It entails finding the ways and means to deprive those in positions of power and privilege of the power to forbid discussion by citing the arrogance that they, not the people themselves, represent what the people want.

A modern definition of democracy is required which is in line with the requirements that are created by the mighty productive forces and the relations that have come from them, which underlie the interests in conflict. This is where the real transition lies which is inherent in the ensemble of relations between humans and humans and humans and nature.

Without blinking an eye, the Carney government's pursuit of a government run like a boardroom comprised of those who represent narrow supranational private interests suppresses the right to speak of workers and people in this country. Doing so in the name of the national interest, of raison d'état, of high ideals, will not wash. Workers and democratic and anti-war forces from coast to coast to coast are seeing to that.

Toronto, September 20

Sudbury, September 20

Montreal, September 27

Government's Backroom Deals Seek Further Economic and Military Integration into U.S.

– Nick Lin –

The Carney government's latest efforts to integrate Canada more deeply into the U.S. war economy took place during and after the meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, DC on October 7. This "deal-making" is purportedly to get relief from U.S. tariffs as part of economic and security arrangements with the U.S., which includes putting Canada's energy and critical mineral resources at the service of the U.S. oligarchs. None of this has been put before the people for their consideration.

Dominic LeBlanc, the Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade stayed behind in Washington, DC after Carney's meeting with Trump. Along with Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kristen Hillman, he met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Carney and others repeatedly say that "intense negotiations" are underway, but Canadians and Quebeckers are none the wiser.

One of the most treacherous aspects of the Carney government's agenda is its consideration that Canada join the Trump administration's "Golden Dome" missile defence program. Defence Minister David McGuinty told the U.S.-Canada summit held in Toronto on October 8 that he had been authorized by Prime Minister Carney to discuss every kind of missile defence with the U.S.

Any Canadian involvement in U.S. missile defence has long been opposed by the people because of all the threats it poses to peace, security, sovereignty and more. Yet once again, in the name of Canada appeasing the Trump administration on economic and security matters, the anti-war convictions of Canadians and Quebeckers are simply dismissed.

Carney has indicated that discussions were taking place on reviving the Keystone XL pipeline to ship more oil from Alberta to the U.S. He also did not rule out another pipeline from Alberta to the west coast, indicating that it was possible if there was a viable corporate sponsor, and what he called "Indigenous buy-in" and measures to protect the climate. It is hard to take these latter two conditions as anything but disingenuous, given that bypassing consent from Indigenous Peoples and criminalizing their just defence of their treaty and hereditary rights on behalf of the monopolies has been the longstanding default position of the Canadian state. The bypassing of Indigenous Peoples' right to consent has even been enshrined in Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act, to the outrage of people from coast to coast to coast.

Also up for reconsideration are lifting the cap on industrial emissions and ending the tanker ban on the west coast to satisfy the oil monopolies and their spokespersons in the Alberta government and the Major Projects Office.

The "Nation-Building" Claim Behind
Carney's Military Spending

– Georges Côté –

The Carney government's Defence Industrial Strategy comes with the grandiose claim, not to equip Canada to defend itself from foreign aggression, but to actually drive economic development and innovation and "diversify" from U.S. dependency. Although government communications do not use the term, commentators have equated it with "military Keynesianism," an "economic renaissance" and a "revolutionary concept." In other words, the Carney "renaissance" is based on stimulating economic development not by meeting the growing needs of the Canadian people and their economy but with wars and encouragement to war, where it becomes in Canada's interest to make sure that wars keep going as often and as long as possible. It also hides the fact that war production greatly harms the economy, by removing huge funds from the economy for weapons and armaments that are destroyed and put nothing back into the economy. War production tied to the U.S. war machine also undermines fraternal relations with the world's peoples, especially with the peoples bearing the brunt of these wars.

The increased emphasis on military spending necessarily leads to further impoverishment of the workers throughout the economy. Spending on war production represents an increase in the total value of goods produced that are consumed for wasteful purposes and are of no value in meeting the needs of working people. Yet every public dollar that is spent on war production forms part of the total amount of currency in circulation that is available for people to use for the purchase of goods that satisfy their needs. The same amount of money in circulation is chasing fewer useful goods. Whether or not they are employed in the defence industry, workers are then paid their employment income with these inflated dollars.

Here are selected quotes from government officials making the claim that war production will drive economic development and innovation, and diversify markets for Canadian goods.

"The transformation of our military capabilities can help transform our economy. Right now, National Defence already accounts for over 275,000 direct and indirect jobs... Our renewed commitment to defence will create tens of thousands more... and drive innovation in sectors like artificial intelligence, quantum, and cyber." – Prime Minister Carney announces the government's plan to rebuild, rearm, and reinvest in the Canadian Armed Forces, June 9, 2025.

"The world is increasingly dangerous and divided. Canada must strengthen our defence to better protect our sovereignty, our interests, and our Allies. These investments won't just build our military capacity -- they will build our industries and create good, high-paying jobs at home. If we want a more secure world, we need a stronger Canada." – PMO press release on NATO pledge, June 25, 2025.

"We are equipping our Armed Forces with the capabilities and support they need to protect Canadians and uphold our commitments around the world. This historic investment will strengthen our sovereignty and invest in the Canadian economy – growing a world-class defence industry that fuels innovation and job creation." – Defence Minister David McGuinty, "Canada's New Government Is Rebuilding, Rearming and Reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces," news release, June 9, 2025.

"As we strengthen the Canadian Armed Forces, we will also build up Canadian industry, driving innovation and creating good careers for Canadian workers and new opportunities for Canadian businesses." – PMO, press release, August 8, 2025. Also notes dual-use infrastructure like ports, airports, telecom.

"Canada commits 3.5 per cent of GDP to core military capabilities and an additional 1.5 per cent to dual-use security infrastructure (airports, ports, telecom, emergency systems) -- i.e., spending that directly overlaps with civilian economic capacity." – Canada Joins New NATO Defence Investment Pledge, June 25, 2025.

Who Pockets Canada's Defence Spending

Besides the claim of driving economic development, the Carney government says one of its aims with defence spending and with trade is to "diversify away from U.S. dependency." The Canadian military industry is so heavily integrated into the U.S. war economy that it is hard to determine where ownership starts and stops. Not to speak of the fact that militarily speaking, Canada's military is under U.S. command for all practical purposes.

Nevertheless, there is a claim that with the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy (ITB), Canadian military procurements "contribute to jobs, innovation and economic growth" across Canada because the ITB "contractually requires companies awarded defence procurement contracts to undertake business activity in Canada equal to the value of contracts they have won."

The following is a list of companies that stand to benefit or that already benefit from Canada's military spending. The mention of Canadian-owned or foreign-owned is nominal, as officially entered in procurement listings, even though the "Canadian-owned" do not belong to the people of Canada. But even with this definition the bulk of the military spending of the government of Canada ends up with entities under foreign ownership and control.

Key Recipients of Canada's Military Spending

- River-class destroyer (CSC) batch-1 implementation at Irving (Canadian-owned): CA$8.0 billion for ships 1-3 (including taxes), award March 3.

- P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft: U.S. Navy contract U.S.$3.4 billion to Boeing (U.S.-owned) to build 14 P-8As for Canada (announced February 29, 2024).

- F-35 purchased from Lockheed Martin (U.S.-owned): CA$19 billion (January 2023), Auditor General update CA$27.7-33.2 billion (June 10).

- A330 MRTT (Strategic Tanker Transport Capability): CA$3.6 billion awarded to Airbus Defence and Space (July 25, 2023). Airbus is co-owned by the German-French-Spanish European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company with Britain's BAE with 20 per cent interest.

- SkyAlyne FAcT (Canadian-owned): CA$11.2 billion for 25-year contract for comprehensive aircrew training (May 28, 2024).

- LVM (Army logistics vehicles), GDLS-Canada + Marshall: CA$1.5 billion acquisition plus up to CA$1.08 billion in-service support (May/June 2024) to Power Team, a consortium led by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-Canada) and Marshall Canada. One is a subsidiary of U.S-owned General Dynamics and the other is a subsidiary of UK-owned Marshall Group.

- Davie polar icebreaker: CA$3.25 billion (March 8) to Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards and Chantier Davie Canada. Seaspan Shipping is U.S.-owned while Davie's ownership structure is "complex."

- MDA: CA$60 million (River-class destroyers, June 24) plus CA$39 million acquisition plus CA$27 million in-service support for Halifax-class unmanned aircraft systems (August 5). MDA Space is listed as Canadian-owned.

- The construction of two joint support ships: CA$2.4 billion 2020 build contract (later adjustments reported in 2024) awarded to Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards. Seaspan is U.S.-owned.

- Ammunition production and stockpile plan: CA$9.5 billion over 20 years framework, to General Dynamics (U.S.), Colt Canada (based in Prague), ITM Defence (backed by UK private equity), Magellan Aerospace (Canadian-owned), HFI Pyrotechnics Inc. (Canadian-owned).

- Over-the-Horizon Radar technology contracted to Australian subsidiary of British defence firm BAE Systems, at a cost of $6 billion, as part of Canada's commitment to spend $38 billion to modernize NORAD. Announced on March 18.

(Sources: Government of Canada, Wikipedia, Marshall Group, AP News and other agencies)

Federal Government's Preparation for Launching Defence Industrial Strategy

– Philip Fernandez –

Anti-war demonstration at CANSEC arms fair in Ottawa, May 25, 2025

The official announcement about the Defence Industrial Strategy is expected after the fall budget is released on November 4, news agencies report. The Globe and Mail reported on September 25 that the government "plans to prioritize technologies with both civilian and defence application." To that end, in the meantime, Defence Minister David McGuinty "has spoken to about 300 companies to learn industry's perspective and is looking to its allies' strategies for examples of what's possible."

