Skip to content

Where different views on Israel and Judaism are welcome.

  • Home
  • Subscribe / donate
  • Events calendar
  • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Israel
    • World
    • עניין בחדשות
      A roundup of news in Canada and further afield, in Hebrew.
  • Opinion
    • From the JI
    • Op-Ed
  • Arts & Culture
    • Performing Arts
    • Music
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
    • TV & Film
  • Life
    • Celebrating the Holidays
    • Travel
    • The Daily Snooze
      Cartoons by Jacob Samuel
    • Mystery Photo
      Help the JI and JMABC fill in the gaps in our archives.
  • Community Links
    • Organizations, Etc.
    • Other News Sources & Blogs
    • Business Directory
  • FAQ
  • JI Chai Celebration
  • [email protected]! video

Search

Archives

Recent Posts

  • Joseph Segal passes at 97
  • JFS reflects on Segal’s impact
  • Segal valued Yaffa’s work
  • Broca’s latest mosaics
  • Stand for truth – again
  • Picturing connections
  • Explorations of identity
  • Ancient-modern music
  • After COVID – Showtime!
  • Yosef Wosk, JFS honoured
  • Reflections upon being presented with the Freedom of the City, Vancouver, May 31, 2022
  • Park Board honours McCarthy
  • Learning about First Nations
  • Still time to save earth
  • Milestones … Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, KDHS students, Zac Abelson
  • The importance of attribution
  • מסחר עולמי
  • New havens amid war
  • Inclusivity curriculum
  • Yom Yerushalayim
  • Celebrate good moments
  • Father’s Day ride for STEM
  • Freilach25 coming soon
  • Visit green market in Saanich
  • BI second home to Levin
  • Settling in at Waldman Library
  • Gala celebrates alumni
  • Song in My Heart delights
  • Bigsby the Bakehouse – a survival success story
  • Letters from Vienna, 1938
  • About the 2022 Summer cover
  • Beth Israel celebrates 90th
  • Honouring volunteers
  • Race to the bottom

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @JewishIndie

Tag: nuclear deal

Harpers at Lake Hula opening

Harpers at Lake Hula opening

Laureen and Stephen Harper, centre left, and Daniel Atar, KKL-JNF world chair, centre, were among those who cut the ribbon at the Nov. 6 official opening of the Stephen J. Harper Hula Valley Bird Sanctuary Visitor and Education Centre. (photo by Michael Huri)

Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper was in Israel earlier this month for a four-day visit with a delegation from the Jewish National Fund of Canada, where he took part in the dedication of the new visitors centre at JNF Lake Hula Park in northern Israel, which is named in his honour.

Budgeted at $25 million Cdn, one-fifth of which was raised by the JNF of Canada, the Stephen J. Harper Hula Valley Bird Sanctuary Visitor and Education Centre south of Qiryat Shmona is seen as “the flagship project of Keren-Kayemet L’Yisrael (KKL),” the JNF’s Israel-based sister organization. Harper contributed to the cost of the project, and the auditorium is named for his wife, Laureen, in recognition of her service to Canada, friendship to Israel and dedication to the preservation of nature and wildlife.

Stephen Harper was honoured at the JNF of Canada’s 2013 Negev Dinner in Toronto. At the time, then-JNF chief executive officer Josh Cooper said: “Given his well-documented love of animals, we felt this would be an appropriate project to present to him.”

Now completed, six years after fundraising began, the facility promises to transform the experience of ornithologists and bird watchers who come to the Hula Valley. There, they can watch the twice-a-year seasonal migration of 500 million birds from more than 500 species, from Europe and Central Asia to Africa, and back.

The Hula Valley, located in the shadow of Mount Hermon, is considered the crown jewel of Israeli conservation efforts. Known in the Bible as Merom, up until the 1950s, it was full of swampland that was notorious for breeding malaria-carrying anopheles mosquitoes. In the 1950s, the wetlands were drained, with the hope that fertile farmland would result; instead, environmental devastation and the extinction of some indigenous species followed. Farming in the area was never successful and JNF ultimately decided to reflood part of the former lake.

Known in Hebrew as Agamon Hula (Little Lake Hula), the flat valley is filled with an array of birds, including cranes, pelicans and eagles. Visitors can observe the birds and also cycle around the site.

***

At the gala dinner Nov. 5 in honour of Harper, which took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke about the danger Iran’s nuclear ambitions poses for Israel, the Middle East and the West.

