Akaash Maharaj

Serving in Peace, Pluralism, and Conservation.  Ambassador-at-Large of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption. Director of Policy for Nature Canada. Alumnus of the Canadian Equestrian Team.  My web site is https://www.Maharaj.org/

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The Trump Administration Wildfire Claims are Nonsense 📰 The Hill Times

Wildfires in Canada are becoming more intense, more expansive, and more frequent, because of climate change.

The Trump administration’s attempt to blame Canadian forestry practices is nonsense.

That claim is a poor pretext for presidential tariffs against Canada, which are unconstitutional under US law in the absence of a justifying national emergency.

The Hill Times’ Riddhi Kachhela and I discussed the true causes of, and responses to, the wildfires.

📰 https://via.maharaj.org/fires

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Money and Values: Mark Carney Courts Saudi Arabia’s Investments 📺 Global Television News

I spoke with Global News’ Jaden Lee-Lincoln, about Mark Carney’s decision to embrace closer ties with Saudi Arabia.

Canadians need to ask not only what we might obtain from Saudi Arabia, but also, what Saudi Arabia hopes to obtain from us.

Too often, the price of Saudi investment is that recipient states must avert their eyes and mute their voices, in the face of Saudi human rights atrocities.

Canada must not wander heedlessly into that abyss.

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Franco-Canadian Collaboration on Nature

My Nature Canada colleagues Jamie Hagar and Priscilla Santos and I enjoyed meeting with Ombeline Lecuyer and Quentin Gautier from France’s embassy to Canada.

We discussed cooperation between our countries on nature, the environment, and biodiversity.

France has an unusually broad and robust spectrum of national debate on ecological protection.

Its larger movements include the right-wing Rassemblement National’s Nouvelle écologie and the left-wing Parti Socialiste’s Écologie sociale.

🌱 https://naturecanada.ca/

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Why did the Iran-US Interim Ceasefire Agreement Fail? 📻 CBC Radio’s Metro Morning

I spoke with Chris Glover on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning, about why the Iran-US interim ceasefire agreement collapsed.

The agreement was built on wilfully ambiguous terms, to enable both governments to proclaim victory at home, and thus buy a pause for their diplomats to conduct intensely difficult negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme.

But catastrophically, the ambiguities included the question of who has the right to control ships passing through the reopened Strait of Hormuz, and who has the right to enforce its will.

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Keeping Our Heads on Bastille Day

In its darkest days, the French Revolution infamously “devoured its children”.

But in Ottawa, the descendants of the Revolution fed their guests bountifully!

I thank Ambassador Michel Miraillet and Mme Geneviève Quenum-Miraillet for inviting me to join their Bastille Day celebration, at the French embassy.

These are dispiriting times in international affairs, so it was a great solace to chat with them about our ongoing hope, to build a world of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.

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Wildfires in Canada

I spoke with France 24’s Paris Direct, about the wildfires in Canada.

The situation is dire.

If a fire exceeds 10 MW/m, conventional firefighting techniques fail: water dropped by water bombers will vaporise before it reaches the ground.

The Jasper fire exceeded 385 MW/m, comparable to the detonation of nuclear weapons.

Every feasible solution begins with us acting against climate change, which is making wildfires more intense, more widespread, and more frequent.

I appeared in my capacity as Nature Canada’s Head of Policy.

🌱 https://youtu.be/HW69xU4z3xE

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At the Spanish Embassy’s Dinner for Antonio de la Rosa

I was delighted to represent the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, at the Spanish Embassy’s dinner to honour Antonio de la Rosa.

He is an ultra-endurance athlete, and a former Captain of the Red Bull Adventure Racing Team.

He is about to embark on a solo, 2'200km journey across Canada’s Northwest Passage, on a standing paddle boat.

My friend and colleague Alfredo Martínez Serrano, Spain’s Ambassador to Canada, presented Antonio with an expeditionary flag for the voyage.

🇨🇦🇪🇸 https://antonioexpeditions.com/

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Possibilities and Perils for Canada in Saudi Arabia 📺 CTV Your Morning

I spoke with CTV’s Your Morning, about Mark Carney’s charm offensive in Saudi Arabia.

Carney’s embrace of Saudi Arabia breaks with Justin Trudeau’s rhetoric, but continues the substance.

Trudeau condemned the Saudis for horrific war crimes in Yemen, where at least 80'000 children have perished. Yet, simultaneously, he massively expanded the sale of Canadian weapons to the Saudis, which they used to commit those very crimes.

Carney deserves credit for being candid about his policies, but whether Canadians find his policies creditable remains to be seen.

