Exclusive interview: The exiled Crown Prince of Iran
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the former Shah of Iran, is fast emerging as a potentially pivotal figure in Middle Eastern politics. As the only major Iranian opposition leader to openly advocate for a pro-West and pro-Israel position, Pahlavi's vision for a post-theocratic Iran is not just a matter of internal reform, but a potential sea change for regional stability and global security.
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Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Rwandan groups denounce genocide claims by NDP leadership hopeful
In 2017 blog post, Yves Engler dismissed death toll figures from 1994 Rwandan genocide Activist Yves Engler speaks at a pro-Palestinian protest on Parliament Hill on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Photo by Paula Tran / Postmedia Network OTTAWA — Blog posts by a federal NDP leadership hopeful garnered scorn from Rwandan-Canadian groups, accusing him of denying a genocide that claimed nearly one million lives. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In a Sept. 22, 2017, article posted to a blog run by Yves Engler, he dismissed generally accepted narratives surrounding the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis as oversimplified and claimed the death toll of between 800,000 to one million people is overinflated. 'Canadian commentators often claim more Tutsi were killed in the genocide than lived in Rwanda,' he wrote. 'Since it aligns with Washington, London and Kigali's interests, as well as liberal nationalist Canadian ideology, the statistical inflation passes with little comment.' Read More Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He claimed these death tolls don't reflect what he considers to be 'official' calculations of the Tutsi population in Rwanda. Engler is a contentious figure in Canada's far-left, anti-Israel ecosphere and a prominent voice in pushing the narrative that Israel's self-defence against Palestinian terrorism amounts to a 'genocide.' Earlier this year, he announced his intentions to replace former MP Jagmeet Singh as leader of the federal NDP party. Occurring between April and July 1994 during the Rwandan civil war, a number of sources estimate that the genocide saw upward of one million members of the Tutsi ethnic group as well as some moderate Hutus systematically slaughtered by extremist Hutu militants with many more subjected to assaults, torture and sexual violence. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A young Rwandan takes part in a candle light vigil on the first of 100 days of remembrance as Rwanda commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Tutsi genocide on April 7, 2024, in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo by Luke Dray / Getty Images Pascal Kanyemera, president of the Humura Association — a Canadian association of survivors of the Tutsi genocide — are among signers of a joint statement condemning Engler's post that also included B'nai Brith Canada. 'Downplaying what happened in Rwanda in 1994 is not only unacceptable, but also dangerously harmful,' Kanyemera told the Toronto Sun. 'Such comments are akin to killing survivors twice — once in the physical sense and again in the emotional and psychological sense by invalidating their suffering.' Kanyemera said the comments are even more concerning, considering Engler's hope of becoming the next leader of the federal NDP. 'They are particularly concerning given the context of someone seeking a position of leadership in a major Canadian political party, where responsible and truthful discourse should be upheld,' he said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In an email to the Toronto Sun, Engler condemned what he described as a 'smear from the pro-genocide lobby' and took specific aim at B'nai Brith — and not the four Rwandan groups who also signed the statement. 'Yves Engler has spent his entire adult life fighting for human rights and against militarism,' Engler wrote. 'Quotes taken out of context and twisted to fit a narrative do not change this fact. Perhaps B'nai Brith should focus its efforts on the current and ongoing genocide in Gaza, rather than smearing those who are trying to stop it.' Engler's comments were described as 'appalling' by Richard Robertson of B'nai Brith Canada. 'There is no excuse for individuals in Canada, especially those who aspire to be a political leader in this country, to deny or diminish the scope of the genocide that occured in Rwanda in 1994,' he said. 'We believe his actions are an affront to the memory of the victims and have caused further trauma to the survivors of this unprecedented atrocity.' bpassifiume@ X: @bryanpassifiume Sports World Canada Toronto & GTA Editorials
National Post
5 hours ago
- National Post
An American sent to Canada was shocked by how furious Canadians are at the U.S.
