Mark Milke

An excerpt from my speech at Oxford about my pride, as an Arab, in serving in the IDF and fighting for my country.

In mid-February, I joined police Chiefs from Canada and the United States, on a visit to Israel where we met police and community leaders in several cities. I spent time with police officers from Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze faiths representing a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. I also met with Muslim community leaders who shared openly about their concerns and their reasons for working with police. These officers and community leaders operate in an environment that demands extraordinary vigilance - managing crime, counter terrorism, supporting community and crisis response all amid extreme complexity. Police to police we were able to talk about the toll this work takes on the people who do it. We talked about building trust in communities where there is little trust. We were able to get a glimpse of the undertaking required to police in complex environments. I am grateful for what I was able to learn and share with those we visited and among my North American peers. These missions offer a great deal of insight and valuable perspective. I am grateful for the continued leadership and support of the Edmonton Police Commission who have supported me in this. As police we focus on behavior, not beliefs. Where I have felt challenged this week is in the implication that any community group should have the right to direct where we can learn. I stand by my decision to take the trip to Israel and continue to view it as valuable, among multiple learning experiences I will have in this role. I remain focused on my longstanding and ongoing commitment to dialogue, learning and connection across communities and across boundaries.

"No woman or maiden shall be forced to marry a man whom she dislikes." That's not a modern law. That was written in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 over a thousand years ago. Anglo-Saxon women had more legal rights than your great-grandmother. On the same island. A thousand years earlier. 🔑 She could own land. In her own name. Buy it. Sell it. Leave it to whoever she chose. No permission needed. Not from her husband. Not from her father. Not from anyone. She could run a business. She could stand in an open-air court, raise her hand in oath, and the law would hear her the same as any man. ⚖️ On the morning after her wedding, her husband owed her a gift. Land. Money. Property. It was called the Morgengifu, the morning gift. It wasn't symbolic. It was legally binding. And it was hers. Not jointly owned. Not held in trust. Hers. Through everything. 💍 A woman called Wynflaed owned seven estates across four counties, her will still survives. Cynethryth, wife of King Offa, struck coins bearing her own name and face. The only Anglo-Saxon queen known to have done it. The coins are still in museum collections. 🪙 Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, built ten fortified towns and led armies in battle. In the tenth century. ⚔️ While most of Europe treated women as property, this island wrote their rights into law. 🇬🇧 Then the Normans came. 1066. And they took all of it away. Every. Single. Right. 🚫 A married woman's property became her husband's. She couldn't own land. Couldn't sign a contract. Couldn't keep her own wages. Under the doctrine of coverture, her legal identity was absorbed into his. Bracton wrote it plainly: "husband and wife are one person, being one flesh and one blood." In the eyes of the law, she didn't exist. For over eight hundred years. Let that satisfy. Eight. Hundred. Years. In 1882, the Married Women's Property Act gave a married woman the right to own property, keep her earnings, and exist as a separate legal person. 📜 But Britain didn't invent those rights in 1882. It restored them. Rights that Anglo-Saxon women had exercised a thousand years before. On the same island, under the same sky, in a language that became the one you're reading now. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 This island forgot once. We won't let it forget again. Happy Mother's Day ❤️ Be Proud Of Us. 🇬🇧

I cannot get over this video. Recap, and this is all factual: 1) CSIS Director briefs last year on lethal plots directed by Islamic Regime/IRGC in Canada. We know about Irwin Cotler. Suspected murder of Iranian dissident in BC. IRGC may be linked to shots fired at Iranian boxing gym, maybe Synagogues and US consulate in Toronto. 2) Government has identified something like 28 IRGC officials living in Canada. Why were they allowed in? Separate problem. Reports say only one has been deported. 3) News report earlier this week quoted senior government official blaming war in Iran for inability to deport the officials. We know this is a blatant lie because we have earlier reporting that the Immigration and Refugee Board has rejected CBSA deportation orders on multiple occasions. 4) This person is Chair of the IRB. Watch this video and remember that the government says public safety is its first priority. Constructive advice: the IRB cannot have final say on deportations. Change that immediately. Give Minister of Public Safety authority or alternative that makes sense. Overhaul the Board and prioritize security in mandate. Fire everyone on it including this clown.

Not to tread over Lorrie's post but since I worked on the PS752 case, I need to add what most don't know, is how many threats and attempts on Iranian-Canadian lives happened. RCMP and CSIS were regularly communicating but no real action was taken. In fact, it became so threatening, analysts/experts supporting our team resigned from their positions and left Canada for undisclosed locations.

BREAKING: Disguised as opponents of Iran’s Islamic regime, two collaborators of the regime’s intelligence service assassinated an Iranian dissident in Canada almost 40 days ago. Canadian authorities in British Columbia have charged two individuals with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Massoud Masjoudi, a former university professor who lived in Burnaby. According to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, Mehdi Ahmadzadeh Razavi (48) from Maple Ridge and Arezoo Soltani (45) from North Vancouver were arrested on Friday. Police said the charges were filed after Masjoudi’s remains were discovered just over a week ago, on March 5, in the city of Mission.