“Iran expands its aggression everywhere. It seeks to envelop Israel. It seeks to threaten Israel. It seeks to destroy Israel. We fight back,” Netanyahu said. “I also want to say, given Iran’s efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program, expand its enrichment of uranium for making atomic bombs, I repeat here once again – we will never let Iran develop nuclear weapons. This is not only for our security and our future; it’s for the future of the Middle East and the world.”

Netanyahu was particularly concerned about Tehran’s plans to start injecting UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) gas into the centrifuges to enrich uranium to five percent at the heavily fortified underground Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, located inside a mountain 32 kilometres northeast of the Shi’ite holy city of Qom.

Earlier in the day, Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi promised that his country would violate the element of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which Tehran had worked out with the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States). The United States left the deal last year and has imposed sanctions on Iran in an attempt to force it to renegotiate the document. Tehran, in turn, has begun violating the deal in an attempt to pressure the United States to recall the sanctions.

Under the 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers, Iran agreed to turn Fordow into a “nuclear, physics and technology centre,” where 1,044 centrifuges would be used for purposes other than enrichment, such as producing stable isotopes, which have a variety of civil uses. The deal bans nuclear material from Fordow and, by injecting UF6 into centrifuges, the facility will become an active nuclear site rather than a research plant as permitted under the pact.

***

Since leaving Parliament after the Conservative party was defeated in the 2015 federal election by the Liberals, Harper has become president of the Awz venture capital fund advisory committee. The fund, founded by managing partner Yaron Ashkenazi, specializes in investments in Israeli security and intelligence startups, and manages $100 million in assets. The fund has invested in 12 companies to date, according to the Israeli financial website Globes.

Harper, an enthusiastic supporter of Israel, has visited many times. On Jan. 20, 2014, he addressed the Knesset plenum, saying: “It is, thus, a Canadian tradition to stand for what is principled and just, regardless of whether it is convenient or popular. But, I would argue, support today for the Jewish state of Israel is more than a moral imperative, it is also of strategic importance, also a matter of our own, long-term interests…. For too many nations, it is still easier to scapegoat Israel than to emulate your success.”

About the education centre, he said in a statement, “This park is one of the greatest restoration stories, just like this country is to the Jewish people. It is a magnificent honour to have this centre named after my name, and I am grateful for this beautiful occasion.”

Gil Zohar is a writer and tour guide in Jerusalem, Israel.

Format ImagePosted on November 15, 2019November 13, 2019Author Gil ZoharCategories IsraelTags environment, Harper, Hula Valley, Iran, Israel, nuclear deal, preservation
טרודו מצטער על החלטת טראמפ

טרודו מצטער על החלטת טראמפ

ראש ממשלת קנדה, ג’סטין טרודו, והמתוקשרת של נשיא ארה”ב, דונלד טראמפ, 2017. (צילום: @WhiteHouse)

ראש ממשלת קנדה, ג’סטין טרודו, הביע צער על החלטתו המתוקשרת של נשיא ארה”ב, דונלד טראמפ, לבטל את הסכם הגרעין עם איראן שהושג ב-2015.

טרודו הודיע כי קנדה תמשיך לתמוך בהסכם הקיים, בו תומכות גם מדינות אירופה, גרמניה, בריטניה, צרפת, סין ורוסיה. טרודו אמר עוד שההסכם עם איראן אינו מושלם, אך הוא מונע ממדינה זו לפתח נשק אטומי. לדבריו קנדה תמשיך לתמוך בהסכם כמו גם מדינות נאט”ו האחרות. טרודו הוסיף עוד: “אנו מכבדים החלטות של מדינות אחרות לגבי מדיניות החוץ שלהן. אבל לגבי המטרות של קנדה, אנו נקבל החלטות לגבי מדיניות חוץ שלנו כאן באוטווה, ולא בוושינגטון או בכל מקום אחר”.

טרודו ציין עוד כי הוא בטוח שנושא ההסכם עם איראן יעמוד בראש הדיונים של מדינות הג’י-7 שיתכנסו לפגישה השנתית שלהן, בחודש הבא בקנדה.

אפסילור זכתה במכרז הצבא הקנדי שהיקפו כארבעה מיליון דולר

חברת אפסילור מישראל זכתה במכרז של משרד הביטחון הקנדי, עבור אספקת פתרונות לטעינת סוללות וניהול אנרגיה. זאת עבור פרויקט “החייל הדיגיטלי” של צבאה קנדה. אפסילור תפתח ותספק מטען חדשני, שיוכל לטעון במקביל שתיים עשרה סוללות עתירות אנרגיה של מערכת “החייל הדיגיטלי”.

