Rally goers gather at town hall around clothing symbolizing the thousands of children killed in Israel’s relentless assault on Gaza
About 40 people gathered for a candlelight vigil tonight at Sackville’s town hall to renew their call for Tantramar council to join other municipal councils, such as the one in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“I want to express our profound disappointment in the Tantramar Council’s lack of action on our demand to call on the federal government to take meaningful action towards an end to Israel’s killing, violence and destruction in Gaza,” Sackville Ceasefire Now organizer Sarah Kardash told the vigil.
She noted that after her five-minute presentation to council on January 9th, Councillor Allison Butcher had thanked her for “giving us a clear direction for something that we as a municipality in Canada can do,” but in a later e-mail, Butcher responded with the following message:
“I do believe that a ceasefire is needed. I also realize that this is a complicated issue with roots dating back well before the October 7th attack. Although you did explain how a small municipal government could take ‘action’, I remain unconvinced that this would do much to alter world affairs.”
Kardash referred to an e-mail from Councillor Michael Tower that said he wasn’t willing to bring forth a motion on Gaza, adding:
“I share your concerns about the loss of life and the suffering happening in Gaza. I need to tell you I don’t share the idea of presenting or passing that motion. I don’t believe it is the answer.”
Councillor Bruce Phinney met with members of the Sackville Ceasefire Group on January 28th, but Kardash said he told them it would be pointless to pass a ceasefire motion.
“Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell indicated interest in meeting with us,” Kardash said, “but our follow up went unanswered and it remained unclear whether she is willing to act with other people of conscience speaking out for a ceasefire.”
Renewed appeal
Kate DesRoches addressing Tantramar council
Inside the council chamber, organizer Kate DesRoches renewed her group’s appeal for a ceasefire motion.
“We maintain that the more decision-makers who add their voices, the more pressure on the federal government to respect human rights and international law,” DesRoches said.
But when her two-minute presentation ended and Mayor Black called on councillors for any comments or questions, there were none.
Black told reporters after the meeting, he could not comment since the mayor speaks for council and council had not discussed a ceasefire motion because no one had brought such a motion forward.
Canadian arms sales to Israel
Meantime, Sarah Kardash told the vigil outside that in the last few months, Canada has been deliberately misleading the public about approving more than $28.5 million in military exports to Israel.
“Canada approved more military exports to Israel in the context of the current war than in any single year over the last 30 years,” she said.
(To read a detailed and recently updated overview of Canadian military exports to Israel from the Canadian Council of Churches peace research institute, Project Ploughshares, click here.]
Higgs touts support for Israel
Kardash also took aim at New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs who is making his support for Israel one of four key planks in his re-election platform. The planks are highlighted on a recently launched Progressive Conservative Party fundraising website.
Staunch Israel backer, Blaine Higgs. Photo: PC party
She referred to the other planks that include a fiscal conservative approach (“you all like heath care, social safety nets, and well funded schools, right?”); common sense policies for parents (“a far-right dog whistle and rallying cry for anti-queer and anti-trans organizing”); and, Higgs’s stand as an ally for natural resource development (“or colonial extraction at the expense of indigenous sovereignty, land back and the ecosystem”).
“Certainly, local councils should concern themselves with the actions of the province’s leader. How far is Higgs willing to go in his support for Israel, and what implications does that have for Palestinians and Palestine solidarity activists in New Brunswick?” Kardash asked.
“What do we make of a world where our political leaders normalize support for genocide?” she added.
“We continue to invite the Tantramar Council to join us in building a world where no one is abandoned or dehumanized, and everyone’s needs for safety, security, and well-being are met.”
It was a deeply moving vigil. Our hearts were clutched, and many young parents of children were in tears as we looked at the baby garments on the pavement in front of the Town Hall and remembered and honoured the many thousands of children who have been killed in Gaza…over 40% of those slaughtered since October 7th have been children. The names of some of these children are known, and their names were read aloud as we stood in the cold darkness holding candles.
Two or three of our town councillors have written or spoken a few words to the Sackville Cease Fire group, saying that a letter sent by Council to the Prime Minister calling for a Cease Fire WOULD MAKE NO DIFFERENCE.
Not one councillor has had the guts to stand up and ask that this be put on a meeting agenda so they can discuss it together as a Council.
Standing up courageously and sending letters to PM Trudeau from town councils all across Canada, can have a hugely important cumulative effect, no matter how small the Council may be. That is why so many City and Town Councils across Canada have already written such letters.
Please join me in writing to each of our Town of Tantramar councillors today, explaining to them why writing this small but immensely important letter matters so much, and asking for one of them to call for this to be an agenda item.
