Canada to Lead G7 Rapid Response Mechanism

On January 30, at the technical briefing the Liberal government held to announce the police powers being put in charge of elections in Canada, it also informed that the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), announced at the G7 Charlevoix Summit in June 2018, will be led by Canada. The G7 RRM Coordination Unit will be housed at Global Affairs Canada, which describes itself as the government department that "manages Canada's diplomatic relations, provides consular services to Canadians, promotes the country's international trade, and leads Canada's international development and humanitarian assistance."

The 2018 G7 document "Charlevoix Commitment on Defending Democracy from Foreign Threats" stated:

"We, the leaders of the G7, share common democratic values that are central to the development of free, open, well-governed, pluralistic and prosperous societies and recognize that equality is a core component of democracy. These democratic values are essential for generating broad-based economic growth that benefits everyone, creates quality jobs and ensures opportunities for all." It contrasted this with the challenge of "authoritarianism and defiance of international norms," stating that "foreign actors seek to undermine our democratic societies and institutions, our electoral processes, our sovereignty and our security. These malicious, multi-faceted and ever-evolving tactics constitute a serious strategic threat which we commit to confront together, working together with other governments that share our democratic values." Among other things, the Charlevoix Summit resolved to "establish a G7 Rapid Response Mechanism to strengthen our coordination to identify and respond to diverse and evolving threats to our democracies, including through sharing information and analysis, and identifying opportunities for coordinated response."

Canada's role will be to "manage, triage, share information and identify opportunities for a joint G7 response to threats to democratic processes." At the briefing, Minister of National Defence Harjit S. Sajjan explained that the "G7 Rapid Response Mechanism Coordinating Unit will act as a focal point for Canada and all of its G7 partners. The Coordinating Unit will be tasked with sharing information and threat analysis and critically identifying opportunities for coordinated responses when an attack occurs. [It] will provide reports and analysis on threats, threat patterns and trends. The information shared across the G7 will be used to develop a better understanding of the evolving threat environment. This will help us to better position ourselves to anticipate, identify and respond to threats across the G7."

A backgrounder on the subject states: "The RRM Coordination Unit will also play an essential role in leveraging structures across the Government of Canada by working closely with the Communications Security Establishment, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Democratic Institutions Secretariat and other relevant Government of Canada departments, to ensure that information, insights and lessons learned from international partners on potential threats are efficiently shared and can be used to benefit Canada."

Is this what is leading the charge to violate international law to push regime change in Venezuela? Is this how the G-7 is desperately trying to give itself a new lease on life? To say that its system is based on "common democratic values" and produces equality is to claim precisely what it does not do. The G7 claims that these values "are central to the development of free, open, well-governed, pluralistic and prosperous societies and recognize that equality is a core component of democracy. These democratic values are essential for generating broad-based economic growth that benefits everyone, creates quality jobs and ensures opportunities for all."

This is the fantasy world which only the rich and their servants are interested in defending. That is the problem that cannot be made to go away through the police measures the Liberals are taking.

Canada to Lead G7 Rapid Response Mechanism

Demonstration against the G7 in Quebec City, June 7, 2018.