Sunday, March 18, 2007

"Fairweather Friends"

I believe this at my core, Stephen Harper is clueless when it comes to Canada's role in the world, and suffers from delusions of grandeur. Listening to his speech last night, I literally cringed when the subject turned to foreign affairs. Harper has this warped sense that Canada was a nobody on the world stage, and he has made it a priority to assert Canadian influence- "bring back credibility". What is Harper talking about?

Reality check, Canada is a marginal middle power, who best leverages influence through diplomacy. What is interesting about Harper, he directly ties Canada's international role to military power. Beefing up the military somehow leads to increased stature in the world. Pleeeze! For arguments sake, let's say Canada tripled it's military expenditure, do you really think the rest of the world would notice? Canada will never be a military power, relative to others, so don't even bother in my estimation. That doesn't equate to no military, or an ineffective force, but don't kid yourself into thinking we will have any increased stature through force. As a matter of fact, you could argue the more pro-active our military, the more damage we do to Canada's legitimate reputation as an honest broker. I honestly think Harper would love to have one of those military parades, where he stands on Parliament Hill, as the missiles and tanks roll by, to demonstrate some warped sense of purpose.

What is particularly offensive about the Harper rhetoric, his continued veil reference to "fairweather friends". Clearly a shot at the former government's tensions with Washington, Harper acts as though the cool relationship was Canada's fault, and he will atone. Someone should call Harper when makes this point, because it essentially boils down to Iraq. Canada didn't stand by its friend in need, Canada took a pass. I'm sure the vast majority of Canadians don't see it that way, and I would argue Chretien's refusal was his proudest moment. If you want to see "fairweather", do a timeline of the Harper commentary on Iraq as the years have passed.

If relationships with Washington were frosty, it was mainly a function of a arrogant, doesn't play well with others, American regime, the most unpopular administration in history. Standing up to unfair trade practices, misguided wars and a general unilateral approach isn't something Canada needs to correct. Harper uses wedge rhetoric to paint a dishonest account, or alternatively, he reveals the fact that he is Bush's ideological twin. An inability to find common ground with American neocons is a badge of honor in my view, and I'm sure most Canadians are sympathetic to the challenges of dealing with bent ideologues.

The more Harper speaks, the more convinced I am that Harper doesn't understand Canada's role in the world. The more Harper speaks, the more Canadians should see how disasterous a Conservative government would have been in the aftermath of 9/11. Just imagine where Canada would be, had Harper been at the helm in the spring of 2002, just imagine. Stephen Harper has a simplistic view of the world, that shows no relationship to reality, and is frankly dangerous.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spin becomes propoganda becomes delusion, but Mr. H. just started with delusion. I see him as an anti-social child playing with toy soldiers.

susan

Anonymous said...

Harper has this dilusional dream of being the leader of a superpower (you know, super energy coountry,etc) - ah, Mr. Harper it's hard to be a superpower when you only have a population of approx 30 million compared to the U.S.'s 300 million.

I bet he's really angry that he wasn't born in the U.S. so he could be the leader of a superpower.

Grown up boys don't "copy" their superpower hero - leave that to the kids.

Anonymous said...

Who's the fair weather friend here? It seems that the U.S. call Britain their closest friend and ally and forget to thank us for anything we do to help. Als, a good friend doesn't try to rip you off (softwood, farmers, etc.).

JimBobby said...

Whooee! Good writin', Steve, as usual.

I reckon Harpoon's relationship with the Merkans oughta be front an' centre when the stumpin' begins. How's that softwood deal workin'? How're they doin' at gettin' Arar off the wanted posters? How 'bout this passport schmozzle?

How 'bout the sweetheart tax breaks fer Alberty tar sands development so's they can deliver 5x more crude t' the Merkans?

Merkans is customers an' they got a WalMarket attitude - they don't care how it gets there so long as the price is right.

It is sorta comical t' think Harpoon wants Canada t' be a bigass military power. Comical until you think about them dead soldiers.

Canajuns need t' be told how few peacekeepers we're supplyin' t' the UN -- about 50 -- compared t' how many Taliban hunters we're supplyin' t' the Merkans -- 2,500.

JB

Steve V said...

jb

Harpoon, I like it!

Monkey Loves to Fight said...

I support more money for the military, but mainly to update our equipment, not so we can fight more wars. As for relationships with the United States, I agree with the Liberal approach for the most part. The only thing I disagreed with was the cheap shots. I do think we could be more diplomatic about our disagreements and not descend to the nastiness the current Bush administration does. In addition we can still work with congress, the senate, and governors whose views are probably more acceptable to Canadians than the administration.

In addition I agree we are fairweather friends, but unlike Harper, I see this as a positive not a negative. It is not in our interest to be particularly close to the United States. If anything it serves our interests to strengthen our ties with eothers.

Steve V said...

"I support more money for the military, but mainly to update our equipment"

Miles, I agree. There is no question that the Canadian forces need modernization, now that our fiscal house in order it's time for a generational investment.