Anyone who claims that the Iranian-Canadian diaspora is of one mind on the Iran war is deceived, dishonest, or both.
The community is large, diverse, and politically fractious. It harbours commensurately broad views.
I spoke with Miranda Anthistle of @GlobalNews.ca on the balance of opinions.
The Rt Hon Joe Clark will be part of a fireside chat, at the Oxford University Society in Ottawa annual dinner, on Tuesday 12 May 2026, beginning 18h00 EDT, at the Canadian Forces Officers’ Mess.
The @ox.ac.uk alumni in Ottawa are delighted that the Rt Hon Joe Clark will be the guest of honour at our annual dinner, open to all.
📆 Tue 12 May 2026
⏰ 18h00 ET
📍 Canadian Forces Officers’ Mess
🎟️ via.maharaj.org/oxjc
He will discuss how Canada can make a positive difference in a turbulent world.
The Iran war is lurching between frenzied threats of a nuclear apocalypse and fragile offerings of a temporary truce.
All the while, Yemen’s civil war bubbles at the edges, and the Houthis threaten to pour into the conflict.
I spoke with CTV’s @ctvYourMorning.bsky.social on Yemen and the Iran war.
Akaash Maharaj, Nature Canada’s Director of Policy, and Anna Suzuki, Japan’s Secretary for Nature and the Environment, at the Japanese embassy in Ottawa
I enjoyed speaking with Anna Suzuki, Japan’s diplomat for nature and environment, at her embassy in Ottawa.
My @NatureCanada.bsky.social colleagues and I look forward to working with the populace and government of Japan, to protect nature as the shared heritage of the world’s peoples.
Congratulations to all the Oxford rowers who took part in the 2026 Boat Race 👏🚣.
A special shoutout to the Oxford women’s crew on an incredible victory, their first since 2016! 💙
We look forward to next year's race!
#BoatRace #oxforduniversity
We were pleased by the government’s response this week.
I spoke with Connie Vitello of the Environment Journal, about the new “Force of Nature” federal plan: what it means and what comes next.
🍁🌱 via.maharaj.org/ejfn
Excerpt from an article in the Environment Journal by Connie Vitello, on Canada’s federal strategy to protect nature: about Nature Canada
Excerpt from an article in the Environment Journal by Connie Vitello, on Canada’s federal strategy to protect nature: Q&A with Akaash Maharaj
Canada is home to a fifth of the world’s fresh water, a quarter of the world’s boreal forests, & the world’s longest coastline.
@NatureCanada.bsky.social has been pressing the federal government to commit to tangible steps to protect Canada’s share of nature, for the common good of the human race.
Even combined, the Houthis and Iranians could never defeat US military forces in open battle.
However, they could choke off nearly a third of the world’s oil, and bring US consumers to their knees.
I joined @CTVYourMorning.bsky.social, to discuss escalation and diplomacy in the Iran war.
Together, we press for sustainable prosperity for the many, over cannibalisation of our natural heritage for the few.
David spoke passionately about his work with @DavidSuzukiFdn.bsky.social, but with deep foreboding about the prospects of future generations.
🍁🌱 greenbudget.ca
David Suzuki and the leadership of the Green Budget Coalition (GBC), at the organisation’s 2026 AGM
David Suzuki kindly took time out of his 90th birthday celebrations, to join us at the Green Budget Coalition AGM.
The Coalition is hosted by @NatureCanada.bsky.social, and draws together Canada’s foremost ecological organisations, to improve our country’s fiscal framework.
🍁🌱 greenbudget.ca
“The first casualty of war is the truth.”
Across the Middle East, hundreds of people are being arrested for posting about the war with #Iran.
I spoke with @CTVYourMorning.bsky.social, about why the region's governments are going to such lengths to suppress images of bombs striking their countries.
An overview of the oceans’ impact on Canadians, and Canadians’ impact on the oceans
The effect of seagrass meadows as habitats for aquatic life and as areas of natural carbon capture
The extent and value of harvested seafood across Canada
Canada’s Census of Environment shows ocean ecosystems contribute $7.1 billion annually to our nation.
It illustrates why protecting nature is critical to generating jobs and reducing the cost of living.
