"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.