Canada's complicity in the colonization of the Western Sahara and Palestine exposed
Written by: Daniel Xie
On December 10, 2020, diplomatic normalization was established between the Israeli and Moroccan governments. This agreement followed earlier diplomatic normalizations between Israel and other Middle Eastern and North African countries such as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan. To the Moroccan government, the establishment of diplomatic normalization with Israel was the culmination of already positive relations between both countries, with Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita stating that relations with Israel were already “normal”.
The normalization of Israeli-Moroccan relations will see America recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara threatens to escalate conflict between Morocco and independence movements such as the Polisario Front, who, with UN backing, have rejected Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara.
In response to the normalization of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel, the Canadian government welcomed the deal as strengthening ties between the two countries. However, the Canadian congratulations did note that Canada maintains its position on the issue of Western Sahara.
Canada and its opposition to Saharwi Self-Determination
Canada’s decision to recognize Morocco and Israel’s diplomatic normalization indicates its continued complicity in the colonization of not only Palestine by Israel, but also the Western Sahara by Morocco; the Western Sahara having been called “Africa’s last Colony”. The continued colonization of the Western Sahara by Morocco since it’s 1975 invasion has caused a massive humanitarian crisis in the region. As reported in 2018 by TheTyee, 120,000 Saharwi people have been forced into refugee camps in Algeria, while many more live under military occupation.
The POLISARIO front rose up in opposition to the colonization of the Sahara by Morocco, which saw a 15-year conflict lasting to 1991. The conflict was ended with a ceasefire in 1991 and the promise of a referendum for independence. Due to the obstruction of the Moroccan government, that referendum has yet to be held. Just recently, the ceasefire has been broken by the Moroccan government when they reopened a closed road to Mauritania running through the no man's land between them and the Polisario front in response to supposed provocations by the front.
The plight of the Sahrawi people has been ignored by Canada, who refuses to recognize the POLISARIO Front-led government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, even as 80 other nations and the African Union recognizes the independence of Western Sahara. Instead, Canada continues to maintain positive relations with Morocco. In 2018, Morocco was Canada’s 4th largest bilateral trade partner in Africa, and Morocco provides various commercial opportunities of interest to Canada in economic sectors including infrastructure, mining, clean technologies, agriculture, and education. Trade with Morocco in 2017 totaled over $907 million, an increase of 10.9 per cent from where it was in 2017. For 10 years Canada has also provided $80 million in development assistance to Morocco in order to foster greater economic development for Morocco.
Current developmental aid being delivered to Morocco, as noted by the Canadian government, ranges between $5 to $8 million per year with a focus on developing “human dignity” in Morocco. As these actions demonstrate however, the human dignity of Saharwi, trampled on by the Moroccan government, does not matter in the eyes of the Canadian government.
Canadian Corporations’ Illicit Deals with the Moroccan Government
Canadian fertilizer companies such as Saskatchewan's PotashCorp and Alberta’s Agrium (which merged into Nutrien in 2018), have carried out significant business transactions with the Moroccan government. Prior to their merger, both companies accounted for nearly half of all exports of phosphate from Western Sahara, with Potashcorp buying 750,000 tonnes of rock annually. The exploitation of resources within Western Sahara by the Moroccan government was condemned in 2002 by UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Hans Corell as violating international law applicable to the mining of resources in Non-Self-Governing Territories.
In response to the controversy surrounding the phosphate trade, PotashCorp claimed in 2014 that the trade brings significant social mobility and social benefits to the region, and those who oppose the phosphate trade supposedly “penalize” Sahrawi workers and their families.
The efforts of Canadian corporations to continue doing business in Western Sahara was challenged by the POLISARIO front, which stated that these business deals not only violate international law, but also further entrench Moroccan control over the Western Sahara. Similar condemnations were made by the African Union, whose members condemned the illegal exploitation of natural resources by corporations as hostile action likely to perpetuate further conflict and colonialism in Wester Sahara.
Apart from condemnations by the POLISARIO front and the African Union, various activists and organizations in Canada and around the world have also tried to stop the illicit deals between Canadian companies and the Moroccan government. In May 2015, the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland and Meritus Mutual Funds attempted unsuccessfully to get PotashCorp to conduct an independent investigation into its operations in Morocco. Pressure from various Sahrawi solidarity groups have also successfully pressured four pension funds in Sweden to divest their holdings in PotashCorp over its involvement in the contested region. Even earlier in 2011, Norway’s state pension fund blacklisted investment in PotashCorp over ethics concerns.
On May 14th, 2017, South African courts complied with requests by the POLISARIO front to seize two cargo ships with 100,000 tonnes of phosphate from Western Sahara. According to the Globe and Mail, the POLISARIO front’s victory over the Moroccan government, Agrium, and PotashCorp signified the first time a national independence movement had won a legal action to intercept the export of state property. In addition to requesting the South African court seize phosphate cargo, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has also threatened to sue PotashCorp in response to the phosphate shipments. It further claimed that the people of Western Sahara have suffered $400-million in economic losses due to the operations of PotashCorp.
On January 25, 2018, eight months following the seizure of cargo ships by South African courts, it was reported that Chuck Magro, the President and CEO of the newly merged Nutrien company, stated the company intended to stop buying phosphate rock from Western Sahara, and that their contract with the OCP Group, a Moroccan based phosphate mining and processing production company, would be ending. In addition, Magro claimed that the company will make a decision on what to do with PotashCorp imports from the territory. In response to this announcement, Western Sahara Resource Watch’s Sylvia Valentin found promises that the contract would be ending unconvincing, and called on investors to pull out of Nutrien as long as it continues it’s complicity in the oppression of the Sahrawi people.
While several production units have been closed by Nutrien as reported by Morocco World News on May 6, 2020, Nutrien remains one of OCP’s major clients in North America. In addition, OCP group remains the world’s largest exporter of phosphoric acid with a market share of 49%, and also saw it’s fertilizer exports worldwide reach 9 million tonnes in 2020.
Oppose Canadian Complicity in the Colonization of Palestine and the Western Sahara!
The interactions of the Canadian government and Canadian fertilizer companies with the Moroccan government shows that Canada continues to demonstrate willing complicity in the crimes of other colonialist regimes. Whether in Palestine or Western Sahara, Canada’s political and economic interests have constantly aligned with those who perpetuate colonialism in the 21st century. This blood-stained foreign policy has alienated us from much of the world, contributing to our defeat in seeking a Security council membership.
Canadians pushing for Canada to embrace a genuinely just foreign policy must oppose Canada’s continued diplomatic and corporate ties with the governments occupying Palestine and the Western Sahara, and push for a foreign policy that stands in solidarity with the oppressed and the colonized worldwide.
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