בשלב ראשון תספק אפסילור ארבע מאות מטענים רב ערוציים, שירותים וחלקי חילוף, בהיקף של כשלושה מיליון דולר ארה”ב (כארבעה מיליון דולר קנדי). בחוזה יש גם אופציה להכפלת מספר מטענים במהלך ארבע השנים הקרובות.

ועדת המכרזים של הצבא הקנדי בחרה באפסילור שהצעתה זכתה לניקוד טכני גבוה ומחיר תחרותי. וכן לאור הניסיון המוכח של אפסילור בפיתוח

מטענים צבאיים מתקדמים עבור צה”ל וצבאות נוספים במדינות המערב.

צבא קנדה נחשב לאחד הצבאות הפעילים ביותר מקרב קבוצת המדינות החברות בברית נאט”ו. במשך שנים רבות הצבא הקנדי נטל חלק משמעותי בפעילות, כמעט בכל אזורי העימות אשר בהם פעלה הברית הצפון אטלנטית. אזורי העימות כללו בין היתר את: יוגוסלביה, עיראק ואפגניסטן. במקביל הצבא הקנדי השתתף גם במשימות שונות של כוחות שמירת השלום של האו”ם.

במסגרת ההסכם בין אפסילור לצבא הקנדי יצויידו אלפי חיילים לוחמים קנדיים, במערכות לבישה של “החייל דיגיטלי”, כולל אמצעים מתוחכמים של אמצעי שליטה ובקרה, מערכת לניהול קרב, אמצעי תצפיות, הרכשת מטרות, תקשורת וכו’.

מאחר ורכיבי האנרגיה במערכת נדרשים לתמוך בכל הציוד האלקטרוני הלביש במשימות ממושכות של החיילים, זוהה נושא טעינת הסוללות כקריטי. לכן צבא קנדה פרסם את המכרז המיוחד לפיתוח ולייצור מטען ייעודי, שיעמוד במפרט גבוה במיוחד של דרישות טכניות ומבצעיות. כך למשל המטען נדרש לטעון מספר רב של סוללות במהירות, לפעול בשטח וכן תוך כדי נסיעה ברכב. וגם להתחבר להזנה ממקורות אנרגיה מגוונים, כדוגמת רשתות חשמל בכל רחבי העולם, כלי רכב שונים, ואפילו סוללות חד פעמיות. המטען החדש יהיה אטום לחלוטין למים ואבק, ויפעל באזורי אקלים שונים בעולם. המטען החדש,

שפיתחה אפסילור תומך בסוללות לבישות, שנמצאות בשימוש בצבאי הקנדי, וכן גם בצבאות נוספים של מדינות החברות בנאט”ו.

מנכ”ל אפסילור, אלכס סטפנסקי, אומר בתגובה לזכייה במכרז: “אנו גאים שהחברה שלנו נבחרה על ידי צבא קנדי, להיות חלק מהתוכניות היוקרתית של “החייל הדיגיטלי””. הוא הוסיף: “הזכייה במרכז של צבא קנדה ממחישה את התחרותיות ואת איכות פיתוח והמוצרים שלנו. אנו רואים בפרוייקט זה מקדם חשוב, שיסייע לנו להתמודד על מכרזים נוספים בקנדה, וכן בצבאות אחרים בנאט”ו ורחבי העולם”.

Format ImagePosted on May 16, 2018Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags Canada, Canadian Army, conflict, Epsilor, Iran, nuclear deal, peacekeeping missions, Trudeau, Trump, United States, איראן, אפסילור, ארה"ב, הסכם הגרעין, הצבא הקנדי, טראמפ, טרודו, כוחות שמירת השלום, עימות
מתהדק הקשר בין קנדה לאיראן

מתהדק הקשר בין קנדה לאיראן

שר החוץ, סטפן דיון. (צילום: Facebook)