A strong economy can only rise from strong environmental foundations.
🍁🌱 via.maharaj.org/cenv
A few weeks ago, Trump was threatening to conquer Canadian and Danish territory.
Now, he is pleading for Canada and Denmark to rush to aid his war on Iran.
He seems perplexed by our lack of enthusiasm.
I discussed the Strait of Hormuz, on @CTVYourMorning.bsky.social.
📺 via.maharaj.org/strait
![Akaash Maharaj, a fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto, says the government seems to be relying on the U.S. to enforce its own export controls. But this is problematic, he says.
“Donald Trump has already withdrawn the United States’ signature from the Arms Trade Treaty, and [U.S. Secretary of War] Pete Hegseth has made it clear that the U.S. will not respect the laws of war in its conduct of military affairs,” Maharaj told Canadian Affairs in an email after the vote. The international Arms Trade Treaty sets global standards for the transfer of conventional weapons.
“Canada and the United States are clearly not adhering to the same values in the use and distribution of weapons,” he said.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rwzytigdxgyyctk7mrerx7bz/bafkreiatgkhtkgmmczmubi47gosti2zupzduuvydxscvknm5killm7ofki)
Akaash Maharaj, a fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto, says the government seems to be relying on the U.S. to enforce its own export controls. But this is problematic, he says. “Donald Trump has already withdrawn the United States’ signature from the Arms Trade Treaty, and [U.S. Secretary of War] Pete Hegseth has made it clear that the U.S. will not respect the laws of war in its conduct of military affairs,” Maharaj told Canadian Affairs in an email after the vote. The international Arms Trade Treaty sets global standards for the transfer of conventional weapons. “Canada and the United States are clearly not adhering to the same values in the use and distribution of weapons,” he said.
Most of Canada’s military exports are sold to American buyers. Too many act as intermediaries for anonymous third parties.
Bill C-233 was meant to prevent Canadian weapons being trafficked through the US to despots.
I spoke with @CdnAffairs.bsky.social about its defeat.
📰 via.maharaj.org/c-233
I spoke with @StevenGuilbeault.bsky.social at a @NatureCanada.bsky.social fireside chat, on how Canada can build the social consensus necessary to achieve difficult but vital national objectives.
How can parliamentarians and citizen organisations lead public opinion, not just be led by it?
Trump may have succeeded only in replacing an old extremist with a younger, more embittered extremist, ready to use the cover of war to slaughter his own people.
I spoke with the CBC’s Kevin Maimann, about what Khamenei’s statement portends for the world.
📰 cbc.ca/news/world/i...
CBC News article on “Iran’s new supreme leader”: first of two images. Akaash Maharaj, senior fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Public Policy, says it’s also possible Khamenei is simply in hiding, given the dangers of offering even a small clue regarding his whereabouts to U.S. and Israeli forces. “Every time a member of his regime lifts his head above the parapet, it has a bad habit of being blown off by the Americans or the Israelis,” he said. “And even a highly controlled video would provide some clues to the person’s location and his condition.” But Maharaj also says the ayatollah’s absence raises suspicions that he is more badly injured than officials are letting on.
CBC News article on “Iran’s new supreme leader”: second of two images. “If, in fact, he were lightly injured, there could be some propaganda value in showing that he had shed blood for his regime,” Maharaj said. “If he is gravely injured, he does not want his physical weakness to cause people to believe that his regime is politically weak.” Experts who spoke with CBC News said they were not surprised by the belligerence and bravado in Khamenei’s statement, or by his insistence on continuing the war. But Maharaj says the language about the Iranian people was “revealing” — and not encouraging. Khamenei spoke of unspecified individuals who did not appreciate his father during his lifetime, which Maharaj views as an expression of resentment toward the tens of thousands of Iranians who have protested the government — rather than an attempt to placate or appeal to those people. “It suggests that Trump may have created a situation where he has replaced an old, extreme leader with a young, still more extreme leader, who has learned nothing from his father except hatred of his own population,” Maharaj said.
The first public statement from Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, teems with the bravado one would expect.
But lurking in the text is also a thinly-veiled menace towards the thousands of Iranians who so recently risked their lives to protest his father’s regime.
📰 cbc.ca/news/world/i...
