‘Our democracy is on the line’: The focus on bad-actor MPs misses the bigger problem with foreign meddling, security committee chair warns
The head of an all-party committee whose latest review of foreign interference suggested some MPs are working for the benefit of foreign states is arguing the focus on that narrow segment of the report is missing the mark. National security is not a game and most certainly not a partisan one, said Liberal MP David McGuinty, the chair of the powerful National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), whose report last week assessing six years’ worth of intelligence and government action related to foreign interference included stunning conclusions about alleged complicity by MPs. But McGuinty urged his fellow parliamentarians — as well as Canadians as a whole — to read the report in its entirety and understand that foreign states are covertly flexing their muscles inside NGOs, boardrooms, media coverage and many other elements of society, not just in the House of Commons. (Toronto Star 6/12/24) READ MORE>>>>>
The head of an all-party committee whose latest review of foreign interference suggested some MPs are working for the benefit of foreign states is arguing the focus on that narrow segment of the report is missing the mark. National security is not a game and most certainly not a partisan one, said Liberal MP David McGuinty, the chair of the powerful National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), whose report last week assessing six years’ worth of intelligence and government action related to foreign interference included stunning conclusions about alleged complicity by MPs. But McGuinty urged his fellow parliamentarians — as well as Canadians as a whole — to read the report in its entirety and understand that foreign states are covertly flexing their muscles inside NGOs, boardrooms, media coverage and many other elements of society, not just in the House of Commons. (Toronto Star 6/12/24) READ MORE>>>>>
The Globalist: Nine Acres in Athens: Democracy’s Rise (and Fall)
In these troubling times, it has been reassuring to walk on a hot September afternoon among the ruins of Athens’ ancient agora. It was once the busy heart of what is often described as the world’s first democracy.
Athens and Washington, D.C.Five thousand miles away, and a few days before my Athens excursion, U.S. President Joe Biden had stood in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, warning that the United States’ democracy was “under assault.”
A violent mob seeking to toss out the valid votes of millions had “held a dagger to the throat of our democracy.” That threat remains, Biden asserted.
11.6.22
In these troubling times, it has been reassuring to walk on a hot September afternoon among the ruins of Athens’ ancient agora. It was once the busy heart of what is often described as the world’s first democracy.
Athens and Washington, D.C.Five thousand miles away, and a few days before my Athens excursion, U.S. President Joe Biden had stood in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, warning that the United States’ democracy was “under assault.”
A violent mob seeking to toss out the valid votes of millions had “held a dagger to the throat of our democracy.” That threat remains, Biden asserted.
11.6.22
“Humanity’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but humanity’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” -20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr
“Pure democracy cannot subsist long nor be carried far into the departments of state—it is very subject to caprice and the madness of popular rage.” -Declaration signer John Witherspoon
