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Opponents are trying to cancel Dimitri Lascaris, but it isn’t working.
Despite successful and unsuccessful attempts to cancel and deplatform the Canada-wide Tour For Peace of Dimitri Lascaris, his in-person tour continued successfully last night in Vancouver. 60 people attended at Harbour Centre without incident.
Last week, Dimitri’s tour was briefly derailed in Toronto after an organized campaign of fear-mongering against the event caused the Ontario Public Services Employees Union to cancel their venue. Dimitri issued a statement following the cancellation, which stated in part:
“A representative of OPSEU has advised us that this is not a political decision by OPSEU leadership. Rather, OPSEU’s leadership took this decision because, within the past day or so, OPSEU leaders and staff received dozens of emails expressing opposition to the holding of the event. Based on those emails, OPSEU leadership became concerned for the safety of participants and the property.
Although we understand the decision taken by OPSEU’s leadership, we find it highly regrettable that those who support the arming of Ukraine are resorting to pressure tactics such as these in order to silence the voices of peace. If supporters of Canadian government policy toward this devastating war truly believe that their position can be defended on the basis of evidence, reason and humanitarian principles, then they should engage in a constructive debate with their opponents. The fact that they resort to silencing us only confirms that they cannot win a debate on the merits.”
Despite the last-minute OPSEU cancellation, peace activists gathered at an outdoor location near OPSEU’s offices to hear Dimitri present his views on resolving the Ukraine war peacefully.
Dimitri’s tour has served as a focal-point for pro-war Ukrainian extremists, and state-funded ‘researchers.’ It is in fact shocking how a censorship campaign is carried out openly in NATO countries.
For example, Marcus Kolga of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a Canadian think tank funded by the USA and Latvia, went after the Regina Public Library, among other venues. Seneca College prof, Osap Soroka, in league with the NAFO troll farm operated by British and US intelligence, levelled open threats on Twitter to disrupt Lascaris’ London and Vancouver lectures. (Both lectures came off without incident.)
A University of Calgary professor, JC Boucher, amplified these actions and attacked Dimitri on Twitter. Alexey Kovalyov, a self-exiled Russian journalist, resident in a Baltic country, wrote a long hit piece against Lascaris ending with a call and instructions for Canadians to deplatform him. Finally, a lawyer for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress made it his business to threaten negative consequences for owners of private venues who had accepted room bookings for Dimitri’s speaking events.
In Winnipeg, two venues cancelled their bookings within 24 hours, but determined local organizers secured a third venue at the last minute In Hamilton, Ukrainian nationalists tried, but failed, to barge into the lecture hall where Dimitri was speaking.
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network (CWPJN), which organized Dimitri’s Tour For Peace, decried the attempts to curtail the rights of Canadians to freedom of speech and association. In a media release dated June 26th, 2023, the Network wrote that “Dimitri Lascaris’ speaking tour presents a unique opportunity for people across Canada to hear a different perspective on how to reach peace in Ukraine, one that is not based on the Trudeau government continuing to arm the war, with $8.5 billion worth of arms and funding sent to date. The Network calls upon supporters of Canada and NATO’s current military actions to desist from further efforts to silence alternative perspectives. Canadians should hear from dissenting voices before the conflict in Ukraine spirals out of control into a wider war or even a nuclear confrontation between the superpowers.”
Dimitri will be in Montreal on Thursday, June 29th, Halifax on Friday, June 30th, Fredericton on Sunday, July 2nd, and in Ottawa on Monday, July 3rd. Furthermore, on July 4th, a free, Canada-wide webinar, featuring Dimitri, will be broadcast at 8 pm ET from Kingston, Ontario. Registration for the webinar here.
The Network’s media release continued, “Whether or not they agree with Dimitri’s perspective, we encourage Canadians to come out to Dimitri’s in-person events and hear what his opponents are so intent on censoring. He welcomes robust and respectful debate on these vitally important issues.”
In April 2023, Dimitri Lascaris, Canadian lawyer, activist and journalist, embarked on a self-financed trip to Russia to see for himself because he thought Canadian media and political leaders were failing to inform Canadians accurately or responsibly. While in Russia he spoke to student groups, presented at a Russian policy think tank, gave media interviews, met with public officials and many peace activists. From day one, Lascaris faithfully reported to Canadians through extensive articles and daily tweets about his meetings and impressions at dimitrilascaris.org. Now, he wants to share that experience with Canadians in-person across the country.
The tour is entitled “Making Peace with Russia, One Handshake at a Time.” The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network hopes “the tour will move the needle on public opinion in support of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine and thus accelerate a resolution.” The Network further hopes to convince Canadians that it’s time for Canada to withdraw from NATO.
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Ken Stone is Treasurer of the Hamilton Coalition to Stop The War and Member of the Steering Committee of the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network.
