Canada’s Long Fight against Democracy is a sweeping overview of Canadian-backed coups since 1950. It documents Canada’s contribution to the ouster of over 20 elected governments from Mohammad Mossadegh in Iran to Patrice Lumumba in Congo, Salvador Allende in Chile and Jean Bertrand Aristide in Haiti.

As part of subverting democracy, Ottawa has cut off aid and imposed illegal sanctions in the hopes of turning the population against the targeted government. Canada has also financed opposition civil society groups and allowed protesters to use its embassy as a staging point to topple a president. They’ve even organized a secret international gathering to discuss overthrowing a popular leader, decided a marginal opposition politician was the legitimate president, and dispatched the Canadian military to subvert democracy.

While government officials and the media regularly frame conflicts with geopolitical competitors as motivated by a belief in democracy, the authors debunk the notion that decision-makers in Ottawa are driven by promoting democracy abroad.

Washington’s role in subverting elected governments has been detailed in countless studies by scholars and observers from around the world. The literature on Canada’s role in anti-democratic meddling is comparatively limited. In fact, this is the first book to focus on Canada’s role in subverting democracy around the globe.

With poems by Rob Rolfe