What's Possible According to Carney Government

Following the announcements made on September 5 in Mississauga of measures to fund businesses and workers in preparation for his government's new Defence Industrial Strategy, Prime Minister Mark Carney made an announcement in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador on September 8 that $80 million of the $1 billion Regional Tariff Response Initiative, first announced in March of this year, would be dedicated to businesses in Atlantic Canada. He said that this investment backs the seafood sector.

Speaking to the press in Montreal on September 8 alongside Jean Simard, president of the Aluminum Association of Canada, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said that Quebec's aluminum sector would receive hundreds of millions of dollars from the $5 billion fund to help sectors hit with U.S. tariffs. She referred to "the projects that are being discussed right now with Alcoa, with Rio Tinto and with Alouette." Alcoa and Rio Tinto are both foreign-owned monopolies acting to secure more Canadian public funds. Simard said that of the 3.3 million tonnes of metal that was produced in 2024, a record year, 90 per cent was for export and 90 per cent of the exports went to the U.S. and that the industry cannot fully cut ties with the U.S. market -- meaning further integration into the U.S. war machine.

Canada has announced that it will pause its electric vehicle mandate for next year, dropping the requirement that 20 per cent of total vehicle sales in 2026 had to be EVs. A Globe editorial in September called on the government to scrap the mandate altogether as heavy-handed and inflexible and "a backdoor subsidy for the EV industry." It proposed instead the enforcement of regulations, in place since 2010, under the greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles and light trucks. The regulations set company-specific goals for average emissions. According to the Globe editorial, they could be tightened over time so that the only way to meet them would be to have an EV-only product line. Instead of incentives, the government should spend on building up charging infrastructure, the Globe said.

The Carney government has the full cooperation of the Canadian Labour Congress and Unifor. Calling for a strategy for building Canadian industry, both unions nonetheless welcomed the measures as temporary relief. They said some, like the changes to Employment Insurance eligibility, require clarification and adjustment to make them broader and permanent. They pointed out that the changes to EI do not correct the problem that many workers do not qualify at all and the change to extend benefits to "long-tenured workers" could exclude workers who have faced periodic shutdowns and layoffs and others.

That's it. A complaint. Meanwhile, contrary to the interests of the working class and people they support the basic thrust of Carney's measures which conform to what is decided in the boardrooms of supranational narrow private interests. Nothing to do with building Canadian industry or which sectors of the economy are required for that if the strategy is to serve the people and meet their needs.

Unifor President Lana Payne said, "We cannot surrender the future of EV production to overseas automakers. [...] Canada needs consumer incentives, investments in domestic EV supply chains, and for automakers to start building affordable EVs here in Canada. A mandate alone won't secure a Canadian EV industry – we need a full industrial strategy that ensures we both make and sell EVs in this country."

Unacceptable Attempts to Convince Canadian Workers that War Production Creates "Good Jobs"

– Barbara Biley –

Working people are broadly condemning the Canadian government for its complicity in Israel's genocidal crimes, and demanding that the government implement a two-way arms embargo with Israel that includes arms sent indirectly to Israel through the U.S. At the same time, the Carney government is intensifying its attempts to convince workers to tie their livelihood to its schemes for stepped-up war production.

The latest remarks from Industry Minister Mélanie Joly follow those she made a month ago during a Liberal cabinet retreat and are part of ongoing attempts to soften up workers and set the stage for the Carney government's full-blown Defence Industrial Strategy to come in November. This strategy is a key part of its nation-wrecking agenda carried out in the name of "nation-building" and defending the "national interest" against U.S. economic aggression.

In a speech to the Canadian Club Toronto on October 9, Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly reiterated the Carney government's plans as a three-point strategy to "protect jobs, create new employment and attract talent and investment" in the face of economic threats from the U.S.

A CTV report said of the speech, "The minister detailed Canada's updated industrial strategy and how the Liberals intend to bolster key sectors, including steel, aluminum, lumber and auto, which are struggling under U.S. President Donald Trump's unrelenting tariffs." The strategy has "the aim of unlocking Canada's economic potential through building up this country's industrial base." According to Joly, the strategy is "a way to solidify Canadian sovereignty at a time of considerable global instability and shifting dynamics around trade, defence, and security," CTV reported.

In an interview before the speech, Joly told the Globe and Mail that the three-point plan is "a result of hundreds of conversations with corporate executives, pension fund managers, business associations and university and high-tech leaders" whose interests the government serves. Besides federal funding to sectors hit by tariffs, including auto, steel, aluminum, copper and lumber, she said that short-term protection of the market also needs to ensure that companies can "pivot." She gave the examples of federal funding for Algoma Steel, $1.25 billion to the softwood lumber sector, and the $13 billion Build Canada Homes scheme to pay developers. She emphasized that the housing plans, the Buy Canadian policy and the new Defence Investment Agency, announced on October 2, would attract investment and create jobs. This would enable Canadian monopolies tied to war production to compete internationally using Canadian steel, aluminum and lumber.

She said specifically that companies such as General Dynamics and CAE can count on long-term defence contracts. General Dynamics in particular has been singled out by the people's movement in support of Palestine as one of the companies that Canada permits to ship arms to Israel. As recently as July, shipping data from Montreal's Dorval Airport indicates that ammunition from General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Cartridge Manufacturing Plant in Repentigny, Quebec was shipped directly to Israel.

According to Joly, under the Carney government's schemes, "For the first time in decades, we will be re-creating a military industry in our country. Canada has one of the most important capacities in terms of shipbuilding within NATO so I want our shipyards to be able to export and sell to the world."

She added, "We can really create good manufacturing jobs in the [defence] sector. We can create good tech jobs in that sector and we can have great researchers doing dual-use research." She said that the government will be unveiling measures to attract foreign investors and "high-quality talent and researchers" from the U.S.

Again, Minister Joly shows the opportunism and utter detachment of the Carney government from reality and the concerns of working people, youth and students. The Carney government only sees the opportunity to use the situation for its own narrow aims, which include bowing to U.S. demands for war production and participation in Trump's Golden Dome missile system. Canada, which incessantly declares itself a "defender of human rights" has said nothing about the broad violation of rights in the U.S. through raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deployment of the military, including raids against university researchers, faculty and students.

Meanwhile, university faculty and students have been fighting for the past two years to hold their universities to account to get them out of research that supports war production, especially research that supports Israel's genocide in Gaza. They have been fighting for students from Gaza accepted into Canadian institutions to actually be able to come to Canada. Canada's racist immigration policies and appeasement of Israel mean that none have yet been able to come. On all of this, Minister Joly is silent.

People from all walks of life have repeatedly said they don't want Canada to be part of wars of aggression, including war production. It is unacceptable that the Carney government is claiming that, based on its consultations with private industry, war production will shore up Canada's economy and defend its sovereignty.

Meanwhile the democratic will of the people to oppose imperialist aggression and war can be ignored. Negation of the right of those who produce all the wealth in society to have a say in the direction of the economy in the name of "sovereignty" is an insult to working people.

Canada Participates in Largest Ever Weapons
Trade Show in Britain

Demonstration at weapons trade show in London, September 9-12, 2025

Canada's Secretary of State, Defence Procurement, Stephen Fuhr, addressed participants in a weapons fair in London on September 8, titled Defence and Security Equipment International. Canada, in the words of Fuhr, "showcased its strength" with more than 200 Canadian companies participating in the weapons fair. He said this is "Canada's largest-ever presence at the expo."

For the people, it is evidence of the course the Carney government has set to step up war preparations and production in the name of high ideals.

Fuhr was present to tout Canada's and the UK's shift in approach to military funding which includes, but is not limited to, the commitment to meet NATO's demand for five per cent of each member country's GDP to be devoted to its military build-up by 2035. Other military spending is on top of that, including the pay-the-rich schemes which enrich private interests involved in war production, such as J.D. Irving Limited, the owner of Irving Shipbuilding.

In a speech delivered at the weapons fair, Fuhr described his responsibility as not only overseeing procurement but facilitating partnerships with like-minded allies, like Sweden, Finland and the UK. The next generation of Canada's River-class destroyers -- the largest military procurement project in Canadian history -- is designed by BAE, the largest arms manufacturer in Europe, and built by Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax.

This, he said, is an example of how collaboration can deliver world-class capabilities and what he called "lasting economic benefits." For whom he did not say. "This is possible because Canada has a robust defence industry, contributing nearly $10 billion to our gross domestic product and sustaining more than 81,000 jobs," he threw in instead, for good measure.

According to Fuhr, this "defence" industry, "with approximately 60 per cent of its sales coming from exports... already has a strong global footprint."

New Low for Warmongering Propaganda

– Youth for Democratic Renewal –

As the bloodthirsty mania for war in the ruling circles of the West ever escalates, the servile role of the mainstream press has come into ever clearer view. This reality has been demonstrated by the media's duplicitous coverage of the genocide in Gaza, and with the overwhelming editorial support tossed behind Mark Carney's statements regarding the "necessity" for an expanded Canadian military presence in Eastern Europe.

A recent Maclean's article, "Canada Needs a Mandatory National Service," however, reaches a new low. The article argues that in order for Canada to "project strength" on the world stage and to counter Russia and China, a program of mandatory military service for young people should be introduced. What temerity!

The author is forced to admit that Canada's youth have lost confidence not only in the armed forces but in the Canadian state at large. Is this really so surprising? Perhaps this "crisis of confidence" can be traced to Canada's complicity in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people through its continued aid to Israel. Perhaps it can be traced back to Canada's direct participation in the "Global War on Terror," waged for more than a decade against the peoples of the Middle East, killing millions for blood-soaked profits. Perhaps it can also be traced to the Canadian government's slavish relationship to NATO, with Canada sending an ever-increasing amount of soldiers and materiel to NATO's frontiers, inflaming tensions in Europe.

