On June 6th, Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland gave an address to the House of Commons that outlined the government’s approach to foreign policy in the era of Donald Trump. By and large, the statement drew accolades from media commentators for …
Omar Khadr settlement a victory for the rule of law
“On behalf of the Government of Canada, we wish to apologize to Mr. Khadr.” – Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale “I hope Canadians take away two things today…. First, our rights are not subject to the whims of the government of …
New UN treaty outlaws nuclear weapons
Friday, 7 July at the UN Headquarters in New York more than 120 countries adopted a landmark treaty to ban nuclear weapons. All nine nuclear-armed states, and all NATO members except the Netherlands, had refused to participate in the negotiations. “These states …
RI President to speak at Group of 78 conference: Getting to Nuclear Zero
On Thursday, January 22nd Ambassador (ret’d) Peggy Mason, President of the Rideau Institute, will speak on Panel 4 of the Group of 78’s annual policy conference: Getting to Nuclear Zero. This panel entitled, Canadian Leadership for Common Security, will advance ideas …
2-year extension of Iraq mission lacks transparency and oversight
In a June 29th press release, the Department of National Defence announced a two year, $371 million extension to the Canadian mission in Iraq. The mission will now run until at least March 2019 and gives Defence Chief General Jonathan …
Cyber defences and global rules should be Canada’s focus
While Canada’s new defence policy contains a number of problematic initiatives, one particularly concerning area is the decision to develop offensive cyber warfare capabilities. “A purely defensive cyber posture is no longer sufficient. Accordingly, we will develop the capability to …
Armed drones may be prone to targeting errors
We learned on June 7th that Canada intends to acquire armed drones for “precision targeting”. Despite widespread concerns about their misuse both in situations of armed conflict and otherwise, the government has provided no real rationale for why Canada needs …
New Canadian defence policy neither credible nor affordable
On June 7th, following a year-long policy review, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced a staggering, not to mention completely unrealistic, $62 billion increase to military spending over the next twenty years. Though this is a clear capitulation to President Donald …
Canada foot-dragging on nuclear disarmament
In a 31 May article in the Hill Times, former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament Douglas Roche castigates the Canadian government for continuing to drag its feet on nuclear disarmament, even as over 130 UN member states are in the …
Trump pressures Canada to double defence spending
U.S. President Donald Trump tried to dress down fellow NATO members for not spending enough on their armed forces in a speech at the NATO summit on Thursday. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, …
Bipartisan efforts in U.S. Congress seek to ban further Saudi arms deals
The highly reputable American Arms Control Association, in its latest Issue Brief, chronicles bipartisan efforts in the U.S. Congress to stop new arms deals and new shipments under existing deals to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. See: Arms Sales to Saudi …
New President of South Korea wants diplomacy with North Korea
A leading Canadian disarmament expert, Ernie Regehr, makes the case for renewed diplomatic engagement with North Korea as the only sure route to eventual denuclearization: What a U.S. missile defence system and a new president mean for South Korea (Ernie …
