A review of editorials from four major Canadian newspapers found that more than 96 per cent of them support contributing militarily to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The newspapers included were the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, the National Post, and the Toronto Sun. These papers were selected because they represent the political spectrum in Canadian corporate media, include the two national newspapers, have among the highest circulation levels in the country and are flagships of their various chains and ownership groups.

Editorials were included if they were written by the editorial board, published between February 24 and October 31, and expressed a clear opinion on Canada’s military efforts in Ukraine. They were then placed into three categories: support, if they argued that Canada’s military contributions were appropriate; expand, if they agree with Canada sending military aid, but want the government to expand its contribution; oppose, if they called for more negotiations in some way.

Of the 30 editorials that met the criteria, 22 (73 per cent) expressed support for Canada’s military aid, while seven (23 per cent) thought it should be expanded. Just one editorial, from the Globe, expressed even mild criticism of the government from somewhat of a pro-peace perspective, arguing that “for now, the West should be quietly laying the groundwork for future conversations.” None of these editorials flat-out called against sending military aid in the first place, or continuing to do so.

Meanwhile, there were many articles supporting the government sending what has now amounted to more than $600 million in military aid since February.

The Sun, hardly a fan of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals in usual circumstances, expressed support for his government in all six of their editorials weighing in on the issue.

The Post was slightly more critical, except that their concerns exclusively regarded the Canadian government allegedly not doing enough. They called for increased spending to send more military aid to Ukraine, and also critiqued Canada and its allies for not helping to enforce a no-fly zone or providing the country with planes.

The Globe published eight editorials supporting the government, and two calling on it to expand its military contribution. One of their critiques was that Canada and other NATO countries hadn’t sent more weapons to Ukraine before the war began.

The Star failed to express any opposition to the government’s effort to further inflame the ongoing war. Instead, they published six editorials supporting the government’s efforts, and two calling on them to expand military aid.

The almost-absolute consensus on supporting Canada’s military efforts in Ukraine among editorial boards spanning what passes as the political spectrum in corporate media is disturbing given that the war has the potential to spiral further out of control into nuclear conflict, impacting all of humanity.

Despite this, when it comes to supporting war abroad, Canadian media is united.