Yves Engler--A Propaganda System: How Canada's Government, Corporations, Media and Academia Sell War and Exploitation

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Wednesday, November 16th, 2016
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Canadian author, journalist and activist, Yves Engler, discusses his latest book — A Propaganda System: How Canada’s Government, Corporations, Media and Academia Sell War and Exploitation. Q&A to follow. Organised by Victoria Peace Coalition and hosted by UVic's Social Justice Studies Programme.

Full list of sponsors: UVic Social Justice Studies, Raging Grannies, Victoria Friends of Cuba, Central American Support Committee, Women in Black, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Council of Canadians-Victoria Chapter, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Vancouver Island Peace and Disarmament Network, Mining Justice Action Committee, Camosun Human Rights and International Solidarity, and Victoria Peace Coalition.

A Propaganda System reveals why most Canadians believe their country is a force for good in the world, despite a long history of supporting empire, racism and exploitation. The book details the vast sums Global Affairs Canada, Veterans Affairs and the Department of National Defence spend articulating a one-sided version of Canada’s foreign policy. With the largest PR machine in the country, the Canadian Forces promotes its worldview through a history department, university, journals, war commemorations, think tanks, academic programs and hundreds of public relations officers.

A Propaganda System traces the long history of government information control during war, including formal censorship, as well as extreme media bias on topics ranging from Haiti to Palestine, investment agreements to the mining industry. The book also details the corporate elite’s funding for university programs and think tanks. Written for ordinary Canadians interested in the structures impeding understanding of this country’s role in the world, the book should be of interest to journalists curious about the institutions seeking to “spin” them, development workers dependent on government funds and academics interested in the foreign-policy establishment’s influence on campus.

Praise for A Propaganda System “A must-read for the 21st century.” — Jooneed Khan, retired La Presse international correspondent “Engler provides a powerful argument to support his thesis that the Canadian military fields the largest PR apparatus in the nation. This fact runs in stark contrast to Canadians’ popular notion that we are a peace-loving country.” — Scott Taylor, Esprit de Corps “Once again, Yves Engler wades into the murky waters of Canada’s foreign policy, courageously going into the depths the mainstream media avoid.” — Antonia Zerbisias, former Toronto Star media columnist “The actual policy Engler documents will shock Canadians.” — James Winter University of Windsor “Highlights the dark sides of Canada’s real involvement in the world, from helping destabilize Haiti’s democratically elected government to backing human rights-abusing Canadian-based mining companies.” — Robert Hackett, Simon Fraser University

For further information about Mr. Engler's work, please visit his website at: http://yvesengler.com/