We ask our town council to reconsider the urgent need to stand with the voices calling for a ceasefire to end the needless brutalization of Palestinian people. Small acts do matter, our voices matter.
Town councils, and even the province, have no role whatever in national foreign policy. Higgs’s Israel support is little more than a cynical method of getting donations from right-wing citizens.
The appropriate focus for protest and statements relating to foreign policy is our MP, Dominic LeBlanc, who in addition to being a cabinet minister is a member of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group (CAIL).
Riding Office:
Dominic LeBlanc
328 Main Street
Suite I
Shediac, NB
E4P 2E3
Telephone: 506-533-5700
Fax: 506-533-5888
dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca
In Ottawa:
Dominic LeBlanc, MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Telephone: 613-992-1020
Fax: 613-992-3053
dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca
If you want to shape foreign policy, protest at his riding office and write letters to LeBlanc and New Brunswick’s ten senators. You don’t even have to pay for a stamp if writing to senators and MPs in Ottawa. That will have far more influence than a single generic letter from a town council that cannot possibly claim to represent the unanimous opinion of the town’s population on the strength of 40 people attending a protest.
Sorry, Jon, but “not having a role to play” makes no sense to me at all. We all have a role to play, both personally and collectively, when something like this is happening.
You were all quiet when Hamas massacred a bunch of Israelis.
Maybe it’s best to stay quiet after that, too.
And all to say simply this: we all want peace… we don’t always get what we want..
and those “Land Back” earrings weren’t lost on us either Kate.
thanks for the reporting Bruce.
Yes the land back would look really nice if fort folly was to march in and take over, let’s say, mt Allison university, as they always advocate for reparations ect. I’d say their whole stance might just take a different tone were it to backfire on them. I’d love to see it.
Thanks Bruce. This article points out another blatant case of hypocrisy and inconsistency in the actions of our town council. I remember then Mayor Mesheau making a public statement in support of Ukraine and the town flying the Ukrainian flag outside of town hall around the time of the Russian ground invasion of Ukraine, a clear statement of support for Ukraine and criticism of the Russian government.
Yet now when the Israeli government has been committing war crimes for months against Palestinians who are under occupation by the State of Israel, our councillors say that issuing a statement calling for a ceasefire is pointless. As former town councillor Evans said regarding another issue, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Contrary to what the mainstream media reports, the unrest and violence in Ukraine didn’t begin with the Russian invasion in Feb 2022, but rather with the US backed/directed coup of the democratically elected government of Ukraine in 2014, resulting in the new Ukrainian government’s violence and war crimes against Russian speaking Ukrainians in the eastern areas bordering Russia, which continued until the Russian invasion. There were many Neo-Nazis, such as in the Azov battalion, fighting for the Ukrainian government and committing war crimes against the Russian speaking populations. In fact, prior to the Russian invasion, Canadian troops were actually training neo-nazis in the Azov battalion – not surprising considering our parliament gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian who fought in a Nazi SS formation that was responsible for war crimes against civilians in World War 2. As an aside, our MPs’ (of all political parties) ignorance of modern history is shocking and extremely disappointing to witness. Also not surprisingly, any mention of problems with neo-nazis and white supremacists, or the massive corruption in Ukraine, have been glossed over by the mainstream media after the Russian invasion.
Similarly, the unrest and violence in Israel/Palestine didn’t begin with the Oct 7th attack by Hamas which resulted in many Israeli deaths, but can be traced back to the British Balfour Declaration during World War 1, and on to the formation of the State of Israel in 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homes and land and have been under occupation by the government of Israel ever since. It should be noted that under international law, people under occupation have the right to defend themselves against their occupiers. In contrast, a 2004 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice stated that Israel cannot invoke the UN Charter’s article on the right to self-defence when acting against threats from occupied territory. It should also be kept in mind that the ICC ruled in its preliminary finding that it is plausible that Israel is in fact conducting genocide, and if its final ruling finds that is in fact the case, countries like Canada who have continued to provide support to Israel (and simultaneously cut off support to UNWRA without any evidence being presented by the Israeli government of its claims) could be found to be complicit in the crime.
I agree with Jon that complaints against our federal government’s foreign policy decisions should be directed to our MPs and Senators, but considering how unresponsive our federal and provincial governments are to criticism from individual citizens, it is understandable that concerned citizens, desperate to address the crimes being supported/committed by our federal government, feel the need to look for support from our municipal representatives, with whom they have a more direct connection.
