Hussein Hoballah, Montreal
Lawyer Dimitri Lascaris has a strong record of standing against racism, bigotry, inequality and war. He believes that “the Liberals and the NDP are not serious about protecting the rights of Arabs and Muslims.” Recently, he’s run for the leadership of the federal Green Party. He as well opposes Quebec’s Bill 21, and believes that “we must do much more as a country to combat Islamophobia and racism and that we should dramatically increase immigration levels.”
Lascaris, an ardent advocate for Palestinian’s human rights and the BDS campaign, has represented a resident of Winnipeg in a legal proceeding brought against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) after the CFIA approved “Product of Israel” labels on wines made in Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements. The Federal Court of Canada agreed with him that those labels were false, misleading and deceptive, and it overruled the decision of the CFIA to approve those labels. Lascaris has devoted over 1,000 hours to the case without any compensation.
A main speaker at Toronto’s al-Quds Day last year, he was slammed by pro-Israel B’nai B’rith. Mr Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer, activist and journalist, and he’s based in Montreal.
We have had some questions for him as regards his candidature, prospective plans and stances on the Palestinian cause.
Dear Mr. Dimitri Lascaris First, would you please tell the readers of Sada Almashrek about yourself?
I am a lawyer, activist and journalist and I am based in Montreal.
I was born, raised and educated in Ontario. After completing my legal studies at the University of Toronto, I started my legal career in New York City with the Wall Street law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell.
I returned to Canada in 2004 and became a class actions lawyer at the law firm of Siskinds LLP. At Siskinds, I specialized in securities fraud, human rights abuses and environmental wrongs.
I have served as Chairman of the Board for Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.
I have been married for 25 years. My wife Farida was born and raised in Lyon, France to two parents of Algerian origin who emigrated to France from Algeria in the 1950s.
Farida and I have two children, Lena and Achille. They were born in Nice, France and are currently pursuing post-secondary studies in Canada.
You are running for the leadership of the Green Party… Why did you choose the party?
I am running for the Green Party because the core values of the Green Party are my core values. Those core values are: non-violence; social justice; respect for diversity; sustainability; participatory democracy and ecological wisdom.
Would you please share your key platform policy and direction, especially around social justice and environmental issues?
I believe that we must adopt a national guaranteed basic income to ensure that no Canadian lives in poverty. Canada should also have a national Pharmacare plan. Housing should be a human right in this country and no person should be homeless.
Post-secondary education should be free.
The Federal Government should increase income taxes on the highest income earners (more than $300,000 per year of income).
I believe that Canada should withdraw from NATO and should spend far less on the military. We should reallocate military spending to our healthcare system, which needs to be strengthened.
I am opposed to Quebec’s Bill 21, and I believe that we must do much more as a country to combat Islamophobia and racism. I also believe that we should dramatically increase immigration levels.
How do you see your chances to win the leadership race?
I believe that I have an excellent opportunity to win this race because my platform speaks to the needs of ordinary Canadians and because I have a strong record of standing against racism, bigotry, inequality and war.
The Arab and Muslim community has voted in the past for the Liberals or the NDP... Why do you think they should vote for the Green Party?
In my opinion, the Liberals and the NDP are not serious about protecting the rights of Arabs and Muslims. Both the Liberals and the NDP refuse to endorse sanctions on Israel and have adopted strongly pro-Israel policies. In the 2019 election, the Liberals cancelled the candidacy of Hassan Guillet simply because Mr. Guillet had criticized Israel. Similarly, the NDP cancelled the candidacy of Rana Zaman for the same reason – even after she apologized for criticizing Israel.
I have repeatedly called for sanctions on Israel to protect the rights of Palestinians. The Green Party is the only party in Canada which has adopted a policy calling for economic sanctions on Israel.
The Green Party is also the only party in Parliament which has a serious plan to combat the climate crisis, which is a threat to the future of all of our children.
What does the Palestinian issue mean to you?
The Palestinian issue means a great deal to me, as my record demonstrates.
