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Don’t call it space exploration: DND bankrolls feminist report on outer space

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4 minute read

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Author: Ryan Thorpe

Current approaches to outer space are “heavily Western, state-centric, militarized, masculinized, and colonial,” and encourage practices that are “racist, exploitative, elitist, and environmentally destructive.”

That’s according to an intersectional feminist report on outer space bankrolled by the Department of National Defence to the tune of $32,250 in taxpayer cash.

“We have lots of problems down here on Earth and maybe we should focus on getting those fixed before we spend tens of thousands of dollars talking about how to talk about space,” said Kris Sims, Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “I think a lot of Canadians can think of a lot of causes that need $32,250 more.”

The CTF obtained a copy of the DND funding agreement with the report authors through an access-to-information request.

The CTF also reviewed a copy of the report.

The report trumpets the need for feminist and decolonial approaches to space security and space exploration.

“Terms such as ‘mankind,’ ‘astronauts and envoys of mankind,’ ‘man’s entry into outer space,’ ‘manned and unmanned stations of the moon,’ ‘manned spacecraft,’ and ‘man-made’ are… gender-biased,” according to the report.

Despite concern over “gender-biased” language, the funding proposal notes “women and other genders are not, for the most part, present in outer space.”

The report claims “colonial-based terms like ‘exploration’ and ‘conquest’… normalize violence and exploitation” by depicting space as a “hostile and desolate environment that is unpeopled/inhuman and controlled so it can provide an extractable resource.”

“Indigenous perspectives” imbedded in “spirituality, astrology, and cosmology, the last of which views celestial bodies in space as animated beings and not mere objects” should be better reflected in approaches to outer space, according to the report.

The report also advocates for “alternatives to dominant, colonial ways of knowing.”

The report was produced by Project Ploughshares, which describes itself as a “Canadian peace research institute” and an “operating division of the Canadian Council of Churches.”

Project Ploughshares, based on the University of Waterloo campus, previously received four other federal research contracts totalling $155,875, according to the funding proposal.

The project was pitched to DND as an opportunity to “draw on feminist/gendered analysis to apply a [Gender-Based Analysis] understanding to Canadian and international space security policy.”

The project included briefings and training with representatives from DND, the Canadian Armed Forces and Global Affairs Canada, as well as a separate “briefing and Q&A session for government officials,” according to the records.

“Many voices have long been absent from space security discussions, including those of women; those from the Global South; black, Indigenous, and other people of colour (BIPOC); and 2SLGBTQ+ individuals,” according to the report.

“It took the equivalent of a neighbourhood’s worth of income tax bills to pay for this study,” said Sims. “Would any of those families have ranked this report among their 100 concerns? It’s time to stop spending taxpayers’ money on studies like this.”

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Up to $41 billion in World Bank climate finance unaccounted for, Oxfam finds

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News release from Oxfam International

Up to $41 billion in World Bank climate finance —nearly 40 percent of all climate funds disbursed by the Bank over the past seven years— is unaccounted for due to poor record-keeping practices, reveals a new Oxfam report.

An Oxfam audit of the World Bank’s 2017-2023 climate finance portfolio found that between $24 billion and $41 billion in climate finance went unaccounted for between the time projects were approved and when they closed.

There is no clear public record showing where this money went or how it was used, which makes any assessment of its impacts impossible. It also remains unclear whether these funds were even spent on climate-related initiatives intended to help low- and middle-income countries protect people from the impacts of the climate crisis and invest in clean energy.

“The Bank is quick to brag about its climate finance billions —but these numbers are based on what it plans to spend, not on what it actually spends once a project gets rolling,” said Kate Donald, Head of Oxfam International’s Washington D.C. Office. “This is like asking your doctor to assess your diet only by looking at your grocery list, without ever checking what actually ends up in your fridge.”

The Bank is the largest multilateral provider of climate finance, accounting for 52 percent of the total flow from all multilateral development banks combined.

The issue of climate finance will take center stage at this year’s COP in Azerbaijan, where countries are set to negotiate a new global climate finance goal, the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). Climate activists are demanding the Global North provide at least $5 trillion a year in public finance to the Global South “as a down payment towards their climate debt” to the countries, people and communities of the Global South who are the least responsible for climate breakdown but are the most affected. Oxfam warns that the lack of traceable spending could undermine trust in global climate finance efforts at this critical juncture.

