Alykhan Velshi (born 6 February 1984) is a lawyer, policy analyst, and ministerial assistant. He has worked at the predominantly neoconservative American Enterprise Institute and was manager of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he co-founded the Center for Law and Counterterrorism with Andrew C. McCarthy.Abbas Rana, "Environment Minister Baird hires a new director of Parliamentary affairs", Hill Times, 28 July 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2009. He has written pieces in support of George W. Bush's foreign and military policies. Velshi previously worked as director of issues management for Stephen Harper. He used to work as chief of staff for two leaders of the official opposition of Ontario, Patrick Brown and Vic Fedeli, who were then leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. Currently he is working in the private sector as Huawei Technologies Canada's vice-president of corporate affairs.
Early life Velshi was born and raised in Toronto. He attended the Toronto French School, a private school in Lawrence Park.At age 17, he led a "No Sweat" protest at his school that called on school uniform maker R.J. McCarthy Ltd. to identify the locations of its suppliers' plants. This was part of a global campaign to end sweatshop conditions in developing countries. See "Uniform supplier under pressure as teen works against foreign sweatshops", Canadian Press, 30 August 2001, 9:47pm; Dana Flavelle, "Teen works to crush sweatshops --- Uniform supplier target of leafletting campaign today", Toronto Star, 31 August 2001, F01. He holds a law degree from the London School of Economics and passed the New York bar exam in 2006.Velshi served on the executive of the LSE Hayek Society in 2003-04. See "About LSE Hayek Society" , LSE Hayek Society. Retrieved 22 March 2009. He is the son of the past President and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Rumina Velshi. He is an Ismaili Muslim and is a distant relative of journalist Ali Velshi and former Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament Murad Velshi.Abbas Rana, "Environment Minister Baird hires a new director of Parliamentary affairs", Hill Times, 28 July 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2009. Velshi is described as an Ismaili Muslim in Alykhan Velshi, "Choosing Sides: The Challenge for Muslims", National Review Online, 13 July 2005, 8:11am, accessed 22 March 2009.
Political views Foreign policy and the Middle East Velshi has written extensively about foreign policy, particularly with regard to the Middle East. His position is pro-Israel and strongly supportive of George W. Bush's foreign policy. In a December 2002 letter to the National Post newspaper, he argued that Canada should ban the political wing of Hezbollah.Alykhan Velshi, "Hezbollah" [letter], National Post, 7 December 2002, A23. While attending the LSE, he wrote an academic piece defending George W. Bush's argument for "preemptive" war in Iraq as being grounded in both historical precedent and "original texts on international law".Alykhan Velshi, "The right of self-defence: the case for preemption in international law", LSE Hayek Society. Retrieved 22 March 2009. Just before graduating, he wrote an article for the National Review entitled "Choosing Sides: The challenge for Muslims", in which he argued that moderate Muslims were often reluctant to counter what he described as "Islamist extremism". This article favourably quoted George W. Bush's remark, "You're either with us or you're with the terrorists".Alykhan Velshi, "Choosing Sides: The Challenge for Muslims", National Review Online, 13 July 2005, 8:11am. Retrieved 22 March 2009. In January 2006, he criticized The Globe and Mail newspaper for referring to Israel's separation barrier as a "wall"; Velshi argued that it should be called a "fence."Alykhan Velshi, "Israel's barrier" [letter], The Globe and Mail, 4 January 2006, A14.
Velshi wrote a column for The Hill in June 2006, encouraging the United States Senate to endorse regime change in Iran by passing the Iran Freedom Support Act. This bill authorized the President of the United States to provide $10 million in assistance to dissident organizations inside and outside Iran. Velshi attempted to address concerns that this aid would be directed toward militant organizations by arguing that the terms of the bill restricted aid to groups that "oppose the use of terrorism, support democratic values and human rights and display a willingness to commit Iran to the existing nuclear non-proliferation framework".Alykhan Velshi, "Supporting Iran's democratic future", The Hill, 14 June 2006, 22.
In the same year, Velshi wrote an article for the Somaliland Times entitled "Somalia's Collapse into Jihadism". He called for the United States to recognize the breakaway republic of Somaliland, arguing that this would demonstrate a commitment to the "Bush doctrine" and also be in America's strategic interests. He also opposed the Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia, and defended the government of Ethiopia for supporting what he described as the "democratically-elected transitional government based in Baidoa".Alykhan Velshi, "Somalia's Collapse into Jihadism", Somilaland Times, 6 September 2006, archived by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
Velshi later supported the prosecution of two New York men accused of broadcasting Hezbollah's al-Manar television network in the United States.Matthew Chayes, "New Charges Possible in Hezbollah TV Case", New York Sun, 23 January 2007.