Article content He discovered that Premier Doug Ford — 'brother of the late Rob Ford, the scandal-plagued Toronto mayor' — had pulled U.S. booze from LCBO shelves. He even visited Grizzly Bar, a Canadian-themed Toronto watering hole serving cocktails with names like TVO Kids and Hadfield. It features a Wall of Heroes featuring framed photos of Ryan Reynolds, Leonard Cohen, Shania Twain, Margaret Atwood, Alex Trebek and more; and a map of the key battles of the War of 1812. Article content Some of van Zuylen-Wood's finds were probably already known to many Americans, like Scarborough native Mike Myers' pro-Canadian appearances on Saturday Night Live. Others may have been news to New York-based readers of the piece, like the time that Jagmeet Singh 'was spotted attending a Kendrick Lamar concert' and 'groveled for forgiveness' from Lamar's Canadian nemesis Drake, claiming he had been there only to see the other headliner, SZA. Article content Van Zuylen-Wood's article unpacks the shaky but incontrovertible Canadian patriotism even among some separatist-minded Quebecers, the well-timed speech to Parliament by Charles III, King of Canada, and the recent political gains made by the Liberal Party of Canada against the background of Trump's talk of tariffs and annexation. Article content Article content 'Part of the purpose of this story … was to bring news back,' he said, 'and to tell Americans that this place that you thought you understood and that you thought was this placid, easygoing place is not so placid and easygoing any more.' Article content But in terms of, as he put it, 'rectifying that imbalance, reactions were what be deemed mixed. Article content 'There was a reaction of raised-eyebrow surprise,' he said. 'The first reaction is, 'Oh my God I had no idea of the extent of it.' And I think a curiosity and an eagerness to learn more.' Article content But beyond a sort of sombre head-shaking, and particularly from more right-leaning readers, there wasn't much sympathy. Article content 'Certainly on social media I saw a lot of taunting reactions to my piece,' he said. 'Who cares? We don't need them. We're the big bad elephant in the room. That sort of thing. But it's not deeply felt, even among Trump supporters. No one is listing it as their top issue.' Article content He reached out to political wonks and foreign policy types, 'and frankly they're thinking more about arctic security and critical minerals in Greenland than they are those issues in Canada. It was actually hard to find people who were thinking extremely seriously about this. It's not in the portfolio really deeply of anyone except Donald Trump it looks like.' Article content And where does it go from here? 'I think it kind of depends a lot on Canadian sentiment,' van Zuylen-Wood said. 'My prediction, not that you should trust my predictions, is that it will reverse itself on the American side, in that I don't think there's a strategic game here that would go beyond Trump. Even a highly protectionist JD Vance administration I don't think would include anything about the annexation threat, and I don't think it would be quite as erratic and bullying.' Article content That said, he spoke to some Canadians who claimed they were done with America. 'I talked to people who said, 'We don't care who the next president is. This relationship is over. We don't want to go. We don't feel welcome.' And I think a lot of people maybe mean it. For some people it'll thaw, especially if the next president is a Democrat. But my sense is it kind of depends on how Canadians feel.'
Vancouver Sun
8 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220M in deal with Trump to restore federal funding
Columbia University announced Wednesday it has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay a $200 million settlement over three years, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish employees that occurred following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the White House said. 'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,' acting University President Claire Shipman said. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The school had been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support, including more than $400 million in grants canceled earlier this year. The administration pulled the funding because of what it described as the university's failure to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war. Columbia has since agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university's student disciplinary process and applying a contentious, federally endorsed definition of antisemitism not only to teaching but to a disciplinary committee that has been investigating students critical of Israel. Wednesday's agreement — which does not include an admission of wrongdoing — codifies those reforms while preserving the university's autonomy, Shipman said. 'Columbia's reforms are a roadmap,' Trump administration says Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the deal 'a seismic shift in our nation's fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment.' 'Columbia's reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate,' McMahon said in a statement. As part of the agreement, Columbia agreed to a series of changes previously announced in March, including reviewing its Middle East curriculum to make sure it was 'comprehensive and balanced' and appointing new faculty to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. It also promised to end programs 'that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotes, diversity targets or similar efforts.' The university will also have to issue a report to a monitor assuring that its programs 'do not promote unlawful DEI goals.' In a post Wednesday night on his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump said Columbia had 'committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus.' He also warned, without being specific, 'Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming.' Crackdown follows Columbia protests The pact comes after months of uncertainty and fraught negotiations at the more than 270-year-old university. It was among the first targets of Trump's crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protests and on colleges that he asserts have allowed Jewish students be threatened and harassed. Columbia's own antisemitism task force found last summer that Jewish students had faced verbal abuse, ostracism and classroom humiliation during the spring 2024 demonstrations. Other Jewish students took part in the protests, however, and protest leaders maintain they aren't targeting Jews but rather criticizing the Israeli government and its war in Gaza. Columbia's leadership — a revolving door of three interim presidents in the last year — has declared that the campus climate needs to change. Columbia agrees to question international students Also in the settlement is an agreement to ask prospective international students 'questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States,' and establishes processes to make sure all students are committed to 'civil discourse.' In a move that would potentially make it easier for the Trump administration to deport students who participate in protests, Columbia promised to provide the government with information, upon request, of disciplinary actions involving student-visa holders resulting in expulsions or suspensions. Columbia on Tuesday announced it would suspend, expel or revoke degrees from more than 70 students who participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration inside the main library in May and an encampment during alumni weekend last year. The pressure on Columbia began with a series of funding cuts. Then Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student who had been a visible figure in the protests, became the first person detained in the Trump administration's push to deport pro-Palestinian activists who aren't U.S. citizens. Next came searches of some university residences amid a federal Justice Department investigation into whether Columbia concealed 'illegal aliens' on campus. The interim president at the time responded that the university was committed to upholding the law. University oversight expands Columbia was an early test case for the Trump administration as it sought closer oversight of universities that the Republican president views as bastions of liberalism. Yet it soon was overshadowed by Harvard University, which became the first higher education institution to defy Trump's demands and fight back in court. The Trump administration has used federal research funding as its primary lever in its campaign to reshape higher education. More than $2 billion in total has also been frozen at Cornell, Northwestern, Brown and Princeton universities. Administration officials pulled $175 million from the University of Pennsylvania in March over a dispute around women's sports. They restored it when school officials agreed to update records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and change their policies. The administration also is looking beyond private universities. University of Virginia President James Ryan agreed to resign in June under pressure from a U.S. Justice Department investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices. A similar investigation was opened this month at George Mason University. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