“the US backed/directed coup of the democratically elected government of Ukraine in 2014, resulting in the new Ukrainian government’s violence and war crimes against Russian speaking Ukrainians in the eastern areas bordering Russia, which continued until the Russian invasion.”
These are Russian propaganda points that have been repeated frequently on social media by Russian troll farms and omit any criticism of Russian atrocities, Russia’s inference in and invasion of a sovereign neighbour, Russia’s long history of interfering in former-Soviet countries, Russia’s lack of any meaningful democracy, Russia’s history of creating frozen conflicts in neighbouring countries, and the self-evident fact that essentially everything said by the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation is a lie.
-There is no evidence Ukraine’s Euromaidan protests were in any way controlled by the US. They started as a student movement protesting the cancellation by pro-Russian president Yanukovych of Ukraine’s EU association. They grew into protests of millions when Yanukovych ordered police to brutalize students, outraging Ukrainians. Claiming the protests were US controlled is not credible to anyone familiar with Ukraine and its politics.
-Yanukovych was not overthrown in a coup. He went to Russia after ordering security forces to kill protesters with live ammunition, killing over a hundred protesters. It was clear, after that, that Ukrainians were not going to tolerate a mass murderer as president, and he went into exile (as the prime minister did weeks earlier).
-After Yanukovych’s departure, there were new elections, a few months earlier than elections would have been held anyway. The new government was just as democratic as the one it replaced.
-Russia immediately annexed Crimea from Ukraine, an illegal act considered illegitimate by most of the world. Under Russian occupation, the Muslim Tatar population of Crimea has been oppressed and discriminated against.
-Pro-Russian groups in Donbas (eastern Ukraine), funded by Russia and provided with arms and troops from Russia, declared independence. These puppet states were then annexed to Russia at the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, another part of Russia’s territorial expansion at the expense of Ukraine.
-The Neo-nazi issue is a propaganda side show that Russia has used as an excuse for its brutal, illegal invasion of Ukraine. The far right in Ukraine is a tiny fringe minority (as it is in Canada, the USA, and many other countries), with virtually no representation in Ukraine’s politics. Neo-nazis are, arguably, a far bigger problem in Russia. The stupidity of Canada’s Parliament in applauding someone nobody bothered to vet properly is embarrassing, but has nothing to do with Ukraine or its politics, only with our own politics.
-“violence and war crimes against Russian speaking Ukrainians in the eastern areas” is another Russian propaganda talking point used to justify Russian aggression that gets repeated with little or no evidence. Tales of atrocities have been consistently debunked. In contrast, the Russian-backed puppet states in Donbas have repeatedly committed atrocities, and shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 using a Russian surface-to-air missile system, killing everyone on board.
-It’s certainly true that corruption has been a problem in Ukraine. That in no way justifies Russia’s attempt to conquer the country. Russia is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Much of the driving force behind the Euromaidan protests was to free Ukraine from Putin’s desire to keep it a corrupt client state ruled by oligarchs, puppets, and Quislings such as Yanukovych.
The entire conflict has been a long-term process of Russian efforts to dominate Ukraine and extinguish its sovereignty and independence.
Hi Jon,
No doubt there is Russian propaganda involved, but I think your faith in the western propaganda that you cite that blames Russia for everything is problematic. I think the important thing is to check out many sources from various world views to try to figure out what is believable and what is not. There are many sources of analysis and commentary that you won’t find on the majority of the major news outlets in the US or Canada which have become distributors for the American/Western propaganda that is fed to them by our governments.
Some names providing alternative views that come to mind are Glenn Greenwald, the American former constitutional lawyer and journalist for The Guardian, and now independent political analyst and commentator, who along with Laura Poitras broke the Edward Snowden story about the illegal Prism program that was spying on the whole American population without its’ knowledge. There is also Chris Hedges, the former New York Times journalist who covered several conflicts around the globe. After criticizing the American led invasion of Iraq, he was reprimanded by the Times management, which resulted in him resigning because he felt his ability to report factually was no longer possible. Noam Chomsky, the American academic who at 95 years of age still has a sharp mind and has extensive knowledge of past crimes of the American government and its international relationships/interference with countries around the world. Jeffrey Sachs, the American economist and public policy analyst, who for seventeen years served as a special advisor to the U.N Secretary General is another knowledgeable commentator. He has an in depth knowledge of Russia and former eastern block countries because after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he served as an economic advisor to Russia, Poland, and several other eastern European nations. You could also check out Aaron Mate, Max Blumenthal, Abby Martin, etc. These are just a few of the many knowledgeable commentators that you will rarely, if ever, see on outlets like CNN, CBC, CTV, etc. All of these analysts have called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine illegal and criticized Putin for his decision, by the way, but they do provide background information on the build-up to the crisis and the role that the US and NATO played in the lead up to it.
