Miles Report No. 101 – Canada’s adventures in neoliberal imperialism continue

CANADIAN TAR SANDS—THE RUTHLESS DISFIGUREMENT OF OUR EARTH SHOULD TELL US SOMETHING. “The network of roads reminded me of a claw or tentacles. It illustrated to me the way in which the tentacles of the tar sands reach out and wreak havoc and destruction. Proposed pipelines to American Midwest, Mackenzie Valley, and through the Great Bear Rainforest will bring new threats to these regions while the pipelines fuel new markets and ensure the proposed five fold expansion of the Tar Sands.” (priceofoil.org)

Russia

Israel

Canada’s image as a less savage and immoral country than its giant neighbour to the south seems to rest more on myth than fact these days. Apparently the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree—the latter being a rotten British ruling class in cahoots with an equally rotten and sociopathic American plutocracy bent on exploiting the planet’s remaining resources—man, animals and nature—to their limit.

The missing context is the absolute control Israel exerts over all aspects of life in Gaza and the use of its massive military to keep the Palestinians under constant military threat from the sea, land, and air. The other part of the missing context of course is the whole history of the colonial settler actions of the Jewish people, a position Canada is familiar with in its own relations with its indigenous people.

Korea

Again Canadians as a whole remain ignorant of the context. There are many historical works on the Korean war indicating that it was essentially a civil war, with the generally approved forces of Kim Il-sung attempting to unite a country divided arbitrarily by the U.S. (with Soviet Union acquiescence) in its attempts to contain China and Russia in the nascent Cold War.

Saudi Arabia versus Venezuela

On the other hand Canada has decided it won’t recognize the recent election in Venezuela, probably one of the most scrutinized in Latin America. Apparently they say it was rigged and undemocratic even though it has one of the more foolproof election processes in the region. Trudeau actually admitted that he was stopping Canada’s own attempts at electoral reform because they did not suit the purposes of his Liberal government, another nice double standard.

Of course, the real sticker here is that Venezuela has oil….but so does Saudi Arabia? The essential difference being that the theocratic monarchic misogynist head-chopping Saudi’s sell their oil using the petro-dollar and are part and parcel of the U.S. attempts at global hegemony for their financial elite. Venezuela on the other hand does not support U.S. global hegemony, has been under sanctions for a long time, has had one pro-U.S. coup defeated by Chavez, and sells it oil for other currencies.

Climate and pipelines

This is a domestic issue that reflects a global reality. Canada theoretically supports the Paris climate agreement, yet at the same time is pushing for a dilbit pipeline (dilbit is a combination of tar sands and a solvent to carry it) from the interior to the coast. This demonstrates a double standard on two fronts. First is the climate change denial and rhetorical abuses of the slogan calling for both the pipeline and more jobs (as always) against the scientifically known results of spewing more carbon (and other pollutants) into the atmosphere and waterways of Canada and thus the world. In the process the indigenous people get screwed again, as a significant portion of the pipeline runs through their unceded territory and through their historical fishing and harvesting territories.

In sum, Canada continues its recalcitrant and incorrigible actions against countries deemed to be enemies by the U.S. imperium. The maternal influence is strong and is supported by its subservience to its aggressive sibling.

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Jim Miles

Jim Miles is a Canadian educator living in British Columbia. He writes regularly about the Middle East and its militarization and economic subjugation. His concerns include the commodification of the world by corporate governance and the American government. He writes book reviews and opinion pieces which are published here, as well as in The Palestine Chronicle and Foreign Policy Journal. His work is widely distributed across the Internet.”