Security and terror suspects In 2006, Andrew C. McCarthy and Velshi wrote a white paper entitled "We Need A National Security Court". This work argued that America's counter-terrorism strategies of the 1990s were insufficient for responding to what the authors described as the "international terrorist threat" after September 11, 2001. They called for the establishment of an American national security court, to be staffed by independent, life-tenured judges with responsibility for the full range of national security issues.The original white paper may be downloaded at Andrew C. McCarthy, "We need a National Security Court, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 15 July 2007. This document is cited in Michael B. Mukasey, "Jose Padilla Makes Bad Law", Wall Street Journal, 22 August 2007, A15.
In September 2006, Velshi and Howard Anglin wrote an article for the National Review entitled "Who's Really Ignoring the Geneva Conventions?". This piece argued that the conventions "did not anticipate the threat posed by today's militant Islamists", and should not be applied to enemy combatants whom the authors identified as "the terrorists we fight today".Alykhan Velshi and Howard Anglin, "Who's Really Ignoring the Geneva Conventions?" , National Review Online, 7 September 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2009. Velshi and Anglin also collaborated on a later article for the National Review, entitled "Misjudging Charity" , 14 December 2006, accessed 22 March 2009.
United Nations In August 2006, Velshi wrote a piece entitled "The United Nations' Failed Peacekeeping in Lebanon". This work asserted that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon had failed to disarm Hezbollah, and argued that a "new international force [would] therefore have to be willing and able to engage offensive operations" against the Lebanese organization.Alykhan Velshi, "The United Nations' Failed Peacekeeping in Lebanon", Foundation for Defence of Democracies, 11 August 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
Later in the year, Velshi wrote an article entitled "Will the UN appoint another crook?". This work described Kofi Annan's legacy as United Nations Secretary-General as one of "scandal and failure", asserting that the UN was implicated in an "elaborate child prostitution ring" in the Congo and referring to the UN's Oil-For-Food program in Iraq as "the biggest financial fraud of modern times". Velshi also described Annan's eventual successor Ban Ki-moon, as unfit for the position, accusing him of bribery and of holding anti-American views. In the same article, Velshi accused United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of "allowing bureaucratic subordinates in the State Department to dictate policy, refusing to draw bright lines in international negotiations with Iran, and distinguishing herself from her predecessor Colin Powell only by being less perfidious and perhaps more comely".Alykhan Velshi, "Will the UN pick another crook?", New English Review, October 2006. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
Canada In late 2006, Velshi described the prosecution of Canadian-born newspaper baron Conrad Black as a "tragedy", and as representative of a legal system "focused less on securing justice than on bringing down the high and mighty while pandering to the politics of envy". He argued that the legal proceedings had ruined Black's financial status and reputation before any finding of guilt, and further asserted that the regulatory state created by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was ultimately responsible for this situation. In the same article, Velshi wrote that Black "hearkened back to the good old days of grand newspaper proprietors, family dynasties and concern for the value of the brand rather than vulgar things like day-to-day movements in share prices".Alykhan Velshi, "The tragedy of Conrad Black: The trial by attrition of Black has exposed the dark underbelly of the legal system", National Post, 9 September 2006, A20. This piece was an abridged version of an essay first published in the New English Review. Velshi's essay was favourably cited in Ian Hunter, "Conrad Black is innocent", National Post, 13 January 2007, A20. Black was subsequently convicted of obstruction of justice and diverting company funds for his personal benefit, and was sentenced to 78 months in an American prison.
Velshi described Canada's health care system as "old and decrepit" in a March 2006 letter to The Globe and Mail newspaper, sarcastically comparing Canada's system to existing models in Cuba and North Korea.Alykhan Velshi, "Healthy debate" [letter], The Globe and Mail, 2 March 2006, A20.
In 2011, Velshi left government service and founded a website to promote the ideas put forward by Ezra Levant in his book Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands. He subsequently returned as the Director of Planning for the Prime Minister's Office later in 2011. The website, EthicalOil.org, launched a campaign to compare Canada's 'Ethical Oil' against OPEC's 'Conflict Oil' and features controversial advertisements comparing conditions for women, gays and other minorities in OPEC countries to those in Canada. EthicalOil.org has staged counter-protests in response to opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline project.
Ministerial aide 39th Canadian parliament Velshi was hired as senior special assistant to Jason Kenney, Canada's newly appointed Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, in early 2007.The first government press release to list Velshi as a contact for Kenney is "Media Advisory - Canadian Heritage", Canada NewsWire, 20 March 2007, 11:41. A French-language version of the document was issued at the same time. His official title was changed to "Director of Communications" later in the year.the first government press release to describe Velshi by this title is "Statement - Canadian Heritage", Canada NewsWire, 6 July 2007, 02:36pm. A French version was again released at the same time.