“Climate finance is scarce, and yes, we know it’s hard to deliver. But not tracking how or where the money actually gets spent? That’s not just some bureaucratic oversight —it’s a fundamental breach of trust that risks derailing the progress we need to make at COP this year. The Bank needs to act like our future depends on tackling the climate crisis, because it does,” said Donald.

Oxfam’s investigation revealed that obtaining even basic information on how the World Bank is using climate finance was painstaking and difficult.

“We had to sift through layers of complex and incomplete reports, and even then, the data was full of gaps and inconsistencies. The fact that this information is so hard to access and understand is alarming —it shouldn’t take a team of professional researchers to figure out how billions of dollars meant for climate action are being spent. This should be transparent and accessible to everyone, most importantly communities who are meant to benefit from climate finance,” said Donald.

Notes to editors

Download Oxfam’s new report “Climate Finance Unchecked.”

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Canada’s struggle against transnational crime & money laundering

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From the Macdonald-Laurier Institute

By Alex Dalziel and Jamie Ferrill

In this episode of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Inside Policy Talks podcast, Senior Fellow and National Security Project Lead Alex Dalziel explores the underreported issue of trade-based money laundering (TBML) with Dr. Jamie Ferrill, the head of financial crime studies at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, Australia and a former Canada Border Services Agency officer.

The discussion focuses on how organized crime groups use global trade transactions to disguise illicit proceeds and the threat this presents to the Canada’s trade relationship with the US and beyond.

Definition of TBML: Trade-based money laundering disguises criminal proceeds by moving value through trade transactions instead of transferring physical cash. Criminals (usually) exploit international trade by  manipulating trade documents, engaging in phantom shipping, and altering invoices to disguise illicit funds as legitimate commerce, bypassing conventional financial scrutiny. As Dr. Ferrill explains, “we have dirty money that’s been generated through things like drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, sex trafficking, and that money needs to be cleaned in one way or another. Trade is one of the ways that that’s done.”

A Pervasive Problem: TBML is challenging to detect due to the vast scale and complexity of global trade, making it an attractive channel for organized crime groups. Although global estimates are imprecise, the Financial Action Task Force and The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) suggests 2-5% of GDP could be tied to money laundering, representing trillions of dollars annually. In Canada, this could mean over $70 billion in potentially laundered funds each year. Despite the scope of TBML, Canada has seen no successful prosecutions for criminal money laundering through trade, highlighting significant gaps in identifying, investigating and prosecuting these complex cases.

Canada’s Vulnerabilities: Along with the sheer volume and complexity of global trade, Canada’s vulnerabilities stem from gaps in anti-money laundering regulation, particularly in high-risk sectors like real estate, luxury goods, and legal services, where criminals exploit weak oversight. Global trade exemplifies the vulnerabilities in oversight, where gaps and limited controls create substantial opportunities for money laundering. A lack of comprehensive export controls also limits Canada’s ability to monitor goods leaving the country effectively. Dr. Ferrill notes that “If we’re seen as this weak link in the process, that’s going to have significant implications on trade partnerships,” underscoring the potential political risks to bilateral trade if Canada fails to address these issues.

International and Private Sector Cooperation: Combating TBML effectively requires strong international cooperation, particularly between Canada and key trade partners like the U.S. The private sector—including freight forwarders, customs brokers, and financial institutions—plays a crucial role in spotting suspicious activities along the supply chain. As Dr. Ferrill emphasizes, “Canada and the U.S. can definitely work together more efficiently and effectively to share and then come up with some better strategies,” pointing to the need for increased collaboration to strengthen oversight and disrupt these transnational crime networks.


Looking to further understand the threat of transnational organized crime to Canada’s borders?

Check out Inside Policy Talks recent podcasts with Christian LeuprechtTodd Hataley  and Alan Bersin.

To learn more about Dr. Ferrill’s research on TBML, check out her chapter in Dirty Money: Financial Crime in Canada.

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