Mark Kersten is a Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Deputy Director of the Wayamo Foundation. Canadians have been battered with news about the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
The Trudeau government wants to compel people to make a choice: Do we want jobs, or do we want to hold SNC-Lavalin to account for accusations of bribing officials in Libya?
But this affair isn't just about Canada, Canadians or jobs. Holding SNC-Lavalin to account represents an opportunity to challenge the status quo where states and companies can underwrite brutal dictatorships with impunity. It's an opportunity to tell a different and all too rare kind of story about holding the enablers of autocracy to account.
The interview had ended. But as Al-Monitor prepared to leave his office, the interviewee waited until it was clear the digital recorder was turned off to say: "If (President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan loses in these elections, Turkey will have a hard time." Erdogan did lose in the local elections of March 31. Not nationwide - where his Justice and Development Party (AKP) came home with 44% of the vote - but in the biggest cities of the country, Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul.
Madonna is set to perform at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest next month in Israel. Live Nation Israel has confirmed the 60-year-old will perform two songs as a guest artist, including a new single from her upcoming album. The cost of bringing the Queen of Pop to Tel Aviv is reported to be $1.3 million USD.
The fee is reported to be covered by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, and the US artist is expected to travel to Israel with an entourage of more than 160 people.
Latest News