Despite all of this, the author of the article argues that the only way to combat this "crisis" is to introduce peace-time conscription. Only then, with a uniform on their back, can young people learn to love "our" army and "our" state. How very convenient for the warmongers.

The author of the Maclean's article regales readers with fanciful fairy-tales about how the army "builds character" and imbues a "patriotic spirit." This is plainly absurd. The army is not the Boy Scouts, nor is it a daycare centre; all this posturing about "self-improvement" cannot hide the fact that enlistment in the army is a question of life and death if Canada is led into another war.

During the First World War, 66,000 Canadian service members died in the trenches of France and Belgium. If we adjusted that number to the current population, it is equivalent to roughly 350,000 young people dying. Of course, this number does not include the untold hundreds of thousands of veterans who came back injured, or with newly-acquired physical disabilities, or with mental ailments. Did this bode well for their "self-improvement?"

The youth of Canada cannot repeat this tragedy. Raising the spectre of conscription will not extricate this horror from the memory of the Canadian people.

For all the worn-down rhetoric about patriotism and love for Canada, there is nothing honourable about sending an entire generation of young people wrapped in Canadian flags to die in wars abroad to fight for some vaguely defined and self-serving notion of "national interest."

The history of Canada has shown, time and time again, that Canadian youth have categorically rejected, and will continue to reject, being led like lambs to the slaughter before the terrible altar of imperialist war. It would serve the warmongers well to remember the response the people of Quebec gave to the Canadian government when they introduced conscription in 1917 so Quebeckers could die in that "great" inter-imperialist war. It would also do them good to remember the many militant demonstrations held across Canada against the wars in Korea, Viet Nam, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, which brought tens of thousands of working people and youth to the streets to speak in their own name.

Today the youth of Canada have grasped the situation and realize that their interest lies not in fighting for "our" ruling class, but in fighting for an anti-war government. The ruling circles of Canada clearly want to forget these facts, but the fighting youth of Canada and Quebec won't let them!

Auto Workers' Response to Carney
Government's Protection of Canadian Jobs

– Rob Woodhouse –

Stellantis plant in Brampton October 4, 2025, demanding production stay in Canada

The Carney government and its ministers are running around staging photo ops with sectors of industrial workers they claim to be protecting against the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and Canada's counter-tariffs. Meanwhile, auto workers are demanding the government protect Canadian jobs. Workers in the auto industry and industries that supply parts to the auto industry are facing layoffs, downsizing and even the complete closure of factories as foreign automakers move production out of Canada to ensure their interests in the face of U.S. tariffs.

Over the past few years the federal government and the government of Ontario have handed over millions of dollars in public funds to the auto monopolies. They claim that in doing so they are protecting Canadian jobs because, in some cases, these handouts come with promises to keep production in Canada. The bitter experience of Canadian workers is that governments do not hold these monopolies to account. They repeat the neo-liberal mantra that corporations have to protect the interests of their shareholders. They say they are in no way beholden to the workers and communities in Canada and Quebec where they operate despite all the incentives governments provide them in the name of jobs and other malarkey. When push comes to shove, the "guarantees" governments secure are a fraud to cover up pay-the-rich schemes and governments do nothing to enforce them.

Workers at the Stellantis plant in Brampton, Ontario have been out of work since December 2023, when they were laid off. At the time they were told that production was being halted and the plant was to undergo a 24-month retooling to transition to electric vehicle (EV) production to make the Jeep Compass. Prior to the shutdown, the Stellantis plant produced the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300.

However, in February, after the announcement by the Trump administration of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian assembled vehicles, the retooling was stopped for what the company called an "eight-week pause." Stellantis has refused to meet with the union to discuss its plans. The "pause" continues to this day, with no end in sight, no explanation from the company and no government action to recoup the large sums of money it gave Stellantis. The shutdown impacts 3,000 workers at the Brampton plant and more than a thousand workers in factories that supply it, who are reaching the end of their Employment Insurance payments at this time.

The workers held a rally at the plant on October 4 along with workers from other auto plants and other unions, standing united in their demand that the federal and Ontario governments protect jobs and hold the auto monopolies to account. At the rally, local union leaders and national leaders of Unifor, which represents some of the workers at the Stellantis plant, spoke. They called on Stellantis to keep its pledge and for governments to support the workers. Both the president of Unifor Local 1285, Vito Beato, and Unifor National President Lana Payne defended the workers, with Payne saying, "We need political leaders to stand with us and to fight with us. Our members here in Brampton were promised a bright future. Since February that future has been put on hold."

Premier Doug Ford also spoke at the rally. He did not say a word about what his government will do to enforce the conditions that Stellantis agreed to when his government and the Trudeau government pledged $15 billion to support EV battery production by Stellantis and others in 2023. The agreement made with the governments of Canada and Ontario on July 6, 2023 to provide public funds for the production of EV batteries, included the condition that "Stellantis will uphold its existing commitments in Canada and Ontario, including a production mandate at its plant in Brampton, Ontario."

Ford, who presents himself as "Captain Canada," bombastically told the rally: "Our government will continue to protect the workers, to protect their jobs, to protect the communities, and we will always have your backs." He said that he had spoken to the CEO of Stellantis to urge him to open the plant and get the workers working. He called on Prime Minister Carney -- given he was traveling to the U.S. to meet with President Trump on October 7 -- not to "roll over" but to stand up to Trump's bullying. He puffed up his chest and said that he has been talking to the premiers of the provinces and territories to appeal to them to buy vehicles built in Ontario.

As for counting on Carney's not rolling over for Trump, Carney's performance at the White House speaks for itself. Here is what he said: "You kindly hosted me and some of my colleagues a few months ago and I said at the time you were, are, a transformative president and since then transformation in the economy, unprecedented commitments of NATO partners to defence spending, peace from India, Pakistan through to Azerbaijan and Armenia, disabling Iran as a force of terror and now, and I'm running out of time but this in many respects is the most important, [Trump interrupts with 'the merger of Canada and the United States' and everyone laughs] ... that wasn't where I was going. No, on this solemn day of commemoration of the horrific attacks of October 7, for the first time in decades, hundreds of years, thousands of years, this prospect of peace that you've made possible, Canada stands foursquare behind those efforts and will do whatever we can to support you."

Carney thus stands directly against the resounding demand of the people for a complete end to the Gaza genocide and occupation of Palestine. When it comes to protecting jobs, it is crucial to fight for a change in the direction of the economy and renewal of the political process to empower the people to become the decision-makers. The workers' security lies in the fight for their rights and the rights of all at home and abroad. Illusions that cartel party governments have workers' interests at heart or can be relied on are harmful. Their aim is to block the nation-building project of the workers for a sovereign and self-reliant economy founded on meeting the needs of the people, production primarily for domestic use and for trade with other countries on the basis of mutual respect and benefit.

Bafflegab on Home-Building Plays
with People's Lives

– Colleen Pearse –

Demonstration in Montreal for the right to housing, September 13, 2025

One of the Carney government's success stories is said to be the Build Canada Homes (BCH) program he established on September 14. With a $13 billion budget, this federal agency claims it will build, finance and support affordable housing projects across Canada. What exactly does this even mean? No doubt, "affordable" is what the real estate developers decide, not what people can actually afford. How is his glitz and glitter any different to that of his predecessors who have also done everything in the name of the public good while providing no solutions to the housing crisis.

Since the 1980s under the Mulroney government, the Chrétien government that followed, and subsequent governments since then, massive cuts have been made to funding for social housing.

In the mid-1990s, the Chrétien government scrapped the Canada Assistance Plan, which required the provinces to meet national standards for welfare. Those standards included the right to an income that took into account a person's budgetary requirements, a ban on discrimination based on the recipient's province of origin, an appeal mechanism, and a ban on forcing a social-assistance recipient to work in return for benefits. All of this was done in the name of "scarcity of funds" to pay for social programs and the necessity to prioritize paying down the national debt.

During the Chrétien era, from 1993 to 2003, the only federal government investment in new social housing was an $89 million one-time program in 2001.

In a 2014 "Overview of the State of Homelessness in Canada," prepared for the Mouvement pour mettre fin à l'itinérance de Montréal, Alison Smith points out that in 1996, the federal government downloaded the administration of social housing to the provinces. Ontario then downloaded responsibility for social housing onto the municipalities. In 2001, the BC Liberal government implemented further cuts to funding for social housing.

Alison Smith also points to the nefarious effects of the closure of mental institutions that took place across the country from the 1970s to 1980s. This was justified by saying that people would do better living in the community rather than institutions, but the supports they required did not follow people into the community, with predictable results.

Smith also noted, "Residential schools also closed, and the country saw an urbanization of Aboriginal people. Many of the Aboriginal people who moved to big cities suffered unimaginable trauma and violent pasts, and had been separated from their culture and language. Coupled with racism, Aboriginal people continue to face systemic barriers to housing and supports, and make up a wildly disproportional part of the homeless population in many Canadian cities, especially in the West."

In 2017, the Trudeau Liberals announced they would "reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent." Later in the 2019 Speech from the Throne, the Liberals said they "upped our commitment and declared our focus to be entirely eliminating homelessness in Canada." Further commitments were made by the Trudeau government in 2024. None of these commitments and what if anything they achieved have been referenced by the Carney government.

Why does Carney think that Canadians will believe his genius strategy as being any different to those of his predecessors? In essence, the aim is to pay the rich and make individual people and families scramble for the "benefits" which will come their way. It is cynical banker's talk from A to Z.

Besides anything else, Carney and his government, in their arrogance, are in denial of the decades of research done by housing rights organizations and housing experts, who have laid out over and over what is needed to end the scourge of homelessness in Canada.

Carney claims that his newly minted BCH federal agency will "transform public-private collaboration and deploy modern methods of construction, as it catalyzes the creation of an entirely new Canadian housing industry. It will leverage public lands, offer flexible financial incentives, attract private capital, facilitate large portfolio projects, and support modern manufacturers to build the homes that Canadians need."

