On January 5 and 6, 2026, in the Globe and Mail, two friends of the Group of 78 provided their respective takes on the recent American military action against Venezuela. The US operation, writes former G78 Board member Michael Byers, “ignores the 1945 United Nations Charter, which centrally includes a prohibition on the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” Professor Byers argues that the Carney government must speak out against the Administration’s flouting of international law and that Canada should vote at the UN General Assembly to denounce this illegal military intervention. For his part, Thomas Homer-Dixon, who spoke at a G78 webinar in 2025, writing with Adam Gordon, makes the case for Canada preparing for a range of scenarios involving American military coercion against Canada, including enforcing the recognition of Alberta as the 51st state after deeming a separatist referendum loss there “fake results.” Canada should make it clear to the US, the authors write, “that any use of military force will be extremely costly, by dramatically accelerating investments in national service and homeland defence, rapidly building out domestic defence industries, and developing a national drone strategy.” Read the full articles below.
