by Rondi Adamson
Nearly a month has gone by since the death of Jack Layton, so I hope no one will think it bloodless of me to point out that his “Letter to Canadians,” while in parts lovely – who would disagree that love is better than anger and hope better than fear? – could have used an editor.
Specifically, the paragraph addressed to “all Canadians” contained a blooper: the suggestion that “we can restore our good name in the world.”
Presumably, I constitute a (small) part of all Canadians, and I firmly believe our good name in the world needs no restoring, largely due to three successive Stephen Harper-led governments.
Whatever disappointment I have have felt in some of Harper and the Tories’ domestic decisions and inaction (heck, they’ve had a majority since May and the CBC has yet to be privatized) it has been a refreshing change to no longer be embarrassed by my country’s foreign policy.
Gone is the default anti-Americanism, along with its pesky sidekick, the gross overuse of the word “peacekeeper.” The latter, when used by some, is really only a way of saying, “Hey, we’re better than you,” sanctimonious posturing that cheapens the valuable role peacekeepers play.
Gone is our place setting at the kids’ table of international affairs, griping about the grown-ups with our friends Sweden and Luxembourg, but still expecting them to provide us with our meal.
Harper has been a steadfast supporter of Israel and its right to self-defence.
Six months into his first government, the 2006 Lebanon-Israel conflict began and the prime minister said something, well, completely accurate.
He said that until Hezbollah recognized Israel’s right to exist, there wouldn’t be any permanent resolution to the dilemma. He has since said the same of Hamas. These are hardly radical statements, but I can scarcely imagine other Canadian politicians saying them without issuing accompanying qualifiers and conditions.
Canada also boycotted the Durban II “anti-racism” conference afterDurbanI turned out to be little more than a Jew-bashing hatefest. And when our country was “punished” for such transgressions by being denied a seat on the UN Security Council, well, I could not have been prouder…until Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, told off Amnesty International this August.
The human rights organization had chastised Canada for deporting suspected war criminals, expressing concern that once back in their own countries they might not be treated to the kind of fair and generous justice system we are lucky enough to enjoy here.
Kenney’s reply included, among other things, this memorable turn of phrase:
“As a former AI member, may I suggest that ostentatious hand-wringing over the good name of war criminals and human rights violators may sit uneasily with those AI members who, perhaps naively, believe your compassion should be reserved for their victims.”
Again, try to imagine any other Canadian politician expressing such sentiments (publically).
Most recently, in an interview given by Stephen Harper a decade after 9/11, the prime minister identified the greatest security threat to Canada as being “Islamicism.”
While I think he chose the wrong word – I would have said, “Islamism” – the observation was accurate and no words were minced. One could conclude that our years of miserable waffling are over.
Ottawa is home to a government that actually believes in a couple of things and is willing to stand up for them (in sharp contrast to the current administration inWashington). In short, there is no “restoring” required.
And this is where an editor might have helped Jack Layton (or whichever of his minions wrote that letter); that one line, so utterly partisan, should have been cut and pasted into the paragraph addressed “To the members of my party.”
(Rondi Adamson is a Toronto writer.)