"Leverage public lands." Whose lands would those be? "Flexible financial incentives." Sounds like promo for Canada's banks disguised to sound like the individual borrower will somehow benefit. "Attract private capital." The real estate developers are amongst the most corrupt sectors of finance capital so what is Carney now offering them after they have benefitted from so many previous "incentives"? "Facilitate large portfolio projects." More boardroom-speak under the guise that BCH "will focus primarily on non-market housing, supporting a mix of income needs as part of a national effort to double housing construction, restore affordability, and reduce homelessness." "Mixed-income," housing invariably means more pay-the-rich schemes to developers for luxury condos with a small quota of "affordable" apartments.

A "large portfolio project" is supposedly an ongoing collection of "multiple individual projects, programs and even operations" managed together to "achieve strategic organizational goals and maximize overall value and return on investment."

Carney presents building houses like a brilliant act, uniquely discovered by himself and offered to Canadians as if, now, under his financial genius, the right to housing will be provided with a guarantee because his is a "strategic commitment that balances risk and return by prioritizing, allocating resources to, and continuously optimizing a diverse set of initiatives that contribute to the larger business strategy."

Wow.

Here are the "three pillars" to the BCH's work as advertised by the Carney government.

"First, Build Canada Homes will partner with industry, other orders of government, and Indigenous communities to build affordable housing at scale and at speed. [...]

"Second, Build Canada Homes will deploy capital, create demand, and harness innovative housing technologies to build faster and more sustainably, 365 days a year. [...]

"Third, Build Canada Homes will adopt the government's new Buy Canadian policy and prioritize projects that use Canadian lumber and other Canadian materials."

Making it sound as if building by using modern technology and Canadian resources is a new invention, in announcing the BCH Carney also made public its first four investments and initiatives:

"1. As Build Canada Homes begins to develop public land sites under Canada Lands Company's portfolio, it will prioritize innovative, factory-built housing. To begin, Build Canada Homes will prioritize six sites to build 4,000 factory-built homes on federal land – with additional capacity of up to 45,000 units across the portfolio. [...] This first tranche of sites will be in Dartmouth, Longueuil, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. [Presumably Vancouver where the housing crisis is amongst the most severe countrywide comes under one of the "investments and initiatives" – TML Ed. Note.]

"2. To help protect existing affordable rental housing, the $1.5 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund will be launched under Build Canada Homes. This initiative will support the community housing sector in acquiring at-risk rental apartment buildings, ensuring they remain affordable over the long term. [...]

"3. Build Canada Homes will deploy $1 billion to build transitional and supportive housing for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It will collaborate with key provincial, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous partners to pair these federal investments with employment and health care supports.

"4. Build Canada Homes will partner with the Nunavut Housing Corporation to build over 700 public, affordable, and supportive housing units. Approximately 30 per cent of the units are expected to be built off-site, using innovative construction methods such as factory-built housing."

Related to BCH, the federal government announced on September 19 that it would "top up $1.5 billion in loans to the Affordable Housing Fund's New Construction Stream." This is one of the Fund's two "sub-streams" said to offer low-interest repayable loans and forgivable loans.

No mention of what vulnerable people have to do to qualify for one of those loans and who will judge their ability to repay or whether they "deserve" forgiveness. But hey, what else are "sub-streams" for except to cover all the bases? In its plans, the Carney government does not quantify what Canada's homeless problem is, or what are its causes. The cartel parties and the governments they form, including the Carney Liberals, do not talk about rights that belong to people by virtue of their being human, which includes the right to housing as a basic necessity of life.

The Carney government does not even say when his plans will end homelessness in his number one economy of all the G7 (Canada, U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan).

At the end of August, Viet Nam with a population 2.5 times the size of Canada's, announced that homelessness was now ended in that country. In comparison, the Carney government is promising to deliver an "austerity budget" on November 4, with massive cuts to federal public services, while ramping up funding for militarization and war preparations to the tune of hundreds of billions per year between now and 2030.

The cynicism of the Carney government is to pick up on the issue of "affordability," when addressing the housing crisis. Through sleight of hand, the picture is painted that by turning the issue over to market forces, the needs of the people for housing will be met.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) published a calculation of what it calls a rental wage, the hourly wages needed to afford rent while working a standard 40-hour week and spending 30 per cent of income on housing. In an update based on statistics from 2024 on rent for one- and two-bedroom apartments, they found that Toronto and Vancouver topped the unaffordability list with someone working full-time needing to make almost $38 an hour to afford a one-bedroom apartment.

In Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary the rental wage for one bedrooms is more than double the minimum wage, the CCPA pointed out. Out of 62 cities, only in eight could one affordably get a one-bedroom while working full-time at minimum wage, CCPA said. The CCPA raised the obvious need to increase the minimum wage as well as for measures to keep rent under control.

Rent 20 per cent below market is defined as "affordable" although it is out of reach for low income families, John Gordon, CEO of National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc., told the Hill Times. He said he thinks the housing crisis is a result of the "financialization" of housing – housing looked at not as homes but as investments. He pointed out that for Indigenous people in Canada many are among the first or second generations outside of the residential school system and do not have intergenerational wealth to pass down through families.

"We just face a greater housing challenge than [the] mainstream. If [the] mainstream is in a crisis, imagine what the crisis is for Indigenous people," Gordon said.

Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada has raised the issue of how BCH will work with "a broad range of stakeholders, including housing developers, Indigenous partners, provincial and territorial governments, financial institutions, and experts in modern construction methods."

The Carney government is selling old wine in a new bottle with his proposals to increase "affordability" to justify pay-the-rich schemes. What is "new" is not how his home-building program plays with people's lives but how it fits into his nation-wrecking agenda. It turns every Canadian, Quebecker, Indigenous person, Inuit and Métis into a personal one-on-one relationship with narrow private business interests on whose mercy they are supposed to throw themselves.

Carney has raised his bafflegab to a new art form. No wonder he is fond of quoting the former Pope who was himself fond of quoting. Carney, in his book Value(s) references a lunch at the Vatican with Pope Francis where the Pope said, "Your job is to turn the grappa back into wine, to turn the market back into humanity." Like the Pope, Carney forgets grappa is not made from wine and thus cannot be turned back into wine, any more than the capitalist market is oganized to meet the needs of humanity.

Self-Serving "Red Tape Review" and Cuts
to Federal Departments

– Jane Steeple –

President of the Treasury Board Shafqat Ali made a statement on September 8 that his department had published progress reports identifying "nearly 500 recent and forward-looking initiatives to streamline services, cut duplication, and reduce costs for Canadians and businesses." He claimed that these reports "mark a major step forward in our ongoing commitment to eliminating red tape."

The 500 reports were not made available to the workers in the sectors of the economy they affect and no public opinion was solicited to approve criteria or standards for those sectors. It is a fundamentally self-serving pursuit whose sole aim is to scrounge public funds for Carney's restructuring of the state to pay the rich for privatization and to militarize the economy.

It goes without saying that all programs require constant renovation, modernization and efficiencies but not at the expense of the public interest. That is what has been taking place for the last more than 30 years since the neo-liberal anti-social offensive was launched in the mid 1980s.

It is not surprising to see the Business Council of Canada (BCC) chirp up on cue with a statement titled "Stifled by Red Tape." It complains about excessive regulation which the BCC self-servingly declares harms Canada's economic growth and future, deterring companies and investors. The BCC places Canada's regulatory burden as among the heaviest in its membership. The example is given of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with bond-rating agency S&P reporting that "Canada has taken about 20 years on average to approve a mine." The BCC quotes The Economist saying that Canada is an "accountant's paradise" for its complex tax code.

Its list of "top 10 obstacles that government should fix" pretty much coincide with what the Carney government is doing to pay the rich at the expense of the social and natural environment. They are:

1. Permitting for infrastructure projects;
2. Financial services complexity;
3. Package labels;
4. Global minimum tax;
5. Regulatory impact statements;
6. Foreign worker permits;
7. Privacy patchwork;
8. Paid leave days;
9. Building permits; and
10. Different regimes for Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting.

A review of past government red tape reductions by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' Bruce Campbell, published on September 3, confirms that when regulations clash with corporate interests, the public interest will be compromised or subordinated to them and that such government projects are accompanied by austerity measures, including cuts to regulatory agencies. Campbell points to harmful examples of industry self-regulation with limited or no direct public oversight, as in the 1985 task force created by the Mulroney government to eliminate "red tape," then the "smart regulation" initiative of the Chrétien government in 2004.

Campbell points out that safety oversight regimes, called Safety Management Systems, were introduced in 2002. These allowed the regulator to outsource responsibility for operationalizing and implementing regulations to industry, providing government cover from its responsibility in the event of failures.

Campbell recalls that the Harper government issued a Cabinet Directive on Regulatory Management in 2012, the centrepiece of which was a rule that regulatory agencies offset each proposed new or amended regulation by removing at least one existing regulation. This "progressively lowered the ceiling on the number of regulations without regard to whether those removed would compromise safety."

Campbell goes on to explain that this approach was continued under Trudeau, giving examples of the consequences of the deep flaws in regulatory regimes such as the sinking of the Ocean Ranger offshore drilling platform in 1982; the Westray Mine disaster in 1992; the Walkerton water contamination in 2000; the 2008 listeria outbreak; and the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in 2013. At Lac-Mégantic, Campbell writes that the deaths of 47 people "were collateral damage from the culmination of mutually reinforcing policies of cutting red tape – which subordinated government's obligation to protect the public – aligned that terrible night. It was a perfect storm of regulatory failure and corporate negligence." He points out that the necessary safety regulations have not been put in place to prevent a similar event.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) was notified of impending job cuts at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on August 25, approximately 320 positions. In a June 17 report, PHAC forecasts a nearly 40 per cent drop in funding for its core functions and internal services between 2025-26 and 2027-28 and a nearly 30 per cent drop in jobs, from 3,081 full-time equivalent positions in 2025-26 to 2,167 by 2027-28.

