Yves Engler

Yves Engler speaking at a presentation on Haiti. October 14, 2005, in Calgary.

Yves Engler (born 1979) is a Montréal writer and political activist. In addition to three published books, many of Engler’s writings have appeared in the alternative press, with articles also appearing in mainstream publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen and Ecologist. His The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy book was on a short list for the Quebec Writers' Federation Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction along with two other books; however, the book ultimately lost to Eric Siblin's The Cello Suites.^[1][2]

Activism

Yves Engler presenting Pierre Pettigrew with a copy of the Griffin Report

In June 2005 Engler made national headlines after interrupting a press conference being held by then Canadian minister of foreign affairs, Pierre Pettigrew. Engler walked up to the stage, emptying the contents of a bottle of cranberry juice onto Pettigrew's arms, saying, "Pettigrew lies, Haitians die."^[3] The act was meant to symbolize the blood on the hands of the Canadian state due to its involvement in the planning of the coup (see: The Ottawa Initiative on Haiti) which ousted Jean Bertrand Aristide, the democratically elected president of Haiti, from office and into exile.^[4] Engler also highlighted Canada's subsequent participation in the United Nations occupation of Haiti and the training of the Haitian national police by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which has resulted in an ongoing campaign of murder, imprisonment, and political repression targeted against supporters of the Lavalas party and opponents of the unelected interim government headed by Florida resident Gerard Latortue.^[5]

Engler served as Vice President of the Concordia Student Union where he was removed from office.^[6] A student tribunal found Engler guilty of "vexatious conduct"^[7] in the aftermath of a riot on September 9, 2002, when Israeli politician Benjamin Netanyahu's speech was aborted by demonstrators. Engler later tried to overturn his suspension; however, he was denied by a student hearing panel and Board of Governors. The university's decision was upheld by a Quebec tribunal.^[8]

Yves Engler has signed, together with 500 artists, the call to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the state of Israel for Israeli Apartheid against Palestinians.^[9]

Published works

• Playing Left Wing: From Rink Rat to Student Radical (RED/Fernwood Publishing, 2005)^[10]
• Canada in Haiti: Waging War on the Poor Majority with Anthony Fenton. Co-published by RED Publishing and Fernwood Publishing, August 2005. ISBN 1-55266-168-7^[11]
• The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy. Co-published by RED Publishing and Fernwood Publishing, April 2009. ISBN 978-1-55266-314-1^[12]
• Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid. Co-published by RED Publishing and Fernwood Publishing, February 2010. ISBN 978-1-55266-355-4^[13]
• Stop Signs: Cars and Capitalism on the Road to Economic, Social and Ecological Decay with Bianca Mugyenyi, Published April 2011; ISBN 978-1-55266-384-4
• Lester Pearson's Peacekeeping The Truth May Hurt. ISBN 978-1-55266-510-7 Fernwood Publishing (September 1, 2012)
• The Ugly Canadian: Stephen Harper’s Foreign Policy. Co-published with: Red Publishing ISBN 978-1-55266-530-5 (Published: 2012)

Engler’s writings have appeared in the alternative press and mainstream publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen and Ecologist.

References

External links

• Yves Engler's blog
• A collection of Engler's Z net writings

Video Links

• Yves Engler - Canada vs Latin American Democracy a 6 part series - Part 1 of 6: "From Jacobins to Salvador Allende, Hugo Chavez and Jean Bertrand Aristide". Introduction by Globe & Mail columnist Rick Salutin.