Harper looks bad in Middle East crisis
FRom The Liberal Party of Canada:
Conservatives Ignored Pending Crisis in the Middle East
July 20, 2006
Ottawa – The bungled Lebanese evacuation is a direct result of the Conservative government’s desire to keep warnings of a pending crisis in the Middle East under wraps, Liberal Consular Affairs Critic Dan McTeague said today.
“The Harper government has once again put politics ahead of policy and the people of this country. By ignoring warnings of the pending crisis for political reasons, the government lost a valuable window of opportunity to evacuate Canadians in a timely fashion. This inept interference and ensuing delays have resulted in a badly botched evacuation that has failed Canadians and left them to endure difficult circumstances and unnecessary threats to their safety,” said Mr. McTeague.
According to media reports, Foreign Affairs staff realized an emergency was brewing in the region last week that would affect tens of thousands of Canadians, but an edict handed down from the Prime Minister’s office ordered the situation be kept confidential.
Since the crisis broke, eight Canadians in Lebanon have been killed in the conflict. There have been widespread reports of confusion and inaction at the Canadian embassy and delays in arranging ships to carry people to safety.
Only one of seven chartered vessels managed to collect any Canadians on Wednesday, and only 261 of about 2,000 Canadians who were supposed to have been evacuated in the first wave actually made it out.
Officials in the region attribute the catastrophic delays to the Prime Minister’s centralized command and communications policies dictating all decisions be routed through Ottawa – a practice both impractical and painfully slow due to the six time zones between locations.
“While other countries were already evacuating their citizens on Sunday, the Conservative government spent two days discussing the matter before any calls were made – this inaction is unacceptable, and Canadians still stranded in Lebanon are paying the price,” said Mr. McTeague.
And again from The Liberal Party of Canada :
Liberals Call For A More Balanced Approach from Canada
July 18, 2006
Prime Minister Stephen Harper must move away from his hard-line position on the Middle East crisis in favor of one which enables Canada to maintain its historic role as a bridge builder in the region, Liberal Leader Bill Graham said today.
“We're very concerned about Mr. Harper's change in Canada’s traditional position of working with all sides in the Middle East for long-term peace by being able to work with all sides of the conflict to bring them together and in a dialogue,” Mr. Graham said. “Canada has always been able to act as an intermediary, but we can only serve in that capacity if both our comportment and our actions enable us to play that role.”
Mr. Graham urged Prime Minister Harper to look to the G-8 communique as a starting point for a balanced approach to help all parties in the region come together.
“Israelis have always thanked us for the moderating role we have been able to play,” he said. “Therefore I urge the government not to take actions which will eliminate the possibility to build peaceful coalitions.”
Mr. Graham explained that the government has a responsibility to take into account the larger geopolitical issues in the Middle East when establishing Canadian foreign policy.
“What is presently taking place in Lebanon is destabilizing the possibility of a democratic government there and I think Canada should be expressing a greater concern about that element if, in fact, we want to be able to help Israel and help the region return to peace,” he said.“We will not be able to be helpful in the long run to Israel or to anyone else in the region if we do not recognize the complexity of the factors at play here. “Mr. Harper has to get a better hold on what Canada is trying to achieve.”
Mr. Graham also echoed the concerns of many Canadians that the government has been too slow in evacuating the thousands of Canadian citizens stranded in Lebanon.
Mr. Graham pointed to the fact that Great Britain, France and the United States have already begun the evacuation process, while Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay stated Canadians would not be able to begin exiting Lebanon until mid-week.
“Our officials at Foreign Affairs work around the clock and are dedicated to help people exit the region, but they have to be given the given the facilities and the capacity to act,” he said. “Other countries have moved more quickly to get that capacity. I don’t see why it would be any more difficult for us than for them.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay told reporters yesterday that Canada has been working on an evacuation plan for Canadians in Lebanon for "close to a week," but has kept the planning secret for security reasons.
But for many Canadians in Lebanon, one of the few sources of information is relatives back in Canada.
Many Lebanese-Canadians have expressed frustration that the government chose not to take advantage of these unofficial lines of communications and make details of their plan for evacuating Canadians available to the public as soon as possible.
Liberal Consular Affairs Critic Dan McTeague agreed with this criticism.
“It is unacceptable and a dereliction of responsibility for Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay to talk about an evacuation only after eight Canadians had been killed,” he said.
As Liberals, we are disappointed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to depart from Canada’s traditional role of peace broker and follow U.S. President Bush’s Mideast policy prior to the release of the joint statement by G-8 leaders. But right now Canada’s number one job should be to ensure the safety of Canadians by getting them home as quickly as possible.
Peace can only be obtained on the foundation of respect for the security, well-being and legitimacy of the states and peoples of Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. We must all continue to work toward an end to any government sanctioned incitement to hatred and violence, and the condemnation of terrorism from whatever quarter for whatever purpose.
Harper's Policies on Foreign affairs should be Canadian Unique NOT USA scripted. He will
find a major Multicultural rebelion on his hands.