This is separate from the 15 per cent reduction in spending over the next three years requested of all departments by the Finance Minister. PIPSC president Sean O'Reilly told the Hill Times, "It really concerns me when they talk about these [job] reductions because when you eliminate scientists who monitor disease outbreaks, the experts who ensure our water is safe to drink, and the specialists who provide early warnings before health emergencies, you're not just cutting those jobs. You're gambling with Canadian lives."

Everything's Wrong with Indigenous Advisory Council for Major Projects Office

– Marie Thibault –

Indigenous youth protest outside Prime Minister Carney's July 17, 2025 consultation meeting with Indigenous leaders in Ottawa.

On September 10 Prime Minister Carney's office announced the 11 members of the Indigenous Advisory Council for the Major Projects Office (MPO).[1] The news release from the Prime Minister's office states: "This Major Projects Office will benefit from the leadership and guidance of the Indigenous Advisory Council (IAC) – eleven representatives from First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Modern Treaty and Self-Governing communities. These leaders bring deep expertise and experience, and they will help guide the MPO's work to ensure that major projects create opportunities for equity ownership and responsible resource management through meaningful participation with Indigenous Peoples."

Having not even consulted as to who should be on the advisory council, the news release goes on to assert that "meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples is embedded in the Building Canada Act." Given that the Building Canada Act itself has been condemned by Indigenous communities because it was imposed without any such consultation and puts in place mechanisms by which the federal government can trample on Indigenous rights in the name of "nation-building," this is what is called adding insult to injury.

Carney's Indigenous Advisory Council is a failed attempt to silence opposition to the plans to fast-track resource extraction and export and infrastructure projects demanded by the rich through the Major Projects Office. It is to cause division amongst the people by designating hand-picked individuals, chosen, according to the Privy Council Office, "for their expertise in areas such as major projects, economic development, Indigenous rights, and regulatory processes." In other words, their role is to give legitimacy to projects that the government has deemed to be in the "collective interest." These are already tagged as projects which will invite foreign investment to plunder Canada's energy and mineral resources and serve further transformation to a war economy. It is no coincidence that the business experience of members of the IAC are membership on corporate boards of mining, oil and gas, and utility companies, among others.

Besides the IAC, the Carney government has implemented other measures to entice participation from Indigenous communities and suppress opposition: "To increase Indigenous Peoples' capacity to engage on major projects, the Government of Canada has committed $40 million over two years to support consultation and preparation for community readiness activities as it relates to major projects." "Community readiness activities" is typical government speak which covers up to whom the funds go and what happens to them.

The Government of Canada also doubled the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program to $10 billion, in the name of enabling more Indigenous communities "to acquire equity ownership of major projects without cost." A loan program without cost. The suggestion that owning property is somehow going to make the Indigenous Peoples equal to the rich amongst Canada's property owners is such a fraud, it doesn't get more condescending than that.

Some Indigenous leaders denounced the lack of transparency and of Indigenous participation in the selection of the members of the IAC. Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige told the Hill Times that there had been little or no information with respect to the process of the establishment of the IAC, that chiefs of the 39 Anishinabek nations heard nothing from the government about how it was formed and that it is unclear what the body's role will be. She added, "Our communities, our nations, are of the opinion that the advisory council are not the rights holders to the land that will be impacted by proposed project development."

Abram Benedict of the Chiefs of Ontario which represents 133 First Nations said that they were not consulted on who was to be appointed or asked to put forward any proposals. Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) President Margaret Froh told the Hill Times that at the Métis Major Projects Summit convened by Carney on August 7, Métis governments were invited to submit names and that the MNO did submit names.

Grand Chief Kyra Wilson of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said, in a statement on September 10, that "Canada is once again moving forward without respecting the voices, jurisdiction, and decision-making authority of First Nations in Manitoba. ... Not one First Nations leader was even considered. This is not inclusion – it is exclusion.... First Nations in Manitoba will determine their own place in these processes. First Nations leadership, and their respective nations, will decide on how they will engage in these major projects and give direction."

Some leaders that opposed the exclusion of Indigenous voices from any discussion on Bill C-5 and opposed the way the IAC members were appointed, expressed hope that Indigenous Peoples would be involved in decision-making on major projects. Chief Debassige's assessment was that the IAC is "an entity that's going to be set up for failure, and quite honestly, probably used as a scapegoat for any failures that Canada experiences. Their idea of compensation is, you know, do what they need to do now, get their hands slapped later and pay out compensation. But that's not the way First Nations want to do business."

In announcing the 11 members of the IAC for the MPO September 10, Carney said, "The members bring deep expertise in economic participation, impact assessments and [knowledge of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People] and the council will ensure that projects move forward in true partnership with Indigenous Peoples." The IAC includes membership from Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. Presumably the council is meant to give the appearance of Indigenous approval for the so-called nation-building projects to be spearheaded by the MPO and the legislative and regulatory changes brought in by Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act. In reality, it covers up the broad opposition from Indigenous Peoples and many others concerned about the social and natural environment, who reject Bill C-5 and the deregulation, nation-wrecking and pay-the-rich schemes being taken up by the Carney government in the name of "nation-building."

First Nations Major Project Coalition Begins Discussion on
Economic Corridor from Manitoba to British Columbia

The Globe and Mail reported on August 28 that the First Nations Major Project Coalition (FNMPC) has begun initial discussions on a proposal to create an economic corridor from Churchill, Manitoba on the western shore of Hudson's Bay, to Prince Rupert on the Pacific Coast. In 2022, the FNMPC received $13.5 million from the federal government to further its work to promote Indigenous participation in natural resource projects, including critical minerals. Mark Podlasly, Chief Executive of the First Nations Major Project Coalition said that the members of the coalition are interested in participating in major projects.

The FNMPC was established in 2017. Its website says that it is "a national 170+ collective group of First Nations made up of elected councils, hereditary Chiefs, Tribal Councils and Development Corporations, who have made the decision to come together to advance our shared interests of participating, and where appropriate gaining equity positions in the major projects taking place in our territories."

It says that, "Under our broad mandate, FNMPC provides our First Nation members with access to tools, knowledge, and advice used to make free, prior, and informed business decisions about First Nation involvement and participation in major natural resource and infrastructure projects. Our services focus on supporting the economic, environmental, and public policy interests of our members in a non-political and business focused way." It says that the "FNMPC is now active on 18 major projects located in three different areas of Canada." The organization further says that it "values being project and industry agnostic. FNMPC will not advocate for or against a particular industry or project" and further more, that it is "non-political." Specifically, "The FNMPC does not take political positions, nor does it get involved in issues concerning Treaty rights, territorial boundaries, or issues of rights and title generally."

Note

1. Biographies of the members of the Indigenous Advisory Council on the Major Projects can be found on its website. The members are:

- Kluane Adamek, Kluane First Nation, Yukon

- Chief Darcy Bear, Whitecap Dakota First Nation, Saskatchewan

- Vanessa Doig, Makivvik, Northern Quebec

- JP Gladu, Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek, Ontario (Gladu serves on the boards of Suncor, the Institute of Corporate Directors, Superior Plus, BHP's Forum for Corporate Responsibility and Domtar's Sustainability Committee. He has completed a forestry technician diploma from Sault College, obtained an undergraduate degree in forestry from Northern Arizona University, holds an Executive MBA from Queen's University, an ICD.D from Rotman School of Management University of Toronto, an honourary doctorate in law from Carleton University in 2024 and an honourary doctorate in business from Lakehead University in 2025.)

- Victoria LaBillois, Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation, Québec

- Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi, Beaver First Nation (Treaty 8), Alberta

- Chief Terry Paul, Membertou First Nation, Nova Scotia

- Lorne Pelletier, Manitoba Métis Federation, Manitoba

- Christy Sinclair, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Nunavut

- Crystal Smith, Haisla Nation, British Columbia (According to government biographies, amongst other things, she is Chair of the First Nations LNG Alliance, a former Director of the First Nations Climate Initiative, a Board Director at Taseko Mines, and a member of TC Energy's Indigenous Advisory Council. Her achievements have earned her the BC Business Women of the Year award, Public Policy Forum Honouree, Energy Person of the Year, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal.)

- Matt Vermette, Metis Nation Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan

Carney's Junkets Abroad

Pitching Canada as "Reliable Partner" for U.S.
and European Monopolies and War Machines

– Hilary LeBlanc –

Canada's Prime Minister continues to make trips to Europe in the name of "strengthening relationships with European allies and advancing co-operation in key areas, including trade, energy, critical minerals, and collective defence." According to Carney, "As the world becomes more dangerous and divided, Canada is focused on strengthening and diversifying its international partnerships. Canada is deepening co-operation on trade, energy, and defence with our long-standing European allies. Together, we will create greater security, stability, and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic."

Far from creating "greater security, stability and prosperity" on either side of the Atlantic, Carney's meetings and pronouncements reveal the essence of his government's reckless pursuit of militarizing the economy and engaging in war production which he claims will make Canada the number one economy of the G7. He goes so far as to claim that by riding roughshod over the social and natural environment and the inherent rights of the peoples which comprise Canada as well as the countries of Europe, Canada will replace the U.S. as the world's gatekeeper of power to protect Anglo-American imperialist interests.

He put this succinctly on September 22 when he addressed the U.S. Council on Foreign Affairs in New York City on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly where Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs addressed the Assembly, not Carney. Without naming the U.S., Carney referred to recent changes in trade and international relations as "a transition." "This is a rupture," Carney said, adding that Canada can thrive in this situation.