מתהדק הקשר בין קנדה לאיראן: הוסרו מספר סנקציות כלכליות נגד המדינה האיסלאמית

קנדה ואיראן פותחות בדיאלוג לאחר כשלוש וחצי שנים של נתק טוטאלי בין שתי המדינות. במסגרת זו הממשלה הקנדית החליטה להסיר כבר מספר סנקציות כלכליות נגד איראן, בהן הקשורות בשירותים פיננסיים, יצוא ויבוא. כך הכריז שר החוץ, סטפן דיון, בסוף השבוע האחרון. סנקציות נוספות יוסרו בהמשך הדרך בשלבים כולל חידוש היחסים הדיפלומטיים, תוך שקנדה בוחנת את הפיקוח של האו”ם על תוכנית הגרעין של איראן, כדי למנוע מאיראן להמשיך ולפתח אותה, כמו למנוע ממנה את הפיתוח של טילים בליסטיים ארוכי טווח. דיון ציין כי קנדה תמשיך לבדוק מה קורה באיראן ותפעיל מדיניות בשלבים להסרת הסנקציות, לאור החששות מתפקידה של איראן במזרח התיכון כולל מול בני הברית כמו ישראל, ולאור “הרקורד” של איראן בתחום נושא זכויות האדם. דיון הוסיף עוד: “אני חושב שזה טוב לישראל שקנדה תוכל לדבר עם איראן. זו הייתה טעות לחשוב כי הבידוד עדיף על קשר וקשר אינו מהווה הסכמה”.

לדברי דיון תחומים רבים של הכלכלה הקנדית ירוויחו ממערכת היחסים המחודשת עם איראן. זה לא רק תעשיית התעופה והחלל, אלה גם תחבורה, חקלאות, התעשייה הפטרוכימית, תעשיית הכרייה ותעשיות הנפט והגז. לקנדה יש עדיין חששות כבדים בנוגע לשאיפותיה הגרעיניות של איראן, ולכן ימשכו המגבלות החמורות של יצוא מוצרים רגישים שלא ישלחו לאיראן וכל היתר יצוא ישקל בכל מקרה לגופו. קנדה תמשיך אפוא לקיים הגבלות חמורות על היצוא לאיראן של מוצרים, שירותים וטכנולוגיה שנחשבים לרגישים מהבחינה הביטחונית, לרבות מוצרים שיכולים לעזור לאיראן לייצר טילים גרעיניים או בליסטיים.

בתגובה להחלטת הממשלה להסיר את הסנקציות הצרכז לענייני ישראל והיהודים בקנדה פרסם את תגובתו בנידון. המרכז מציין כי איראן ממשיכה להיות איום ממשי עבור ישראל והיהודים ברחבי העולם. הסרת הסקנציות הבינלאומיות בעקבות ההסכם על תוכנית הגרעין של איראן, תנוצל על ידי המשטר האיראני וזה מקור חרדה רציני למרכז לענייני ישראל והיהודים בקנדה ושותפיו ברחבי העולם. קיימת סכנה ממשית שהקהילה הבינלאומית, מתוך נאיביות לאור הסכם הגרעין עם איראן, תקבל את איראן כחברה לגיטמית בקהילה הלאומית, למרות שהיא ממשיכה לתת חסות לטרור, מתעללת בזכויות אדם, מחוללת כאוס באזור וקוראת להשמדת ישראל.

עמדת המרכז לענייני ישראל והיהודים בקנדה לגבי החלטת הממשלה הקנדית החדשה ברורה. איראן מהווה איום רב לשלום העולמי והביטחון העולמי, וקנדה צריכה להתעמת עימה באמצעות כלים דיפלומטיים וכלכליים.

המרכז יודע כי המפלגה הליברלית של קנדה למרות תמיכתה בעמדתה תקיפה נגד איראן, מזה זמן רב מעדיפה גישה המאופיינת במעורבות קונסטרוקטיבית בניגוד לממשלה השמרנית הקודמת שתמכה חד-משמעית בבידודה של איראן. המרכז ישאר מאוד מודאג מהמאמץ של הקהילה הבינלאומית לחידוש הקשרים אם איראן, “ואנו נמשיך להראות שדיפולמטיה ללא לחץ כלכלי לא הייתה מביאה שינוי בהתנהגותה של איראן. תפקידנו להבטיח לבחון את הציוד והסחורות שיועברו לאיראן מקנדה, כדי לבחון שחברות קנדיות לא יעזרו לתוכנית הגרעין שלה ולבניית מערך הטילים הבליסטיים שלה”.

