Repression of anti-war voices an old Canadian story

 

A recent campaign to shut down a call for peace echoes a darker period in Canadian history. But the dominant media and leading cancel culture critics all but ignored it.

Between June 19 and July 8 Dimitri Lascaris spoke across the country on “Making Peace With Russia, One Handshake At A Time.” The 12-city tour organized by the Canada-wide Peace and Justice Network followed the former Green Party leadership candidate’s visit to Russia in April.

There were efforts to disrupt or cancel all the events by calling and mass emailing venues, through in person protests and underhanded moves such as mass booking Eventbrite tickets without any plan to use them. Despite requiring advanced tickets and only revealing the locales at the last-minute, five venues buckled to pressure and canceled. The first Toronto event was held in a nearby pub after the Ontario Public Service Employees Union revoked the room booking at the last minute claiming they received threatening messages. The next stop in Winnipeg was held at a third location after two different venues canceled on short notice. In Montréal the talk was held in a park after the venue owner overrode his manager under outside pressure while an alternative venue was found in Halifax after the office of the Saint Mary’s University president intervened to deny the space.

A cabal of US and Canadian military funded figures such as Marcus Kolga and Jean-Christophe Boucher, as well as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and Ukrainian Embassy, targeted the different venues. They openly called for shutting down talks about ending the horrors in Ukraine and diminishing the risk of nuclear catastrophe.

Despite the hurdles, the events were generally well attended. But finding backup venues and making alternative arrangements is a major burden for small, all-volunteer, groups.  (more...)

Repression of anti-war voices an old Canadian story