The idea of Canada thriving in the situation of "rupture" created by U.S. President Donald Trump seems to appeal to Carney who constantly uses the parlance of salesmen of banking interests seeking investment funds.

Referring to Canada as a "middle power," Carney presented Canada as a reliable trading partner that gives other countries what they want in terms of human and natural resources and elimination of regulations protecting those resources. Bragging that his government has "removed all federal barriers to interprovincial trade," he said: "We have passed landmark legislation to fast-track literally hundreds of billions of dollars of projects in energy, in AI, in critical minerals, in new trade corridors. We are doubling our defence spending by 2030. Our core capabilities with respect to defence, AI, quantum, cyber, critical minerals provide unique opportunities for dual-use [meaning civilian and military use] and economic benefit, and we intend to fully exploit those."

Carney elaborated further saying, "We are diversifying our trading relationships and our security partnerships. We signed the most comprehensive agreement with the European Union from a non-European Union member, the Economic and Security Partnership with the EU. We signed that at the end of June. [... W]e are on track to be a full member of SAFE, the European defense arrangement, which allows us to diversify and accelerate our defense procurement."

Fundamental to Carney's foreign policy is who is the "we" he speaks about so blithely. When we say Who Decides, We Decide, it puts decisions by a "we" on the table. It puts decisions at the centre of the question of power, of human energy.

Fundamental to we decide is the meaning that we make the judgements. The meaning of the "we" refers to people making judgements, people as the makers of history. All this content is lost today when the ruling class blithely suggests its interests constitute the "we the people." When Carney speaks, there is neither argument nor reasoning. Only incoherence.

End of August Trips

Visit to Poland

From August 25 to 27, Prime Minister Mark Carney travelled to Poland, Germany, and Latvia. In Poland, news reports inform he met with business leaders to promote new industrial partnerships in key sectors, including energy, defence, and aerospace.

Carney said in a press release announcing his trip: "As the world becomes more dangerous and divided, Canada is focused on strengthening and diversifying its international partnerships. Canada is deepening co-operation on trade, energy, and defence with our long-standing European allies. Together, we will create greater security, stability, and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic."

On August 25, Prime Minister Carney met with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Polish President Karol Nawrocki. The main issue discussed according to news reports was Ukraine with Carney affirming Canada's support for Ukraine, highlighting its military assistance announced at the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta in June.

The readout from Carney's meeting with Tusk says "The leaders reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russia's invasion and welcomed the United States' openness to providing security guarantees to support long-term peace and security for Ukraine and Europe. The leaders emphasized the need for robust and credible security guarantees and for continued pressure on Russia. Prime Minister Carney and Prime Minister Tusk underscored that no decisions about Ukraine should be made without Ukraine, and no decisions about Europe without Europe."

This stand is a mere reiteration of Canada's shameful support for the neo-Nazis in Ukraine. Given Trump repeatedly negotiates with Putin about Ukraine, these claims about decisions "without" Ukraine and Europe are pretentious hot air.

Canada and Poland also discussed "opportunities to expand trade and investment, including through critical minerals, energy, and defence industry co-operation."

They issued a joint statement on enhancing the "Canada Poland strategic partnership."

The Joint Statement dealt with several topics under the title: "A stronger economic partnership," in the following sections: Energy, Defence, Aviation, Trade-related cooperation, Enhanced security and defence cooperation, and Ukraine, Maritime Security, Cybersecurity, Foreign Information, Intelligence, Military Cooperation, Interoperability, Evolving Security Threats and Border Security. In each area there are commitments to collaborate including initiatives such as: "Both governments will promote significant industrial participation at major industrial trade events, such as CANSEC 2026 [the annual international weapon arms fair in Ottawa] and the 34th International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) (September 2026, Kielce, Poland)," where Canada will be "lead nation." Through the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the EU and NATO, the two leaders said they will strengthen trade relations, military and police cooperation, etc.

On implementation, the Joint Statement reads: "To operationalize this enhanced strategic partnership, Canada and Poland will initiate annual bilateral consultations between government officials. A High-Level Steering Group on Bilateral Cooperation will be established at senior official level, with participation from relevant departments and ministries. This group, co-chaired by the foreign ministries and comprising key ministries from both countries, will oversee the implementation of mutually determined deliverables and report progress annually to their ministers and to both Heads of Government. Bilateral cooperation may also result in the signing of respective memoranda of understanding in the future."

Meetings in Germany

On his visit to Germany on August 26, Prime Minister Mark Carney met with the Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz, "to promote stronger economic co-operation and address pressing global security challenges," Global Affairs Canada reported. Carney is also said to have met "with senior corporate leaders to encourage new investment opportunities and secure resilient supply chains in energy and natural resources -- especially critical minerals."

Carney was accompanied by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Tim Hodgson, the Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, Mélanie Joly, and the Minister of National Defence, David J. McGuinty.

A "new partnership between Canada and Germany on critical minerals and energy" was announced in a statement from the Prime Minister's office on August 26. It announces "a Joint Declaration of Intent to deepen co-operation to secure critical mineral supply chains, increase collaboration on research and development, and co-fund new critical mineral projects that contribute to a range of industries -- from electric vehicle manufacturing to defence and aerospace." It states, "Today's announcement builds on commitments from the 2025 G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, where leaders announced the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan and welcomed the Critical Minerals Production Alliance."

Each country named a Special Envoy "to advance this partnership." For Canada this is Isabella Chan, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the Lands and Minerals Sector at Natural Resources Canada, and for Germany, Matthias Koehler, Deputy Director General of Raw Materials Policy in the German government.

Several agreements between Canadian and German companies were announced in the statement.

Carney and Chancellor Merz reaffirmed their support for the U.S./NATO proxy war in Ukraine. Reiterating the wording from Poland, the statement says that they underlined that "no decisions about Ukraine should be taken without Ukraine, and no decisions about Europe should be taken without Europe."

They also discussed collaboration on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen via the Canada-Germany Energy Partnership (an initiative of National Resources Canada and Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy established in March 2021) and the Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance (Joint Declaration of Intent to establish this was signed on August 23, 2022 in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador) "to develop a transatlantic hydrogen trade corridor that supports the clean energy transition and strengthens energy security."

On August 25 the Canadian government had announced that it has narrowed the list of contenders for the contract to build the navy's new submarines to two bidders -- Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and south Korea's Hanwha Ocean Ltd. Carney was asked in Germany whether Canada would negotiate with a preferred bidder or have a full competition, to which he answered only that the process would be "fair and transparent." Apparently so fair and transparent that the people are to know nothing about it. Carney did visit the TKMS shipyard on August 26 and said he would visit the Hanwha yard in south Korea this fall.

Energy Minister's Speech to Canadian and German Businesses

On August 27 Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson, accompanying Carney in Germany, delivered a speech at the Canadian Embassy in Berlin entitled "Securing the Future: Advancing Canada–Germany Cooperation on Transatlantic Energy Security." He opened his remarks with the statement that "Germany is the economic anchor of Europe, a continent contending with its deadliest war since the Second World War," and that Canada is experiencing a trade dispute with the U.S. and that, in his capacity as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, "that means we are urgently rethinking how we develop, export and leverage our energy and natural resources."

Hodgson's focus was how to present Canada as a desirable market that is wide open for German businesses to invest in, citing his expertise working in private finance capital as his credentials. He said:

"As someone who has spent much of my career allocating capital, I know what is on the minds of the business leaders in this room, German and Canadian alike: Can projects get approved on time? Will the rules stay stable after the investment decision is made? Can supply chains scale fast enough to meet the market window?

"Can supply chains scale fast enough to meet the market window? [i.e., being able to meet periods of high demand and thus make maximum profits.]

"Everything I will cover today ties back to one question: How do we make Canada investable at scale to support our own industries and our closest allies?

"The answer begins with a piece of legislation the new Canadian Parliament passed at the end of June, the Building Canada Act.

"This is the most important reform to how Canada builds major projects in decades. It allows us to designate and quickly advance projects of national interest: energy, mining and infrastructure that drive GDP and diversify and open export markets. It encourages governments, departments, industry and Indigenous Peoples to work together instead of in silos. It creates decision timelines and accountability through a new Major Projects Office, launching later this week." As salesmen for energy and war monopolies, Carney does not mention that the Building Canada Act continues to be widely opposed and rejected by Indigenous Peoples and the peoples of Canada and Quebec.

He went on to say that Canada is diversifying its trade relations to reduce reliance on the U.S. He said:

"With our allies abroad, we are developing new and stronger partnerships around the world to support an industrial strategy based on catalyzing investment; enhancing and diversifying trade; shoring up national security and supply chains; creating high-paying careers; and making Canada a clean and conventional energy superpower.

"With Germany, we are advancing our mutually beneficial economic and security partnership, including by leveraging pre-existing opportunities under CETA and partnering in areas from critical minerals to energy, defence and security."

He argued that Russia has used "energy as a weapon in its military action in Ukraine launched in 2022," what he called a reminder that energy is not just about economics. "It is about national security. It is core to the success of industry and manufacturing. And it is about sovereignty." Hodgson said that Canada can be the partner for Germany so that "2022 never happens again for any resource because Canada and Germany have shared interests and shared values."

Hodgson said, "We both believe in democracy and free markets; we both believe in the rules-based international order; and we both believe that the resources needed to defend borders, keep factory lights on and heat families' homes should never be used as political weapons."

"In plain terms, we are shifting Canada from debating 'whether' to build, to focusing on 'how' to build. We are moving from delay to delivery -- delivery to Canadians at home and to allies abroad. For investors in this room, that means more certainty that once you commit capital, projects will actually get built. It means Canada is once again open for business," Hodgson said.

Saying that Canada can provide Germany with a secure supply of energy, he focused on LNG. When Germany buys Canadian LNG it is a supply that "cannot be turned off by politics or coercion" and will meet Germany's climate goals. He also touted clean Canadian hydrogen and that projects to deliver it to Germany are advancing.