המרכז אומר עוד: “עכשיו יותר מתמיד הקהילה היהודית בקנדה צריכה לקחת חלק במדיניות הציבורית המקומית. אנו זקוקים לחברי הקהילה באשר הם כדי שישמיעו את קולם. בימים הקרובים המרכז לענייני ישראל והיהודים בקנדה, ישיק קמפיין חדש לגיוס אזרחי קנדה שמודאגים לקרוא לשר החוץ דיון, להמשיך ולהפעיל לחץ על איראן. יש באפשרותה של הקהילה היהודית להשפיע על הטיפול הכושל של הממשלה בתיק איראן, כשנעים קדימה”.

Format ImagePosted on February 9, 2016February 9, 2016Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags Canada, CIJA, economy, Iran, nuclear deal, Stéphane Dion, איראן, הסכם הגרעין, כלכלה, מרכז לענייני ישראל והיהודים, סטפן דיון, קנדה
Trudeau talks with the JI

Trudeau talks with the JI

Liberal Party of Canada leader Justin Trudeau in an interview with Cynthia Ramsay of the Jewish Independent. (photo by Adam Scotti)

Justin Trudeau said he is cautiously optimistic about the Iran nuclear deal, insisted he is committed to fighting ISIS and reiterated his commitment to the environment and social fairness in an exclusive interview with the Jewish Independent.

The federal Liberal leader, who hopes to be prime minister after the Oct. 19 federal election, acknowledged the implications of Iran’s agreement with Western powers over its nuclear program, which the Tehran regime maintains is for energy purposes only.

“We all start from the same place on this – a nuclear-armed Iran is a threat not just to Israel, not just to the region, but to the entire world, and we have to make sure that Iran doesn’t achieve that,” Trudeau said.

There are only two ways to reach this objective, he said: direct military intervention on the ground against the Iranian regime or a diplomatic agreement. “We don’t have such a great record of military intervention in that part of the world,” he noted, stressing that the agreement is “not based on trust but on verification.”

“We are cautiously optimistic about the deal,” he said. “We’re not saying we should drop the sanctions today. Obviously, there are a lot of milestones to be addressed, but I think anything [is positive] that sets us down the path of both delaying the ability significantly of Iran to get the nuclear bomb and increases the ability of the Iranian people to put pressure on their regime to change – because we all know we can make a tremendous distinction between the Iranian citizens and their government that doesn’t represent them particularly well.”

Trudeau also advocated reopening diplomatic relations with Iran eventually. “I do feel that it would be very nice to hope to reopen that embassy at one point because you don’t have embassies with just your friends, you have your embassies with the people you disagree with,” he said. “However, on top of addressing the nuclear concerns, Iran has to do an awful lot to demonstrate that it’s no longer going to be a state sponsor of terrorism in the region, around the world, and they have to do an awful lot around human rights and repression of their own citizens and dissent within Iran before they can rejoin the community of nations. But I think we’re on a path that should be cause for at least a level of comfort that perhaps we’re in a positive direction now.”

In speaking with the JI after a speech to the Richmond Chamber of Commerce last Friday, Trudeau, in his second exclusive with the paper, clarified his stance around confronting ISIS.

“This is a great opportunity for me to spell out our position on this,” he said. “The Liberal party feels it is extremely important that Canada be a significant part in the effort against ISIS. We are absolutely supportive of being part of that coalition and, indeed, we feel there is a military role for Canada in the fight against ISIS that can make a very big difference. We disagree that bombing is the best way for Canada to do that. That’s why we voted against the mission and voted against the expansion of the mission into Syria, because it has a likely side effect of strengthening Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power and that we don’t necessarily want.”

“We are absolutely supportive of being part of that coalition and, indeed, we feel there is a military role for Canada in the fight against ISIS that can make a very big difference. We disagree that bombing is the best way for Canada to do that.”

What Trudeau would prefer, he said, is for Canada to provide more humanitarian aid, for example, and for this country’s military to provide the kind of role it does in Afghanistan. “We’ve developed tremendous expertise,” he said, “which is training the local troops to be able to take the fight more efficiently to ISIS. That would happen far from the frontlines because we don’t want Canadian troops to be involved [there] but also because we know that it is the local troops that are going to be effective at taking back their homes, their communities, and dropping in Western soldiers doesn’t make the situation better as, unfortunately, the Americans understood in Iraq awhile ago.”

He sees an opportunity for Canada to make an impact without being directly involved in the conflict. “We feel there’s a role for Canada to be a significant resource in training the local military, not in a direct combat role that Mr. Harper is proposing with the bombings,” he said.

