Alison Lam for Richmond Hill
Green Party of Canada

A system built on fear is killing people. From Minnesota to Canada, immigration enforcement is crossing moral lines by detaining children, ending lives, and eroding human rights. As an immigrant, I refuse to accept a world where violence becomes policy.

From Maduro’s Authoritarianism to Trump’s Insatiable Greed When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was message a dear friend, asking how she was doing. “Ahorita buscando agua y enlatados,” she told me. I asked if she was safe. She answered, “Las bombas cayeron cerca pero solo movio el edificio.” Then came a series of devastating videos of smoke, fire, sirens and explosions. Not exactly your regular early morning conversation, but for today, probably one that countl

Brazil’s decision to host COP30 in Belém is framed as a symbolic gesture: a summit in the heart of the Amazon, where delegates can experience the urgency of climate change firsthand. But this gesture is pure climate theatre. What good is symbolism when the people most affected by climate change are priced out of involvement?

Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an historic advisory opinion affirming that nation states have legal obligations to protect the climate system and that failure to act may constitute an internationally wrongful act. This resonates deeply with the arguments I presented earlier this month. My paper explored how climate negotiations function as symbolic performances, shaped by contested meanings, strategic political ambiguity, and internalized institut