On critical minerals, Hodgson emphasized that China dominates supply which is a risk to German and Canadian industries, competitiveness and sovereignty.

He ended his speech with a quote from Konrad Adenauer who he called one of Germany's greatest statesmen. "When everybody else thinks it's the end, we have to begin" This is "the beginning of an energy and security partnership that will steer our continents forward for the next four years and the next four decades," he said.

Konrad Adenauer served as the first chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is known for having waylaid the process of de-Nazification in West Germany in the name of economic recovery.

Strengthening Canada's NATO Presence in Latvia

In Latvia, Carney is said to have "sought to enhance trade, including in the defence sector." The Prime Minister also visited Canadian Armed Forces members deployed as part of Operation REASSURANCE, that is part of the U.S./NATO pretentious attempt to bring Russia to its knees.

On August 26, Carney met with the Prime Minister of Latvia, Evika Silina, in Riga, where he announced the renewal of Operation REASSURANCE for another three years. Operation REASSURANCE was launched in 2014 and remains the Canadian Armed Forces' largest overseas mission, with 2,000 troops currently deployed. It had been scheduled to end in 2026.

The statement from the office of the Prime Minister states, "This renewal will sustain the Brigade's personnel and military capabilities in Latvia -- reinforcing our collective defence, strengthening co-operative security, and keeping NATO presence strong on the Eastern Flank. As Framework Nation, Canada leads the NATO Multinational Brigade in Latvia, a formation of approximately 3,000 personnel from 14 NATO Allies. [...] Through Operation REASSURANCE, Canada's Armed Forces members are on the front lines, working alongside our NATO Allies to strengthen defence on Europe's Eastern Flank. Their dedication and professionalism help deter threats, protect the region, and uphold the democratic values that sustain peace and stability at home and abroad. Canada is proud to stand with its Allies and contribute to this vital mission."

Carney was accompanied by Defence Minister David McGuinty. They visited Canadian troops and McGuinty assured the military that tanks and aging equipment would be replaced thanks to the extra $9.3 billion the government is spending on the military this budget year. Throughout the tour Carney was guided by Colonel Kris Reeves, the Canadian brigade commander and Major-General Jette Albinus, Danish commander of the NATO division in Latvia.

More Unsavoury Connections with Ukraine

– Steve Rutchinski –

Prime Minister Mark Carney paid an official visit to Ukraine on August 24. The purpose of the visit was for Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reaffirm their commitment to continue the failed U.S./NATO war attempting to destroy Russia in the pretext of upholding lofty "ideals" of "shared democratic values, respect for sovereignty and international law, and a mutual understanding that borders must not be altered by force."

The leaders reiterated their joint commitment to "countering Russian aggression, upholding Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, including its territorial waters, and strengthening bilateral ties across the security, defense, economic, social, and humanitarian domains." They emphasized the importance of "reliable security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any future peace agreement." Canada is actively engaged in the "Coalition of the Willing," which aims to "provide robust security guarantees to prevent renewed aggression."

Carney, speaking of Canada's participation in the "Coalition of the Willing" confirmed that support for Ukraine could include the participation of Canadian troops in Ukraine and did not make it clear whether this was for training or as part of a peacekeeping force.

Under the 2024 Agreement on Security Cooperation, Canada will continue providing military and technical assistance, including training for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, enhancing professional military education aligned with NATO standards, and supporting humanitarian demining efforts. Canada and Ukraine committed to joint defense projects, including equipping Ukraine's Armed Forces.

They welcomed the signing of a Letter of Intent between the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence and Canada's Department of National Defence to co-produce defense materials in both countries. Both countries expressed interest in expanding bilateral trade and investment, particularly in Ukraine's recovery, under the Free Trade Agreement that entered into force on July 1, 2024.

They discussed joint energy projects in hydropower, small modular reactors, and the oil and gas sector, and agreed to deepen cooperation in energy security, including cybersecurity, infrastructure protection, and modern technologies to mitigate hybrid and man-made threats.

Canada Pledges More Arms to Ukraine

An August 24 press release from the PMO says in part:

"At the G7 Summit in Kananaskis in June, Canada committed an additional $2 billion in military assistance for Ukraine. Today, Prime Minister Carney announced the Government of Canada is allocating this funding as follows:

"$835 million to procure a range of critical equipment for Ukraine, including armoured vehicles, medical equipment, spare parts, small arms, ammunition, and explosives, as well as additional drone capabilities and other urgently needed equipment and supplies for Ukraine.

"Approximately $680 million (USD $500 million) for the purchase of a NATO Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List package of military equipment sourced from the United States to strengthen Ukraine's air defence capabilities and provide other urgently needed military assistance.

"$220 million to purchase drone, counter-drone, and electronic warfare capabilities, including investments in joint ventures between Ukrainian and Canadian industry, in line with the Letter of Intent on Canada-Ukraine Joint Production of Defence Material. $165 million to support Canada's ongoing work in Ukraine Defense Contact Group Capability Coalitions, including efforts to source critical capabilities for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"$100 million to source ammunition and explosives through the Czech Ammunition Initiative. The Prime Minister also announced an additional package of over $31 million for humanitarian assistance and investments in initiatives to counter digital attacks and evolving threats to Ukrainian democracy.

Since February 2022, Canada has committed nearly $22 billion in multi-faceted assistance for Ukraine -- "the highest per capita contribution among G7 countries."

Neo-Nazi Given Hero's Welcome in Canada Assassinated in Ukraine

– N. Ribar –

On August 30, one of the key figures of the 2014 coup in Ukraine which overthrew the democratically-elected government at that time, Andriy Volodymyrovych Parubiy was killed in broad daylight by a nameless gunman in the western Ukrainian city of Lvov. According to reports and videos, he was shot in the back eight times before the culprit sped away on an electric bicycle. A suspect, who like Parubiy was from Lvov, was detained on September 1. This person later admitted to committing the crime, calling it an act of "personal revenge on the Ukrainian authorities."

Parubiy commemorating the Ukrainian WWII Nazi leader Stepan Bandera.

Parubiy was the co-founder of the neo-Nazi Social-National Party of Ukraine in 1991 and was the former leader of the fascist paramilitary group Patriot of Ukraine, both of which supported the historical crimes of the Ukrainian fascist collaborators, led by Stepan Bandera, and advocated for a nationalist Ukraine in the present, including through the fascist Right Sector party, and later through the neo-Nazi Azov and Aidar battalions.

In his institutional role, Parubiy served as Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine immediately after the Maidan coup, and was allegedly involved in organizing the infamous massacre of dozens at the Odessa trade union house in May 2014. After the coup, he served as Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, from 2014 to 2016, and as its Chairman from 2016 to 2019. He served as a deputy in the same institution until his death. His influence in Ukrainian institutions post-Maidan was also accompanied by the far-right Svoboda party leader and then-Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Oleg Tyagnibok.

In 2018, as head of parliament, Parubiy stated on Ukrainian TV that Adolf Hitler was history's "greatest democrat," warning in this speech "not to forget the contributions of the Führer to the development of democracy." "The greatest man who practiced direct democracy was Adolf Hitler in the 1930s," he stated, adding that it was "necessary to introduce direct democracy to Ukraine, with Hitler as its torchbearer."[1] A 2014 article from CNN also reveals that Parubiy appointed a member of the far-right Right Sector to the post of deputy chairman of the Maidan Self-Defence forces, and that thus racist attacks against Jews in western Ukraine had increased.[2]

Parubiy with Trudeau

In February 2015, the Harper government gave Parubiy a hero's welcome on his arrival to Canada. And in July 2016, the Trudeau government similarly welcomed him to Canada, along with many other hero's welcomes by countries across the West. Parubiy was known as being a good friend to the former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland.

It remains unclear for what motives Andre Parubiy was assassinated and it is not useful to speculate. However, it should be noted that this is a symptom of the general anarchy and chaos which reigns in Ukraine at the present time, when men young and old are dragged off the street and transported to the front, when state intimidation is used as the sole force of compulsion, when the Constitution of the country is overridden and all legal limits on the state have been thrown away, and the population is being drained to the last dollar and human life to continue the war effort against the Russian Federation.

Such a situation is tragic for the Ukrainian people first of all, who have to deal with the fact that this deliberate destruction of their country is their sad fate. One must question the motives of Western politicians who, instead of seeking a peace for the benefit of all, continue to push for war. In light of the present deal between the U.S., European Union and Ukraine for the first to produce weaponry, the second to pay for them and the third to give up the lives of their population, some suffer but only the Ukrainians pay the greatest price. The West, for its part, is ready to fight "to the last Ukrainian," as its politicians have stated on numerous occasions.

This apparently includes those previously useful for their own aims. It is the only conclusion possible when such masterminds as Andrey Parubiy, those behind the root causes of the present war, are gunned down in the street in gangster style. When one dies in such a way, they take with them to the grave not only their crimes but information about all their activities and the present Ukrainian state. It is a system that is devouring its own at the behest of foreign masters. It is a system that has no future -- only self-destruction.

Vasily Prozorov, a former officer in Ukraine's Security Service, only commented on Parubiy's death stating that Parubiy had "the blood of thousands of innocent Ukrainians" on his hands, sent neo-Nazi militias to Odessa and the Donbass, armed them, and was responsible for the killing of the anti-Maidan activists at the Odessa trade union house.

Notes

1. "Ukrainian speaker Andriy Parubiy slammed for praising Hitler as history's 'greatest democrat,'" Morning Star, September 5, 2018

2. "Rein in Ukraine's neo-fascists," David Speedle, CNN, March 6, 2014

September Trips to U.S. and UK

Speech to Council on Foreign Relations

– Yi Nicholls –

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a speech to the New York City-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on September 22. CFR is a think tank influential among U.S. rulers. The speech focused on "Canada's foreign policy priorities and the new global economy." Canada, Carney said, despite being a "middle power" has what it takes to deal with an international situation where "the rules-based order is eroding, great-power rivalry is intensifying, and authoritarian models are hardening. [...] We prospered under the old system. And we were able to pursue a values-based foreign policy, based on or, anchored on a rules-based multilateral trading system, an open global financial system."

