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Today, the dangers of military escalation are beyond description.
What is now happening in Ukraine has serious geopolitical implications. It could lead us into a World War III scenario.
It is important that a peace process be initiated with a view to preventing escalation.
Global Research condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A Bilateral Peace Agreement is required.
An understanding of history is important.
It is absolutely essential that Freedom of Speech prevail as a means to resolving this crisis which potentially threatens the future of humanity.
Global Research, March 4, 2022
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In Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s speech introducing the new Federal Budget, she employed strong and cutting language of Vladimir Putin and the Russian government as she introduced an increase of $8 billion in spending on defence spending, including $500 million set aside to arm Ukrainians defending against Russian aggression over the past two months.
“Putin and his henchmen are war criminals. The world’s democracies — including our own — can be safe only once the Russian tyrant and his armies are entirely vanquished,” she said. [1]
On April 27, every single member of the House of Commons voted in favor of the resolution that the Russian attacks on Ukraine constitute a “genocide.”[2]
In the lead up to the war, Canada together with the United Kingdom had taken a more hawkish stance toward Russia than any nation within the European Union. [3]
As the Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom commented back in a January article, Canada has the reputation of being moderate when it comes to international crises. When it comes to Ukraine, they are out and out cowboys, even making President Biden look like a classic peacenik! [4]
The mainstream media has likewise been totally unfair and biased when it comes to Ukraine. The outspoken peace activist Tamara Lorincz spelled out all the concerns she had in a letter to the CBC Ombudsman about the station’s coverage:
“The CBC has hosted many more Ukrainian, pro-NATO and anti-Russian guests who have advocated for more weapons to Ukraine and have portrayed Russia as the aggressor. The CBC has not given equal air time to Russian officials or to alternative peace perspectives who are critical of NATO expansion and the Canadian military in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. The poor, biased reporting is misinforming Canadians. Worse, it is fanning the flames of war and increasing insecurity in the region and risking the lives of Ukrainians.” [5]
Canadians are naturally guided to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. But this instinct to help is cluttered with propaganda distorting the actual picture on the ground, and the actual long term plans of the U.S. toward Russia.
So, for Canadians, what is the alternative for Ukraine beyond this endless drumbeat for more and more war? This is a question that the Global Research News Hour intends to answer this week.
In our first half hour, we hear from two panelists from the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute’s video presentation Cutting Through the Spin: Russia’s invasion, NATO’s provocation and Canada’s complicity .
The first, Yuri Sheliazhenko is based in Kiev, Ukraine and is demanding conscientious resistance to his fellow Ukrainians participating in the war-fighting. Then peace activist Glenn Michalchuk explains the opportunity to de-escalate tensions through peaceful and diplomatic initiatives, not accelerate by more warfare.
Our final guest, anti-war activist Ken Stone talks about a current campaign to stop someone from recruiting Canadians as volunteer fighters against the Russians in Ukraine, and how the Canadian government appears to turn a “blind eye” to the illegality of the affair.
Yuri Sheliazhenko is a member of the board of directors of World Beyond War. He is Ukrainian, and based in Kiev. He is the executive secretary for the Ukrainian Pacifist movement, and a board member for the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection. He is also a journalist, blogger, human rights defender, legal scholar, as well as an author and academic.
Glenn Michalchuk is chair of Peace Alliance Winnipeg and the president of the Winnipeg branch of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians.
Ken Stone is a veteran antiwar activist, a former Steering Committee Member of the Canadian Peace Alliance, an executive member of the Syria Support Network International, and treasurer of the Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War [hcsw.ca].
(Global Research News Hour Episode 353)
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Notes:
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-budget-defence-freeland-ukraine-russia-1.6412424?msclkid=021dab86c7cb11ec9b73f81e059bcd78
- Kanishka Singh (April 27, 2022) “Canada lawmakers vote unanimously to label Russia’s acts in Ukraine as ‘genocide’ “, Reuters; https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-budget-defence-freeland-ukraine-russia-1.6412424?msclkid=021dab86c7cb11ec9b73f81e059bcd78
- https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/25/britain-canada-ukraine-russia-military/?msclkid=955edbecc7c011ec9aba8cc35e62a7a1
- Thomas Walkom (Jan. 20, 2022) “Canada, usually the voice of moderation, is playing the cowboy on Ukraine crisis”, The Toronto Star; https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/01/20/canada-usually-the-voice-of-moderation-is-playing-the-cowboy-on-ukraine-crisis.html?msclkid=955d5f30c7c011ecaae1a1b9bdaef6ff
- https://www.peacequest.ca/reader-faults-cbcs-pro-war-coverage-of-ukraine-crisis/?msclkid=59fe4cefc7ed11eca2d5c77c5c3db947