In 2016, when I was Justice Critic in the Green Party of Canada shadow cabinet, I drafted and sponsored a resolution calling for economic sanctions on Israel. The resolution was adopted by a large majority of the party’s members.
I am also representing Dr. David Kattenburg, a resident of Winnipeg, in a legal proceeding brought against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) after the CFIA approved “Product of Israel” labels on wines made in Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements. In 2019, the Federal Court of Canada agreed with me that those “Product of Israel” labels are false, misleading and deceptive and it overruled the decision of the CFIA to approve those labels. I have devoted over 1,000 hours to Dr. Kattenburg’s case and have agreed to do the case on a pro bono basis, meaning that I am being paid no compensation for the work that I have done on that file.
Your activism for Palestine, puts you at odd with almost all other political parties in Ottawa, why do you think they have such adversarial position against you and Palestinian supporters?
I think they have such an adversarial position against me because they know that I have been a very effective advocate for Palestinian rights.
You were the leading figure with the BDS resolution with the green party, which generated lots of support from rank and file members. However, it led to fall out with the party leader and some executive members, what is your assessment of that episode and affair?
I think that the prior leader of the Green Party learned from that experience that the members’ support for the Palestinian cause is so strong that any person who is the leader of the Green Party must advocate strongly for Palestinian rights.
What is needed to make BDS more effective and stronger?
The BDS movement needs lawyers like me to help defend the movement in Courts of law. That would make BDS a much stronger movement, and that is why I have tried, with considerable success, to recruit other lawyers to represent the BDS movement in the justice system.
What do you think of how the Liberals have handled the COVID19 pandemic so far?
Do you think this Virus was made by certain country?
I think that the Liberals have done a decent job of dealing with the crisis, but they could have dealt with it much more effectively if prior Liberal and Conservative governments, at both the federal and the provincial levels, had not taken steps that weakened our healthcare system.
I do not believe that the virus was manufactured by any country or human. All scientific evidence is that the virus originated naturally.
11- Where we are going with this Virus here in Canada and around the world?
Right-wing governments around the world -- particularly those in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Russia and India – will make it very difficult for us to defeat this virus in the near term. All of those governments have not treated the virus as seriously as they should have and are rushing to reopen their economies prematurely. This means that the virus is likely to remain a severe public health risk until a safe and effective vaccine has been developed. It is highly unlikely that such a vaccine will be available before the end of 2020. This means that the global economy will remain in a partial lockdown for many more months. In these circumstances, it will be essential that our government provide robust economic support to vulnerable Canadians.
12- As a lawyer and human rights activist what do you think is the best way to face the bill 21?
Challenging Bill 21 successfully will require a two-pronged approach.
First, the federal government must challenge the Bill in the Courts under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Second, the federal government must engage with the people of Quebec in order to explain to them that it is possible to maintain the secularism of the State without depriving civil servants of the right to wear religious symbols in the workplace.
At the end what would you like to say to Arab community in Montréal and Canada in general?
I believe that the mainstream political parties – the Liberals, the Conservatives and the NDP – have been taking Canada’s Arab and Muslim communities for granted. The three major political parties have generally supported militaristic foreign policies that have resulted in great harm to Arab peoples and to Muslims.
For example, the three major parties all supported the NATO bombardment of Libya, which destroyed the country. By contrast, the Green Party of Canada was the only party in Parliament that opposed the bombardment of Libya.
The Conservatives, Liberals and NDP are all strong supporters of Israel and all of them refuse to call for sanctions on Israel, whereas the Green Party believes that Palestinians will not have justice unless and until Israel is subjected to economic sanctions.
The Conservative, Liberals and NDP supported the sale of deadly weapons to Saudi Arabia, whose monarchy has caused immense suffering in Yemen. By contrast, the Green Party has always opposed the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia’s monarchy.
In Canada’s Parliament today, there is one true party of peace, justice and tolerance, and that party is the Green Party of Canada. As leader of the Green Party of Canada, I will work tirelessly to ensure respect for the rights of Arab- and Muslim-Canadians.