Trudeau welcomed the opportunity to explain his support, with caveats, for the federal government’s anti-terrorism bill, C-51. “The Liberal party has always understood that we need to protect Canadian security and uphold our rights and freedoms – and you do them both together,” he said. “To our mind, Bill C-51, even though it has clear elements in it that increase the safety for Canadians – which is why we supported it – it doesn’t go far enough to uphold our rights and freedoms, which is why we’re committed to bringing in oversight, putting in a sunset and review clause onto our anti-terror legislation, and also narrowing and tightening some of the rules around what behavior CSIS [Canadian Security Intelligence Service] can have – warrantless searches and all those sorts of things.”

His political opponents, he said, go too far in each direction. “Mr. Harper thinks, ‘No, no, we don’t have to do anything more around rights and freedoms, we have enough, we’re just giving more power to our police,’” Trudeau said. “I think that’s a problem.

“Mr. Mulcair says, ‘No, we don’t need to do anything more on security. Even those things in C-51, we don’t need them, we’re fine the way it is.’” That is also a problem, according to Trudeau. “We have to do more,” he said. “But we have to do more on both sides.”

On other topics, the Liberal leader expressed support for increased trade with Israel. “We obviously support the latest announcement around Canada-Israel free trade,” he said. “I know it was a lot of agricultural stuff in this round, but it’s a very good thing. This was a deal that was signed by [Liberal prime minister] Jean Chrétien back in ’97 and the Liberal party believes in trade. We believe in free trade, and we’re happy to continue trade with Israel.”

Trudeau took the opportunity to reiterate his opposition to the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction (BDS) Israel.

“You can have all sorts of debates over positions, but when you’re engaged in demonization, delegitimization and double standards, that’s just not what we are as a country.”

“I think the BDS and anti-apartheid movement, as I’ve said many times, runs counter to Canadian values,” he said. “You can have all sorts of debates over positions, but when you’re engaged in demonization, delegitimization and double standards, that’s just not what we are as a country.”

The Independent also asked Trudeau about the Liberals’ approach to climate issues and social equality.

“At a very basic level, we get it, as Canadians, particularly here in B.C., that you cannot separate what’s good for the environment and what’s good for the economy anymore,” Trudeau said. “You have to do them both together, and you can’t get one without the other.

“You still have people saying, ‘Oh no, we have to work on the economy, so let’s forget about environmental oversight,’ or ‘We need to protect the environment, so, no, we can’t create jobs.’ Canadians know we need them both together,” he said. “One of the problems is we’ve had 10 years of such a lack of leadership on the environmental level that it’s hurting our economy. We need to get our resources to market in responsible, sustainable ways. We’re not able to do that right now because nobody trusts Mr. Harper to do it right. Restoring that sense of public trust, [so] that people know, we need jobs, we need economic growth … in a way that understands that it’s not just about governments granting permits, but about communities granting permission, as well.

“One of the things we’ve put forward in our environmental plan is that, in the 10 years of lack of leadership on the federal side, the provinces have moved forward,” Trudeau continued. “B.C. has a very successful carbon tax, Alberta put in a carbon levy-style tax, Ontario and Quebec are doing a cap-and-trade. What that means is that 86% of our economy has already put in a mechanism to put a price on carbon, so the federal government can’t suddenly say, ‘OK, we’re doing cap-and-trade. Sorry, B.C., you’re going to have to change your system,’ which would make no sense; or vice versa, ‘We’re doing a carbon tax.

Sorry, Ontario, you can’t do it.’ What we have to do is recognize that different jurisdictions will have different ways of reducing their emissions – the federal government has to be a partner, a supporter, an investor in our capacity to do that across the country, in order for us to reduce our emissions and be responsible about the environment.”

Trudeau acknowledged the solutions won’t be immediate. “We need to move beyond fossil fuels, but it’s not going to happen tomorrow,” he said. “Right now, a lot of people who are blocking and opposed to pipelines aren’t realizing that the alternative is a lot more oil by rail, which is really problematic – more expensive, more dangerous.” Under the circumstances, he said, people are just saying no: “No to everything, because we don’t trust the government in place.”

He said he hopes to form a government that addresses climate change, invests in clean technology, renewable resources and the kinds of jobs that advance beyond a fossil fuel economy. For now, “we have to make sure that our oil sands are developed going forward in a responsible, efficient way that doesn’t give us the black eye on the world stage and with our trading partners,” he said.

