2020 in review

✹Since launching as part of the No Canada on UN Security Council campaign in the spring, the Institute has instigated or contributed to numerous initiatives and events designed to build a more just foreign policy:

✹The Canadian Foreign Policy Institute contributed to the defeat of the Trudeau Government’s bid for a seat on the Security Council. An open letter signed by many prominent individuals, more than 30 organizations and more than 3500 people was delivered to all UN ambassadors. The campaign stimulated 2000 individuals’ letters to every UN ambassador urging them to vote against Canada’s bid for a Security Council seat due to its poor foreign policy record.

✹Expanding the circle beyond those who endorsed the No UNSC for Canada campaign, CFPI instigated an open letter calling for a “fundamental reassessment of Canadian foreign policy”. Greenpeace Canada, Idle No More, 350 Canada, Climate Strike Canada and Vancouver and District Labour Council were among more than 50 organizations that endorsed the open letter. It was also signed by nearly 2000 individuals, including four sitting MPs and four former MPs. Other signatories include David Suzuki, Naomi Klein, Stephen Lewis and Linda McQuaig as well as Richard Parry of Arcade Fire and Black Lives Matter-Toronto founder Sandy Hudson.

✹We've made our presence felt on the media landscape with op-eds and articles in The Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Hill Times,The Tyee, Canadian Dimension and more. Since launching in May 2020, CFPI has contributed dozens of opinion editorials alone.

✹CFPI organized an event with Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on “Canadian Interference in Venezuela.” Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters also made an appearance. A sitting Foreign Minister talking directly to Canadians about Ottawa’s bid to overthrow his government is unprecedented in Canadian foreign policy history. The webinar was reported on by Journal de Montréal, Sputnik, The Canada Files, Caribbean News Global, Radio Canada International Spanish, National Post and CBC and had a cumulative audience of nearly 10,000 viewers.

✹The Institute co-organized a webinar on “Why hasn’t Canada signed the UN Nuclear Ban Treaty?” with Green MP Elizabeth May, NDP MP Heather McPherson, Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe as well as Setsuko Thurlow, survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima who jointly accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The event helped launch a large coalition that is campaigning for Canada to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

✹CFPI co-organized the first ever Green Party leadership candidate debate on “Canada’s place in the world”. The Globe and Mail, Hill Times, iPolitics reported on it and around 10,000 people watched the event.

✹CFPI helped end parliamentary silence on the planned purchase of expensive, carbon-intensive and destructive fighter jets with a webinar titled “Challenging Canada’s $19 Billion Warplane Purchase”. The event included NDP defence critic Randall Garrison, Green MP and foreign critic Paul Manly, Senator Marilou McPhedran, activist Tamara Lorincz and poet El Jones.

✹CFPI supported two National Days of Action against Canada spending more than $19 billion on new fighter jets.

✹CFPI co-organized an open letter, legal complaint and letter writing campaign opposing the recruitment of Canadians for the Israeli military that was delivered to Justice Minister David Lametti. The letter was signed by Noam Chomsky, Roger Waters, filmmaker Ken Loach and more than 150 others. Le Devoir covered the campaign on its front page and CFPI produced commentary for Canadian Dimension, Rabble, Mondoweiss and other progressive media outlets on the open letter.

✹CFPI co-organized an event with MPs Paul Manly and Niki Ashton to “Free Meng Wanzhou”. The high profile event was labelled “Chinese Communist Party propaganda” by the Conservatives in the House of Commons and criticized by numerous media.

✹CFPI co-organized an event with MP Matthew Green, Bolivian Journalist Ollie Vargas and former foreign minister of Ecuador Guillaume Long on “Bolivia's fight to restore democracy and Canada's role”. CFPI produce an action alert to all MPs titled “Canadian Government Must Respect Sovereignty and Democratic Will in Latin America.”

✹CFPI instigated a quick response that generated more than 350 letters to all MPs critical of Bob Rae’s appointment as new ambassador to the UN following the Security Council defeat. In a sign of the letter writing’s impact, both NDP and Bloc Québécois representatives provided long responses to letter writers.

✹CFPI co-organized a webinar on “Canada’s Imperialist Adventures in Haiti.”

✹CFPI co-sponsored the launch of Tyler Shipley’s new book Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and Colonial Imagination.

✹CFPI co-organized a webinar on “Canada's Silence on India's Colonization of Kashmir”. It was reported on by numerous international media.

✹CFPI’s director spoke at a rally in Montréal during the Summer against the Canada Israel Free Trade agreement and traveled from Montréal to Ottawa to participate in a rally/press conference on August 31 calling for an end to the accord.

✹CFPI instigated a letter writing campaign to all MPs to demand Canada support a patent waiver at the WTO for COVID-19 vaccines.

✹As part of building a hub of critical foreign policy discussion, foreignpolicy.ca is populated with hundreds of articles and other materials. The website has a resource page of the best books and documentaries on Canadian foreign policy. We have also developed a resource page of activist groups across the country.

✹CFPI has a half dozen fellows that are experts in different domains of international affairs. They are available to respond to media and other inquiries and will eventually publish articles and reports through the Institute. Find out more about our new fellows and advisory board here.

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Going forward CFPI will respond strategically to developments in Canadian foreign policy. CFPI plans to expand its promotion of activist events on international affairs. A central aim of CFPI is to institutionalize critical foreign policy activism and amplify the work of antiwar, mining justice and international solidarity organizations.

It is important to see ourselves as part of a collective humanity. As anthropogenic global warming and the COVID-19 pandemic highlight, we are one world now more than ever before.