Keep in mind the American economy is so tied to its military industrial complex that it needs some boogeymen to constantly frighten its population and keep its arms use and sales going. Currently in the west the boogeymen are Russia and China, who according to western media are bent on world domination and must be stopped at any cost.
Along this line of thinking, consider how many countries the USA and China have been in armed conflict with since the end of the Second World War (or Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991) :
Russia : 4 conflicts with neighbouring states
China : 7 conflicts with neighbouring states
USA : approximately 33 around the world (hard to keep count)
Number of military bases each country has outside their national borders :
Russia : app 21, mainly in neighbouring former soviet bloc countries
China : 1
USA : app 750
Amount of annual military expenditures :
Russia :86.4 billion $US (population app 144 million, so app $600 per capita)
China : 292 billion $US (population app 1.4 billion, so app $209 per capita)
USA : 877 billion $US (population app 336 million, so app $2,610 per capita)
How many times has the USA been involved in interference in other countries, often leading to regime change/coups since 1945? Answer : app 50 (again hard to keep count). It was interesting to note that the American 9/11 occurred on the anniversary of the Chilean 9/11 in 1973, when the USA organized/supported the coup against the democratically elected government of Allende, resulting in years of brutal dictatorship under Pinochet. American citizens were actually murdered by Pinochet’s forces during the coup.
How many times has the USA lied to its own citizens and the world : too many to count, but a few that come to mind are the lies involving the Vietnam War, the invasion of Iraq (remember the weapons of mass destruction debacle), and the Afghan War. Check out the current daily White House press briefings on the Gaza massacre where the lies come faster than jokes in a Fawlty Towers episode. Considering this record, I find it hard to understand why you would believe anything that the US government, or ours for that matter, says without it being corroborated by independent sources.
You stated that there is no evidence that the Euromaidan protests were in any way controlled by the US. Have you heard of the CIA and its history of subversion and interference in the internal politics of many nations around the world (Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo quote : “We lied, we cheated, we stole”)? Have you heard the leaked conversation between the American Assistant Secretary of State and the American Ambassador to Ukraine in 2014 in which they discussed who they wanted installed in the new Ukrainian government? You’re likely aware that Russia and Ukraine were holding talks shortly after the Russian invasion and appeared to be close to an agreement that Ukraine would remain neutral before the US and Britain sabatoged the talks and told Zelenski to keep fighting and they would keep supporting him. Have you heard the term proxy war?
You likely also remember the history of the break-up of the Soviet Union, during which Russia was given a promise by the western nations that NATO would not move one inch closer to Russia after the dissolution. This promise was immediately broken when NATO began allowing former Soviet Bloc countries to become members. When complaints were made by Russia, the US/NATO response was that it was just a verbal promise, not written in an official document. Does that give you a lot of confidence in the trustworthiness of our leaders who won’t honour a verbal promise? Since that time, NATO has moved closer and closer to the Russian border. It’s interesting to note that during the dissolution of the USSR and shortly thereafter, Gorbachev proposed Russia joining NATO since Russia was promised that NATO was not directed against Russia, but that approach was dismissed by the US government. This also raises the question of why NATO wasn’t disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union, since the perceived threat of imminent Soviet invasion was the reason for NATO being formed in the first place. Now NATO (North Atantic Treaty Organization) is looking at expanding its membership (Global NATO) to countries in the southern hemisphere to counter China’s economic growth and influence/assistance with development in many countries in the global south.
You made the comment: “The stupidity of Canada’s Parliament…has nothing to do with Ukraine or its politics, only with our own politics.” It has recently come to light that Yaroslav Hunka was added to the PMO’s list of attendees at Parliament and at a reception for Zelensky after his name was submitted by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. Do you not think that the Ukrainian Canadian Congress is aware of the app. 250,000 Ukrainians who collaborated with the Nazis and even joined SS batallions while Ukraine was under occupation?
You seem to trivialize the corruption in Ukraine and suggest that the goal of the Euromaidan protests was to free the country of the corruption. That apparently didn’t work since the American government itself has complained about millions of dollars of aid money that has gone missing since the Russian invasion. According to journalist Seymour Hersh, Zelensky himself has been involved in the scandalous corruption.