Carney described the changes taking place in the U.S. and to its foreign policy as a "rupture" from past arrangements. Canada must cast itself into the breach to fill the void left by the decline of U.S. influence and trustworthiness to give itself and others stability, he said. Canada "has what the world wants," he said.

"Take on the energy side. We are an energy superpower. That is going to become increasingly evident. Eighty-five percent of our energy is clean. We're one of the world's largest LNG [liquefied natural gas] exporters, one of the largest reserves of oil and gas. We measure additions to our grid in ten-gigawatt chunks, to put it in perspective, and you will see that with time. We are top five in ten of the world's most important critical minerals. Forty per cent of the world's listed mining companies are in Canada, to give a perspective there. We are a leading developer of AI. And our research universities are some of the biggest producers in volume of AI, computing, and quantum talent in the world. [...] We have capital. Our pension funds are some of if not THE most sophisticated infrastructure investors in the world [...] And we have a government that still has fiscal capacity to act decisively at a moment when governments need to act decisively," Carney added.

A real salesman for supranational private interests if ever there was one.

Without saying so directly, Carney went on to talk about "shared values" (in contrast with those who do not share these "universal" or "Canadian values"). According to Carney, Canada can thrive in the present uncertain situation because it has "values to which much of the world – not all of the world; much of the world – still aspires. We're a pluralistic society that works. Our cities are amongst the most diverse in the world. Public square is loud, diverse, and free. By the nature of our federation, we have to practice collaboration and partnership. And it's a country that is still committed to sustainability."

A real white wash of the Carney government's agenda to expand police powers, violate rights and criminalize dissent while channelling the power of the state to pay the rich, militarize the economy and prepare for war. According to Carney, the changes brought in during his first four months in office are reasons why other countries should turn to Canada, or why businesses in the U.S. should stick with Canada in the face of "domestic uncertainty."

"We have removed all federal barriers to interprovincial trade. We have passed landmark legislation to fast-track literally hundreds of billions of dollars of projects in energy, in AI, in critical minerals, in new trade corridors. We are doubling our defence spending by 2030. Our core capabilities with respect to defence, AI, quantum, cyber, critical minerals provide unique opportunities for dual-use [civilian and military use] and economic benefit, and we intend to fully exploit those," Carney said.

"We are diversifying our trading relationships and our security partnerships. We signed the most comprehensive agreement with the European Union from a non-European Union member, the Economic and Security Partnership with the EU. We signed that at the end of June. We're working on fleshing that out now. [...] We are on track to be a full member of SAFE, the European defence arrangement, which allows us to diversify and accelerate our defence procurement."

Talking about Arctic sovereignty in his speech, Carney said Canada is "cooperating very closely with the Nordic-Baltic Eight for physical protection up there, economic development, and also defending NATO's western flank." This Arctic Foreign Policy is based on the U.S. conception of a "North American Arctic" that integrates and subordinates Canada's Arctic and Greenland into U.S. war aims, but still Carney claims that Canada is now independent of the U.S. war aims.

None of this reflects the concerns of the people of Canada, who want a government that defends their well-being and peaceful principled relations with other countries. Serving up Canada, its resources and people on a platter is not nation-building. It is nation-wrecking which will cause grave damage if Carney is permitted to have his way. It brings no honour to Canada's Prime Minister to act as a huckster offering for sale that to which he is not entitled.

Meeting on Ukraine Chaired by Carney and Zelensky

On September 23 in New York City, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "co-chaired a leader-level meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children on the margins of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly," a press release from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) stated.

The story of Ukrainian children allegedly kidnapped by Russia is a total fabrication, refuted by facts many times over. What Canada gets out of repeating it over and over, and spending lots of money to promote it, raises serious doubt about its intentions in Ukraine.

"Leaders, Special Guests First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska and Diana Fox Carney, Spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada, as well as senior representatives from Member States and international organizations gathered to strengthen collective efforts to secure the safe return of Ukrainian children who have been illegally deported or forcibly transferred by the Russian Federation," the PMO said.

The coalition which met in New York was founded in 2023, based on spurious claims made by the neo-Nazi regime running Ukraine that Russia kidnapped some 700,000 Ukrainian children. In November 2023, it received $1 million from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) founded by billionaire George Soros and now run by his son Alex. Soros, along with the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy were behind the Maidan coup in Ukraine and regime change in 2014. This coup led to brutal massacres carried out by neo-Nazi militias against Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the east of the country – precisely the region from where Zelensky and Canadian supporters of the neo-Nazis who came to power following the coup claim Russia kidnapped children.

At a November 2023 informal meeting of the UN Security Council, Russia's representative clarified that since the beginning of Russia's Special Military Operation, it gave refuge to more than 730,000 children from Ukraine – most of them with their parents, as well as 2,000 from orphanages of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

It is disgusting to see how Canada continues to falsely portray the children to whom Russia gave refuge as kidnapped and endangered while it remains silent when it comes to the mass displacement of children in Gaza -- 839,000 under the age of 18, the killing of at least 20,000 children during the genocidal war waged by the U.S./Zionist occupiers since October 7, 2023, and the starvation of children today. It has not only refused to take action to end the genocide, but in fact continues to send Israel arms.

Canada is without credentials when it comes to protecting children given the experience of Indigenous children who continue to suffer as a result of Canada's genocidal policies for which it has yet to compensate and set new relations. Its credentials both at home and abroad, its role in this coalition and the coalition itself have nothing to do with protecting children.

Carney's UK Trip

Prime Minister Carney travelled to London, England from September 25 to 28, where he took part in meetings that he said were essential to open new markets for Canadian products. A press release from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said, "During his visit, Prime Minister Carney met with the prime ministers of the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Iceland to deepen ties in trade and security – advancing collaborative action on critical global security priorities, including lasting peace in Europe, notably in Ukraine, and the Middle East. The Prime Minister also met with global leaders in investment and private capital to make the case for investing in Canada."

Carney said his meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was to ensure the two leaders are on track to make progress on economic and security measures they agreed to when they met in Ottawa on June 15 prior to the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. Named as areas of joint interest coming out of the June meeting were the following: trade, semiconductors, trans-Atlantic communications based on quantum technologies, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, biomanufacturing, civilian nuclear technology and critical minerals. Also discussed in June were Ukraine, Canada-UK military cooperation, intelligence sharing – bilaterally and also through NATO and the U.S.-led Five Eyes espionage network, national security and border security.

In meetings with investment firms from Britain, Europe, Africa and Asia, Carney pitched investing in Canada based on the "major infrastructure projects being built in Canada and the ways the country is looking to court more global capital," Canadian Press noted. CP reported Carney saying that his discussions in New York and London were "about the overall investment climate, not specific transactions or investment deals" and also about how potential investors perceive Canada and how to raise its "investor profile."

Carney also attended the Global Progress Action Summit in London on September 26, where, according to the PMO, various world leaders met "to advance policies that catalyze sustainable economic growth – ensuring Canadian workers are empowered and that our businesses can thrive in this transformed geopolitical landscape."

One of the organizers of the event was the Canadian think tank called the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). It claimed the event to be "the largest gathering of progressive leaders and thinkers in the world." As if working people have anything to do with the pay-the-rich schemes these "progressive leaders and thinkers in the world" use their positions of power and privilege to implement, the theme of this year's conference was "governing for working people."

To claim that Carney and his government are progressive and govern for working people beggars belief, as is also the case when it comes to British PM Keir Starmer. A Globe and Mail report informed that "much of the discussion revolved around how to tackle the rise of the far-right and deal with U.S. President Donald Trump." Starmer referenced a large "far-right" rally that took place in London earlier in September claiming the significance of the rally was that participants espoused a "poisonous belief" in "a coming struggle, a defining struggle, a violent struggle for the nation, for all our nations." In a reference to Nazi Germany, Starmer added, "And you don't have to be a great historian to know where that kind of poison ends up."

This is how the extreme pay-the-rich policies, militarization of the economy, war preparations and use of police powers and violence to silence dissent are portrayed as progressive. Starmer is mistaken in his belief that the long history of the British state's collaboration with the Nazis and its use of state-organized racism against the Irish, peoples from Africa, the Caribbean and Asia to divide the people and keep themselves in power, emulated in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere is forgotten.

Meanwhile, Carney presented his government to the conference as having won the election because of "growing unease" about "loss of control" over such things as inflation and immigration. "Our election and what Canadians were feeling, like in many electorates but in a slightly different way, was a sense of loss of control. That's what happens when inflation is too high, that's what happens when there is a sense that migration isn't being adequately managed," he said.

He described his government's priorities as fighting U.S. tariffs, supporting workers and building the economy. "People want and deserve that positive agenda, it's not engaging on the turf of the more negative agenda," he said.

One wonders what is progressive about a government that is fundamentally negating rights as it does in Bill C-2, runs roughshod over environmental regulations and the people's right to decide if and how natural resources are to be extracted and used as it does in Bill C-5, has a housing scheme based on pay-the-rich schemes, not guaranteeing the right to housing, uses dictate against workers defending their rights, plans massive layoffs of the public service workers, among other aspects of the Carney government's agenda.

Carney's latest trip abroad confirms that working people must prepare for the future the Carney government is creating. Defence of rights and opposition to the government's anti-social, anti-national and pro-war agenda is the order of the day.

(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)

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Draw the Line action, Ottawa, September 20, 2025, part of a country-wide day of action against the Carney government's anti-social pro-war agenda.