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Everyone Outdoors Together 2026

“Everyone Outdoors Together” is a new national movement, to strengthen our connection to the natural world and with one another.

On Saturday 18 July 2026, my Nature Canada colleagues and I will participate in a shared event, when people across our country will pause, take a moment to step outside, and experience nature together.

Join us to start of a national tradition, to celebrate the benefits of being with one another in nature.

🍁 https://everyoneoutdoorstogether.ca/

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PM Mark Carney is visiting Saudi Arabia. Why now?

Mark Carney is in Saudi Arabia, the first Canadian prime minister to visit the kingdom in 26 years.

Canada and the Cost of Saudi Money

Canada is in difficult economic straits, and Saudi Arabia holds the world’s fifth largest sovereign wealth fund.

It is no surprise that Mark Carney is trying to charm them into pouring some of that wealth into Canada.

However, the Saudis expect not only a financial return on investments, but also a political return: that recipient states avert their eyes and bite their tongues when the Saudi government commits even the most grotesque human rights atrocities.

I spoke with CHCH News, about the cost of doing business with dictatorships.

📺 https://per.maharaj.org/chch-ksa

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Joining the Advisory Council on the Canada-EU Trade Agreement

I have accepted an invitation from Canada’s Environment Minister to join the CEDAG advisory council, on the trade agreement between Canada and the European Union.

If we can make this treaty succeed, it will increase prosperity for all Canadians and lift environmental standards across our country.

If we can not, then Canada will remain vulnerable to the coercive trade policies of states that are prepared to lay waste to their own ecosystems and societies, and demand that we do the same to ours.

🌱 https://per.maharaj.org/cedag

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The Climate Wars

Climate wars are upon us.

Already, desperate people are fleeing areas rendered uninhabitable by extreme heat or drought, and colliding with neighbouring populations.

What can we do to push back an age of climate conflicts?

📆 Wednesday, 08 July 2026 ⏰ 17h00 EDT (21h00 UTC) 🎟️ https://per.maharaj.org/scan

I am grateful to Seniors for Climate Action Now (SCAN!) for inviting me to speak for Nature Canada at this webinar.

The event is open to all and free, with registration.

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Ecocide as an International Crime

In the biblical account, king Abimelech not only razed the city of Shechem, but also salted its lands, to leave it permanently barren and uninhabitable.

Three thousand years later, the community of nations still contends with crimes of “ecocide”: wanton acts that inflict catastrophic, long-term destruction on large areas of the natural world, whether during war or peace.

I have been speaking with my colleagues at the Council of Europe, about the prospects of Canada signing their Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law.

The Convention makes ecocide an international crime, and requires signatories to cooperate in enforcing the law and bringing the guilty to justice.

🌱 https://per.maharaj.org/ecocide

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Canadian Interfaith Conversation Statement Against Antisemitism

Canada has never been defined by a single language, ethnicity, or faith. Instead, we are bound together by a set of shared values and mutual responsibilities.

Because of this, the escalating incidents of violent antisemitism in Canada are attacks not only against every Canadian Jew, but also against all Canadians and against Canada itself.

The Canadian Interfaith Conversation represents the full range of faith communities, including the Canadian Council of Churches, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and the National Council of Canadian Muslims

We stand united against antisemitism, as we stand against all hatred.

🕊️ https://per.maharaj.org/cic-ant

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Does the Iran-US agreement herald peace or merely a pause? 🎙️ CBC Radio’s Metro Morning

The interim peace agreement between Iran and the United States is astonishingly brittle.

The very first of its fourteen points declares an end to combat in Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in a pitiless war that has killed 4000 people.

Yet, neither Hezbollah nor Israel had a seat at the negotiations, neither has laid down its arms, and neither has acceded to the agreement.

I spoke with Chris Glover on CBC Metro Morning, about whether this agreement heralds peace or merely a pause.

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Anita Anand at the Munk School of Global Affairs

Anita Anand joined us at the Munk School of Global Affairs, to discuss her objectives as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

She focussed on her efforts to expand our web of international trading partners, especially as Canada, Mexico, and the United States continue the renegotiation of the CUSMA continental free trade agreement.

Outside, a small but vocal group protestors demonstrated against federal policies on the Middle East.

🌎 https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/

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With the Crew of Artemis II

I thank Space Canada and the Canadian Space Agency for inviting me to their evening with the crew of the Artemis II.

The Canadian Museum of History felt like an apt venue for the crew to discuss their flight around the Moon: they had travelled further from Earth than any other human beings.

Brian Gallant led an absorbing conversation with Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, and Jenni Gibbons.

The astronauts projected a sense of personal humility and public pride.

🚀 https://per.maharaj.org/artemisii