Yves Engler | |
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![]() Engler in 2005 | |
Born | 1979 (age 45–46) Vancouver, Canada |
Occupation | Writer |
Language | English |
Genre | Nonfiction |
Subject |
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Website | |
yvesengler |
Yves Engler (born 1979) [1] is a Canadian writer, political activist, and critic of Canadian foreign policy based in Montreal. In addition to twelve published books, Engler's writings have appeared in alternative press and in mainstream publications such as The Globe and Mail , Toronto Star , Ottawa Citizen , and Ecologist .
On July 3, 2025, the NDP Socialist Caucus announced it was running Engler as its candidate in the 2026 federal NDP leadership election. [2]
Engler moved to Montreal to study at Concordia University in the early 2000s, where he was elected vice president of communications with the Concordia Student Union. [3] He was suspended from the university due to his involvement in the Concordia University Netanyahu riot, which erupted in response to a visit to the campus by then-former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The riot involved the breaking of windows at a number of university buildings, and there were reports of assaults on Holocaust survivors. [4] [5]
A student tribunal found Engler guilty of assault and vandalism for his part in the event. He was fined $500 and expelled for one term. Engler said he did not assault anyone or commit any vandalism during the riot. [4] His attempt to appeal the suspension was rejected by the Supreme Court of Canada. [6] Engler's suspension was later made permanent when he violated a ban on political activity, imposed by the university in the aftermath of the riot, by handing out anti-FTAA pamphlets on university grounds. [5]
In 2017, Engler wrote an article questioning certain modern views of the Rwandan genocide. [7] Some critics have described his position as genocide denial. [8]
Engler was critical of Canada's role in the 2004 Haitian coup d'état. He co-authored a report entitled Canada in Haiti: Waging War Against the Poor Majority and helped establish a group called the Canada-Haiti Action Network.[ citation needed ]
In June 2005, Engler interrupted a press conference being held by then-Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew. Engler poured a bottle of cranberry juice onto Pettigrew and said, "Pettigrew lies, Haitians die." [9] The juice was meant to represent the blood Engler said was on the hands of the Canadian government due to its alleged involvement in the 2004 coup and subsequent United Nations peacekeeping mission. [10] [11]
A vocal critic of Israel, in 2010, Engler wrote the book Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid on the history of Canada's ties with Israel. [12] He is a longtime supporter of the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. [13]
In 2016, Engler wrote an essay for the Huffington Post, titled "'Anti Semitism': The Most Abused Word in Canada". [14] A week later, Canadian Jewish News editor Yoni Goldstein criticized the text in an opinion piece. He concluded that Engler "has seriously misjudged the state of anti-Semitism in Canada today". [15] Engler said that the charge of antisemitism is wrongly used to shut down criticism of Israel, but the rise of neo-Nazism shows that it was wrong for him to downplay the threat of antisemitism, which he strongly condemns. [16]