Conservatives Ignored Pending Crisis in the Middle East
July 20, 2006
Ottawa – The bungled Lebanese evacuation is a direct result of the Conservative government’s desire to keep warnings of a pending crisis in the Middle East under wraps, Liberal Consular Affairs Critic Dan McTeague said today.
“The Harper government has once again put politics ahead of policy and the people of this country. By ignoring warnings of the pending crisis for political reasons, the government lost a valuable window of opportunity to evacuate Canadians in a timely fashion. This inept interference and ensuing delays have resulted in a badly botched evacuation that has failed Canadians and left them to endure difficult circumstances and unnecessary threats to their safety,” said Mr. McTeague.
According to media reports, Foreign Affairs staff realized an emergency was brewing in the region last week that would affect tens of thousands of Canadians, but an edict handed down from the Prime Minister’s office ordered the situation be kept confidential.
Since the crisis broke, eight Canadians in Lebanon have been killed in the conflict. There have been widespread reports of confusion and inaction at the Canadian embassy and delays in arranging ships to carry people to safety.
Only one of seven chartered vessels managed to collect any Canadians on Wednesday, and only 261 of about 2,000 Canadians who were supposed to have been evacuated in the first wave actually made it out.
Officials in the region attribute the catastrophic delays to the Prime Minister’s centralized command and communications policies dictating all decisions be routed through Ottawa – a practice both impractical and painfully slow due to the six time zones between locations.
“While other countries were already evacuating their citizens on Sunday, the Conservative government spent two days discussing the matter before any calls were made – this inaction is unacceptable, and Canadians still stranded in Lebanon are paying the price,” said Mr. McTeague.
And again from The Liberal Party of Canada :
Liberals Call For A More Balanced Approach from Canada
July 18, 2006
Prime Minister Stephen Harper must move away from his hard-line position on the Middle East crisis in favor of one which enables Canada to maintain its historic role as a bridge builder in the region, Liberal Leader Bill Graham said today.
“We're very concerned about Mr. Harper's change in Canada’s traditional position of working with all sides in the Middle East for long-term peace by being able to work with all sides of the conflict to bring them together and in a dialogue,” Mr. Graham said. “Canada has always been able to act as an intermediary, but we can only serve in that capacity if both our comportment and our actions enable us to play that role.”
Mr. Graham urged Prime Minister Harper to look to the G-8 communique as a starting point for a balanced approach to help all parties in the region come together.
“Israelis have always thanked us for the moderating role we have been able to play,” he said. “Therefore I urge the government not to take actions which will eliminate the possibility to build peaceful coalitions.”
Mr. Graham explained that the government has a responsibility to take into account the larger geopolitical issues in the Middle East when establishing Canadian foreign policy.
“What is presently taking place in Lebanon is destabilizing the possibility of a democratic government there and I think Canada should be expressing a greater concern about that element if, in fact, we want to be able to help Israel and help the region return to peace,” he said.“We will not be able to be helpful in the long run to Israel or to anyone else in the region if we do not recognize the complexity of the factors at play here. “Mr. Harper has to get a better hold on what Canada is trying to achieve.”
Mr. Graham also echoed the concerns of many Canadians that the government has been too slow in evacuating the thousands of Canadian citizens stranded in Lebanon.
Mr. Graham pointed to the fact that Great Britain, France and the United States have already begun the evacuation process, while Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay stated Canadians would not be able to begin exiting Lebanon until mid-week.
“Our officials at Foreign Affairs work around the clock and are dedicated to help people exit the region, but they have to be given the given the facilities and the capacity to act,” he said. “Other countries have moved more quickly to get that capacity. I don’t see why it would be any more difficult for us than for them.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay told reporters yesterday that Canada has been working on an evacuation plan for Canadians in Lebanon for "close to a week," but has kept the planning secret for security reasons.
But for many Canadians in Lebanon, one of the few sources of information is relatives back in Canada.
Many Lebanese-Canadians have expressed frustration that the government chose not to take advantage of these unofficial lines of communications and make details of their plan for evacuating Canadians available to the public as soon as possible.
Liberal Consular Affairs Critic Dan McTeague agreed with this criticism.
“It is unacceptable and a dereliction of responsibility for Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay to talk about an evacuation only after eight Canadians had been killed,” he said.
As Liberals, we are disappointed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to depart from Canada’s traditional role of peace broker and follow U.S. President Bush’s Mideast policy prior to the release of the joint statement by G-8 leaders. But right now Canada’s number one job should be to ensure the safety of Canadians by getting them home as quickly as possible.
Peace can only be obtained on the foundation of respect for the security, well-being and legitimacy of the states and peoples of Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. We must all continue to work toward an end to any government sanctioned incitement to hatred and violence, and the condemnation of terrorism from whatever quarter for whatever purpose.
Harper's Policies on Foreign affairs should be Canadian Unique NOT USA scripted. He will
find a major Multicultural rebelion on his hands.
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