Tyler Shipley speaks on “Ottawa and Empire” in Toronto
Join Tyler Shipley as he discusses Canada’s role in the 2009 coup d’etat in Honduras and his book Ottawa and Empire: Canada and the Military Coup in Honduras. The talk is being held in the Hinton auditorium at the Toronto Reference Library.
On June 2009, the democratically elected president of Honduras was kidnapped and whisked out of the country while the military and business elite consolidated a coup d’etat. To the surprise of many, Canada implicitly supported the coup and assisted the coup leaders in consolidating their control over the country.
Since the coup, Canada has increased its presence in Honduras, even while the country has been plunged into a human rights catastrophe, highlighted by the assassination of prominent Indigenous activist Berta Cáceres in 2016. Drawing from the Honduran experience, Ottawa and Empire makes it clear that Canada has emerged as an imperial power in the 21st century.
Tyler Shipley is a professor of politics and economics at Humber College.
“Challenging an all-too-easy smugness and complacency, Shipley demands that we face up to Canada’s complicity in political coups and repression. This deeply-researched book is a must-read for everyone who cares about global justice and the future of democracy.” – David McNally, professor and author of Another World is Possible