Hersh also reported that the US was responsible for the Nord Stream pipeline bombing, one of the largest ecological disasters ever. Hersh has been ridiculed for this reporting by many mainstream media outlets, just as he was initially ridiculed for his New York Times coverage of the Watergate story and his coverage of the abuse and torture by American soldiers at Abu Ghraib, which of course was initially denied by the US government until the leaked evidence couldn’t be denied anymore. Who do you think was responsible for the Nord Stream pipeline bombing? Western media initially tried to put the blame on Russia itself (why would it destroy it’s own infrastructure?), but does it not make more sense that the US is responsible, especially considering statements made prior to and after the bombing by the US President and other officials. It was definitely in the US’s economic interest to halt the flow of gas from Russia to Germany.
Finally, you stated that the new government of Ukraine is just as democratic as the old one. Consider the actions of the Ukrainian government in recent years. In May of 2022, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law, signed by Zelensky, formally banning 11 political parties. Also in 2022 the Ukrainian government declared martial law and put elections on hold. This suspension of elections was supposed to be temporary, but it was extended in July 2023. Presidential elections were next scheduled for March 2024, but under current rules they too will not be held, and Zelensky has stated that “now is not the time for elections.” During World Wars 1 and 2, elections were still held in western democracies (conscription was one of the major issues in the 1917 Canadian election).
I think that you would agree that freedom of the press is vital in democracies. In Feb 2022, the Ukrainian government ordered the largest television networks to combine into a single state controlled news outlet. In April 2022, three independent television channels associated with Zelensky’s predecessor were shut down by the government. In December 2022, Zelensky signed a law giving the National Broadcasting Council the authority to regulate all news media. This law allows the Ukrainian government to censor and shut down independent platforms like Google.
Contrary to the notion that democracies do not prohibit their citizens from travel, when Ukraine declared martial law, men aged 18 to 60 were subject to conscription and forbidden to leave the country. Many did attempt to leave to escape conscription. Those who were caught were sent to military service, and those who did get across the border mainly ended up in Poland and Germany. The Ukrainian government has requested that the EU forcibly return them to Ukraine but as of Nov 2023 the EU has refused the request. Do any of these actions by the Ukrainian government sound democratic to you?
This reply is already too long so I’ll quit, but please consider checking out other sources on the issue of Ukraine.
This is actually a reply to Les – won’t bother replying to the whole post you’ve just submitted, but the first two things I see in your post that suggest you’ve been absorbing information from questionable sources seem to be elections and Russian military campaigns.
Regarding elections in Ukraine, you’re right that Western nations who did not have active fronts on their borders held elections. The UK on the other hand had conflict directly on its doorstep, and skipped the 1940 election. Suggesting that Ukraine should divert time and efforts to an election when Russia is attempting to seize the country is at best a bizarre one, though I appreciate it has legs in places such as 4chan’s /pol/ board.
With regards to Russia, the first obvious point would be that you’ve cut the period of 1945-1992 from your survey of Russian conflicts; you’re comparing 32 years of Russian history to 79 years of Western history. Even at that your claim of 4 conflicts doesn’t pass muster, please consult https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Russia for more details. I’d ask you which ones you didn’t bother counting – suspect you never looked, and just read some information from one of your alternative news sources.
It’s good to consume a diverse set of news sources, but a word to the wise – if they all disagree with the mainstream and they all seem to somehow side with a nation we’ve typically found ourselves at odds with over the years, you should do some digging.
Reply to Richard :
Thanks for taking the time to read my rather lengthy comment and for catching my error. I had done a quick search on what countries the Russian Federation has invaded since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and got the following result : the first Chechen War, 1994-1997, the second Chechen War, 1999-2000, the Russo-Georgian War, 2008, and the Russo-Ukrainian War, 2014 – present (including the Russian invasion of Urkaine in 2022). For the sake of thoroughness, I should have checked further. Thanks for providing the more comprehensive summary from Wikipedia.
For a more direct comparison of the wars that each country has been involved in, if we use Wikipedia as a source: the People’s Republic of China has been involved in 8 wars since its founding in 1949, from 1991 to present there are no wars listed for the PRC; The Russian Federation, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, has been involved in 13 wars; the USA since 1991 has been involved in 19 wars. Since the formation of the USA, not including its revolutionary war and civil war, it has been involved in 124 wars, if I counted the list in Wikipedia correctly. As a side note, Wikipedia lists 11 wars for Canada since 1991, and 22 since Confederation.
Please don’t use my own error to cast dispersions on the accuracy and integrity of the various knowledgeable sources that I mentioned previously. Check out their thoughts on global affairs in general and the Russia–Ukraine conflict and Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular.