LEFT JAB

Toxic nation

by John Bell

The only good thing about Canada Day is that it is my brother’s birthday. Pete is a fine fellow who deserves a holiday in his honour.

But I’m not so sure Canada does. Increasingly, Canada is one of the ugliest faces of profit-trumps-all neoliberalism in the world.

Let me state it right up front: I’m not laying all the blame on Stephen Harper. The uglification of Canada began long before his Tory gang formed a government. Absolute enthusiasm for neoliberal trade deals, from NAFTA right up to the imminent Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement being negotiated between Canada and the European Union, has been a hallmark of both Tory and Liberal governments.

The only difference is that Liberal administrations like to hide the ugly face behind a mask. Harper doesn’t bother.

These trade deals pushed a central ideal—undermine nationalized economies and local control, and clear the track for invading corporate interests. Developing nations bore the brunt.

As Canadian negotiators pushed hard for these deals internationally, at home the ruling class of corporate bosses and political officials charted a two-lane highway to the 21st century: situate Canadian capital to become a resource-extraction superpower; and slowly but surely erode the public services that Canadians used to define themselves.

Time was, when Canadians were pressed to self-identify they pointed to universal health care and peacekeeping. While I grant that the Canadian state’s reputation for peacekeeping was more myth than reality, I like that fact that Canadians embraced that myth.

Now militarism is everywhere. No public event is complete without the participation of the Canadian Forces. Here, from a London Free Press video clip, is what Canada Day signifies:

“This year’s Canada Day celebrated the men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces. With a variety of displays and demonstrations, Londoners got a chance to climb in and out of a tank, have a seat in one of the famous Snow Birds, learn the fine art of mine sweeping, and, by the way, [a child putting on a flak jacket] just how heavy is that gear anyway.”

Then a “mural of honour” was unveiled depicting the faces of all the 156 Canadians who have died in Afghanistan. I guess it would have been gauche to ask what those 156 deaths had achieved, let alone the billions of dollars the Canadian government (the same government that is now telling us that our pensions are unaffordable) has wasted in Afghanistan.

This militarist PR exercise was carried out in town and cities all across the country this Canada Day, but it isn’t reserved for holidays. The Globe and Mail reports that the Harper Tories have directed military personnel to be present at the swearing in of all new Canadian Citizens:

“The bulletin [from Jason Kenney’s Department of Citizenship and Immigration], which describes military service as one of the highest expressions of citizenship, states that members of the military should be seated on the main platform with the citizenship judge, that they can stand in the receiving line congratulating new citizens and that they may give a two- to three-minute speech. Where possible, the bulletin says the preference is for veterans of the war in Afghanistan.”

Worse, the military is an increasing influence in Canadian colleges and universities. As our schools become more dependent on external (read corporate) funding, the Department of National Defence (DND) is directing much of what remains of “public” financial support. According to information found at the excellent website, Anthropologists for Justice and Peace, money isn’t just going to research and develop new weapons–although there is plenty of that. More goes to social science departments that crank out the academic propaganda to justify militarism.

According to Concordia researcher Laura Beach:

“There are 12 ‘centres of expertise’ across Canada, involving professors and graduate students from 14 universities, including Concordia University, York University, the University of British Columbia, Université de Montreal, and McGill University. Over the 2007-2008 fiscal year, these centres received $2.4 million in funding through the SDF [Security Defence Forum] and DND in research grants, salaries, academic awards, special projects funds, international conference funds, and national conference funds. The centres collectively wrote more than 100 op-ed articles, conducted over 1,300 media interviews, and hosted 412 events, reaching out to over 18,000 people.”

This increasing militarism is companion to specializing in the extraction and sale of toxic resources best left underground.

Bill McKibbon, one of the world’s most respected environmentalists, writes:

“[Y]ou could make an argument that Canada has actually become one of the earth’s more irresponsible nations—namely, when it comes to the environment.” He cites the headlong rush to exploit the Alberta Tar Sands, and the plans to build environmentally disastrous pipelines to get the climate destroying goo to market.

And Canada is virtually alone blocking the inclusion of chrysotile asbestos from being added to the UN sanctioned list of hazardous chemicals. Asbestos is a deadly carcinogen, causing lung cancer and painful death, claiming an estimated 100,000 victims each year. The federal government uses our tax money to mine and market this poison, mostly to developing economies like India where its use is seldom accompanied by safety procedures.

It was one thing to peddle asbestos and Tar Sands syncrude when we weren’t sure of their deadly effects on workers and the environment. To do so in full knowledge of their poisonous impact, in the name of making a buck, is simply criminal.

I have always been uneasy over the patriotism of events like Canada Day. But combine that with the creepy march of militarism, add in an economy based on producing poison, and you have a nation to be ashamed of, and actively opposed.

I don’t want to celebrate this toxic nation, I want to make a citizen’s arrest.