How the 1972 Summit Series Shaped Canada: It’s Not What You Think

Commentary This Canada Day, reflecting on what it means to be Canadian, I want to take you back to the 1972 Summit Series. But not for Canada’s victory over the Soviets, but its indirect impact on an even more high-stakes drama playing out in… Uganda. In early August, the Ugandan government ordered the expulsion of some 55,000 Ugandans—mostly Ismaili Muslims—on the accusation of siphoning the nation’s wealth from the black majority population. They had 90 days to leave the country, abruptly ending eight decades of Asian settlement in the East African nation. Coinciding with a weakening global economy and rising anti-immigrant sentiment across the West, few countries were willing to welcome any of the thousands of soon-to-be refugees....