“The Liberal party believes in evidence-based policy and we believe in harm reduction. My own hometown, Montreal, is pushing hard to set up an Insite-type clinic. The Liberal party supports that. The Supreme Court supports that. This government, for ideological reasons, is pushing against it. I think that’s just wrong, and we’re happy to say that. ”

Vancouver has been the testing ground for new ways of dealing with addiction, particularly the Insite supervised drug injection clinic. “The Liberal party believes in evidence-based policy and we believe in harm reduction,” Trudeau said. “My own hometown, Montreal, is pushing hard to set up an Insite-type clinic. The Liberal party supports that. The Supreme Court supports that. This government, for ideological reasons, is pushing against it. I think that’s just wrong, and we’re happy to say that.”

In the same week that Canadian parents were receiving Universal Child Care Benefit [UCCB] cheques in the mail calibrated to the number of children in their home, Trudeau was promoting his party’s “fairness plan.”

“Mr. Harper’s child benefit, for example, goes to every family regardless of how wealthy they might be,” Trudeau said. “We, instead, decided, let’s make it means-tested so that people who need the help the most will get the best help. For a low-income family, it means up to $533 a month, tax-free, and then it grades down until someone making over $200,000 doesn’t get any child-care benefit at all. And the benefits that will go to the nine out of 10 Canadians will be tax-free, so the money you get is actually money you get to spend.”

The plan also proposes to lower the middle-class income bracket from 22 to 20.5, which will result in about $3 billion in lost revenue. “In order to get that $3 billion,” said Trudeau, “we’re bringing in a new tax bracket on the wealthiest Canadians, people who make over $200,000, to even things out. And it’s not just about redistribution, it’s also about growing the economy because we know, when middle-class families and the working poor have money in their pockets to spend, to grow, it stimulates the economy.

“Interestingly enough, the NDP is lined up with the Conservatives on those positions,” he added. “They support the Conservatives’ UCCB that gives big cheques, and they’re opposed to us bringing in a higher tax bracket for the wealthiest Canadians, which I don’t understand. They have their reasons for it but, for me, the NDP is supposed to be a party that stands up for the most vulnerable.”

Format ImagePosted on July 31, 2015July 28, 2015Author Pat Johnson and Cynthia RamsayCategories NationalTags BDS, Bill C-2, Bill C-51, CIFTA, CSIS, fairness plan, federal election, Insite, Iran, ISIS, Israel, Justin Trudeau, Liberal Party of Canada, nuclear deal, terrorism

Another option?

When the Iranian nuclear agreement was revealed recently, a former Swedish prime minister tweeted: “I think the work of the Nobel committee of the Norwegian Parliament this year just got much easier.”

The work of the Nobel committee has not been flawless overall. They bestowed the honor on Yasser Arafat before the world discovered that the old terrorist had not changed his spots. And, in 2009, they awarded it to a newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama, apparently as an aspirational move intended to recognize things the committee hoped he would do, rather than anything he had already done.

If the parties involved in the Iranian deal receive the Nobel, it will be no less aspirational, although we all hope for the best.

The amount of ink (or its digital equivalent) spilled on the subject of the Iranian nuclear deal possibly surpasses that associated with any diplomatic arrangement in history. The Treaty of Versailles, the Munich Agreement (“Peace in our time!”) and the Potsdam Agreement took place in times when not everyone had a squawking lectern, as we all now do in the digital world. The volume of opinions – in both the auditory and magnitudinal senses of the term – have been vast.

This is one of the reasons, as acknowledged in last week’s issue, that we have not devoted enormous space to the topic. One would need to be a hermit to have avoided the agitated attitudes on one side of the topic or the other.

Yet there has been very little nuance in this discussion. Either the agreement, as the American politician and cable news mouthpiece Mike Huckabee says, leads Israelis “to the door of the oven,” or it guarantees Iran, as the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” organization J Street posited in a big spread in the New York Times, “Zero pathways to the bomb.”

There is, frankly, no way to tell at this point whether the agreement augurs peace or disaster. Everything you hear about it is opinion, conjecture. It will take 20, 50, 100 years or more to know whether this was a good deal or a catastrophic one.