Anna Johnston, Staff Counsel at West Coast Environmental Law, and Akaash Maharaj, Director of Policy at Nature Canada, in an Instagram Live conversation at https://via.maharaj.org/ig-wc
Together, @naturecanada.bsky.social and @wcelaw.bsky.social intervened at Alberta’s Appeal Court.
We argued that jurisdiction brawls between federal and provincial governments can not be allowed to create zones of lawlessness, where no one enforces environmental standards.
🖥️ via.maharaj.org/ig-wc
Will Trump’s bombing campaign in Iran revive his midterm campaign in the US Congress?
His strongest supporters voted for his promise to stop American blood and treasure being poured into foreign wars.
I spoke with @ctvyourmorning.bsky.social, about the humanitarian and political perils of Iran.
The Oxford University North American Office’s newsletter featured the Ottawa group. Our web site is at www.oxonian.ca
My colleagues at the Oxford Society in Ottawa and I are grateful to the @ox.ac.uk North American Office, for spotlighting us in its newsletter.
Oxford’s alumni are scattered across the globe. But the ties that bind us together run deeper than the foundations of the modern world.
🎓 oxonian.ca
The Iranian régime can not possibly defeat the American military. Instead, it will try to prolong the war, and wear down American social and political will.
The longer the war, the greater the cost in US blood and treasure
I spoke with @ctvyourmorning.bsky.social.
📺 ctvnews.ca/world/mideas...
The Accords were imperfect, but their collapse ushered in unutterable horrors.
I was glad to sit down with her at the Norwegian Embassy in Ottawa, to discuss the Arctic, peace, and pluralism.
🇨🇦🇳🇴 norway.no/en/canada
Hanne Ulrichsen and Akaash Maharaj at the Norwegian Embassy in Canada
I first met Ambassador Hanne Ulrichsen twenty years ago in Jordan, in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords.
The carnage in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since then has only reinforced my conviction that, when peace eventually does come, it will follow the path developed by @norwaymfa.government.no.
The tragedy of the Trump-Netanyahu bombing of Iran is that at best, it will sow chaos across the Middle East, and at worst, it may strengthen the tyranny of the Ayatollahs.
I spoke with BNN Bloomberg about why Trump went to war, and what happens after the bombs fall silent.
📺 youtu.be/o6pDJzwpOII
I have not been following the Longines Global Champions Tour, but imagine that it must be in a state of disarray, given the ongoing bombings and counter-bombings in the Middle East.
Smith and Pollievre might both feel that being marooned with one another would count as cruel and unusual punishment.
Cover of our factum to the Alberta Court of Appeal. The full document is at https://via.maharaj.org/iaf
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith argues that the federal government has no constitutional right to oversee major industrial projects, even if they could cause catastrophic interprovincial damage.
@NatureCanada.bsky.social and I disagree. We made our case to the Appeals Court.
⚖️ via.maharaj.org/iaf
I spoke with Alexandra Keerler at @cdnaffairs.bsky.social, about whether Canada’s federal government has been wilfully blind about the purchasers of Canadian weapons, and whether we need better laws to regulate Canadian arms dealers.
📰 via.maharaj.org/ca-arms
Excerpt from an article in Canadian Affairs magazine, on Canadian arms sales, written by Alexandra Keeler, and quoting Akaash Maharaj
Canadian weapons are meant to be subject to strict export controls, to prevent them being sold to terrorists and war criminals.
Yet, Canadian armoured vehicles and rifles are appearing on the killing fields of Sudan and Yemen, and Canadian components are spilling out of Iranian and Russian drones.
Trevi Fountain
Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius
Remains of a statue from the pediment of a classical Roman building
At the Vittoriano, Italy's Altar of the Fatherland
I believe we succeeded in strengthening the foundation for implementation of the Convention.
I spent my last day in Rome wandering through the remnants of its ancient glories, a cheerful barbarian passing through its crumbling gates.
A vista of the Roman Forum, the heart of the ancient city
Our negotiations at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity have ended.
Many of the diplomatic skirmishes were clashes of low cunning rather than of high ideals.
However, I was uniformly impressed by the diligence of my colleagues on Canada’s State Delegation.
