From Edmonton to Sudan, down with Canadian imperialism

On February 2, a fundraising event was held on the University of Alberta campus with the goal to raise $10,000 for Doctors Without Borders. The event “Solidarity for Sudan” was created with hopes of communicating the immediate humanitarian crisis in Sudan that reignited in 2023, although imperialist violence has been ongoing for more than a century. 

Speakers at the event included University of Alberta faculty, Sudanese Cultural League members, students, and members of Doctors without Borders. Mojtaba Mahdavi, a professor of political science at the U of A, provided a brief history of the current conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). He emphasized the role Western, Russian, Egyptian, and the UAE’s imperialist geopolitics have had in sparking this crisis. Statistics presented about the war illustrate the depravity of capitalist-imperialist exploitation. Over 100,000 people have died since 2023, 60 percent of Sudan’s population has been internally or externally displaced, and the healthcare infrastructure has been almost completely destroyed. According to the UN, severe food insecurity affects half of the population, however the number is likely higher. The conflict in Sudan must continue to be highlighted and working within our trade unions to build solidarity with Sudan remains essential work to be done. 

The first speaker of the event, Carrie Smith, the Vice-Provost for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, spoke on behalf of the University. Her address began with stating that the University constantly strives to create and foster a safe space for all students, especially those who face systemic disadvantages. She then emphasized that the welfare of students from war-torn countries are an imperative part of their goal to unify students. She used these points to stress the institution’s allegedly compassionate investments of time and money into supporting these causes. To us, this proud and polished speech given by Smith deeply contrasted several months of the University’s overt silencing and neglect of students who demanded accountability for their active investments in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The community of Palestinian students who have been ignored and pushed aside by the University has exposed the explicitly deceitful behaviour of this institution.

While the administration champions its claims of solidarity with minorities, the blood of our international family continues to be shed at the hands of its investments in the economic interests of the bourgeoisie, specifically in the oil, gas, and mineral companies with their eyes on Sudan’s vast resources. Canada’s mining companies, such as Orca Gold in Sudan, are at the forefront of imperialist exploitation and violence throughout the world.

Amarjeet Sohi, the mayor of Edmonton, made a brief appearance at the event and we got a chance to talk to him about efforts being carried out by the city council to address police violence. Far from being disconnected from Canada’s participation in the imperialist system, Edmonton’s police have the funding to participate in Operation PROTEUS in Jerusalem, aiding in the occupation and the enforcement of apartheid in the West Bank, as well as other imperialist missions in Haiti, Kosovo, Bosnia, East Timor, and Afghanistan. 

The mayor provided barebones sympathy to the cause of Justice for Mathios, offering suggestions around civilian oversight of the police. Mathios Arkangelo was a member of the South Sudanese community who was murdered by the police in June. Mathios, as he was experiencing a mental health crisis, had his hands up, a small pocket knife dangling in one of them and was upwards of a car length away from the officer that shot him. After he collapsed to the ground after being shot twice, he was then handcuffed and first aid was delayed for several minutes. The officer has returned to active duty during the investigation into his liability in the shooting, which is likely to take at least two years to complete.

The topic of the police budget was much more combative. The Edmonton Police Service boasts a budget of $558 million, which is one of the highest per capita budgets in Canada. Mayor Sohi promptly attributed this allocation to the authority of the Police Act, a piece of provincial legislation that allows the provincial government to increase a municipality’s police budget if it is deemed too low. There has been an aggressive overreach from the province in recent years that has included threats to remove elected city officials who are critical of police operations and budgets, and the Edmonton Police refusal to be audited by the city of Edmonton resulting in over six months of a breakdown of communication with the City Council that has included interventions of the EPS in removal of appointed civilian commissioners such as Renee Vaugois. It should be noted that no attempt has ever been made on behalf of the city council to reduce or reallocate funding.

After this conversation, Mayor Sohi made a speech to open the event which focussed on the efforts of city council to promote anti-racist initiatives, “I tasked my administration with the goal of making an anti-racist city.” These initiatives, which receive 0.7% percent as much funding as the police budget, are focused on providing grants to organizations promoting equity and hosting events in the city.

Amarjeet Sohi and the University of Alberta talk at length about their anti-racist measures, but upon closer inspection their lack of material action is disturbingly evident. The overinflated police budget that prioritizes violence and mass incarceration only serves to continue Canada’s legacy of systemic racism, while the U of A’s prioritization of financial interests over the welfare of its students communicates its unconditional loyalty to racist bourgeois institutions.

As Young Communists, we must build upon anti-imperialist struggles, bring our trade unions and student unions into solidarity with Sudan and Palestine, stand against police violence, and continue the fight for working-class power. It is only through the conquest of power by the working class and the building of socialism that Canada will be able to stop the reproduction of racist structures and cease its participation in the global system of imperialism.

Justice for Mathios Arkangelo! Solidarity with Sudan! Free Palestine!