By this very statement, we acknowledge the significance of the issue. Whatever one thinks about the agreement, this is nothing less than an existential matter. Extreme comments may well be excused because the stakes are literally as high as they could possibly be for the Jewish people. The Western powers have made a deal with a theocracy that has sworn repeatedly, emphatically and unequivocally to eradicate Israel from the planet.

The agreement is intended to prevent that genocidally obsessed regime from obtaining nuclear weapons. If it succeeds, it will remove an unparalleled threat to the Jewish people. If it fails, the outcome is unthinkable. The problem we face as people living in the present is that we cannot foresee which outcome the agreement portends. But the question is, what’s the alternative?

There is a campaign afoot to convince members of the U.S. Congress to reject the deal, which would scupper it. (Iran’s “parliament” has also scheduled a vote – after the American vote, presumably so they don’t look like dupes should the legislators of the Great Satan reject it after they have endorsed it.)

But the alternative to an imperfect deal has been the issue from the start. According to experts, the Iranian nuclear infrastructure has been built specifically to protect it from most external military threats, developed in missile-proof bunkers and diverse locations that make military intervention exceedingly difficult.

In an ideal and less dangerous world, of course, the mass of Iranian people – whose grandparents and even parents recall life as part of the pre-revolution world – would rise up against their oppressors and demand a democratic society determined to live in peace with their neighbors and the world.

In the meantime, we are faced with this: a terrible, hateful Iranian regime that has made at least a kabuki of a diplomatic overture, which evokes the words of Moshe Dayan. “If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”

Posted on July 31, 2015August 19, 2015Author The Editorial BoardCategories From the JITags Iran, Nobel Prize, nuclear deal

What’s next with Iran deal

Given the copious amount that has been written on the Iran deal, we publish this summary of key points by American Jewish Congress to help readers wade through the various articles and blogs, and form their own opinion about the deal:

The historic deal with Iran intended to curb its nuclear weapons program will receive a full airing in the U.S. Congress in the next several weeks. The following is a short summary of key points to keep in mind as the debate unfolds:

  1. Several steps must be taken before the Iran deal goes into effect. Congress has 60 days to review the deal’s terms, hold hearings, conduct a debate and take a vote in both the House and Senate.
  2. If Congress passes a resolution of disapproval and sends it to President Barack Obama for his signature, he has 12 days to veto the resolution. The president has said already that he would take such action, if necessary.
  3. Many members of both parties in Congress have expressed deep skepticism. Israel is lobbying hard against it; Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, also oppose the deal, but are conducting their lobbying efforts more quietly.
  4. The deal also must be brought to the United Nations Security Council. It is unclear at this time if that will happen before or after a congressional vote.
  5. No sanctions will be lifted before the end of this year. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) first must provide, by Dec. 15, a baseline assessment of Iran’s possible military activities relative to its past nuclear program.
  6. The IAEA will be given “when necessary, where necessary” access to monitor Iranian compliance, with a mechanism that gives Iran up to 24 days before permitting inspectors to visit designated sites.
  7. This “managed access” falls well short of the president’s earlier assertion that the IAEA must be allowed to have intrusive access on an “anytime, anywhere” basis.
  8. The current UN arms embargo will remain in place for five years and UN ballistic missile sanctions will stay in place for eight years, though both time periods can be reduced if Iran is judged to be acting in full compliance with the deal.
  9. The lifting of the arms embargo is outside the parameters set by President Obama, who repeatedly said during negotiations that only issues related to the nuclear file were legitimate subjects for compromise.
  10. Economic sanctions against Iran will be removed in stages, with some frozen assets scheduled to be released when the deal moves to implementation by the end of the year, in which case Iran is expected to benefit from $100 billion to $150 billion in cash.
  11. Many observers are concerned that Iran, whose current annual defence budget is approximately $30 billion, will use the influx of cash to support proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Houthi rebels in Yemen, and to foment instability throughout the region with greater funding to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the al-Quds force’s efforts in Iraq and Syria. This is on top of billions in expected oil revenues and the significant economic bump Iran is expected to enjoy through increased commerce with the international community.
  12. Sanctions can be restored should Iran violate the deal, though most observers are highly dubious that so-called “snapback” provisions will be effective.
  13. The deal will be terminated 10 years from the date of its adoption as long as Iran does not violate UN sanctions, though there are elements of it that have a 15-year life expectancy.
Posted on July 24, 2015July 22, 2015Author American Jewish CongressCategories Op-EdTags Barack Obama, IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran, nuclear deal, UN, United Nations
Proudly powered by WordPress