Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Trudeau's first big test - G20-style

#cdnpoli . I have been watching intently how newly-minted Justin Trudeau has been conducting himself and his words at the G20. 


I'm conflicted on whether it is appropriate for him to have G20 bureau-gawkers take selfies with him, but at the same time, he is connecting with people from around the world.  This brings emotion, which is not such a bad thing.  The attacks against him saying he wasn't at the big boys' table but instead having these photos taken is not true. 


He did, in fact, speak with President Obama, and then Vladimir Putin as well, where I was most impressed with his confronting him on telling the Russian President to cease operations in Ukraine and vehemently showing Canada's support of that country.  That puts to rest those Internet memes about not being able to do that.


On whether Canada should continue bombing ISIL using the old and decrepit CF-18 fighter jets is another matter.  Few know that the bombing will continue until March 2016.  Honestly, wouldn't that be enough?  Along with France, the U.S., and Russia, being involved there, does Canada really need to be doing the bombing?


I also liked his comment that our national security approach already in motion isn't going to change and ramp up further because of the Paris terrorist attacks.  Remember that the Liberals in opposition were in support of Bill C51 on security, but they appear to be wanting to amend it.


But to continue to support the coalition war on ISIL, Trudeau has now pledged ground forces to help train Northern Iraqis to defeat ISIL.  I'm not so sure about this being effective, as many ISIL members are former Iraqi and Syrian forces themselves, but it still keeps Canada "at the big boys table".


On the Trudeau government wanting to process 25,000 Syrian refugees by January 1st is a very tall order and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has asked the Prime Minister to hold off on that while Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said her province can take in a few thousand.


It is easy to cut off refugees when the allegations against them are that these terrorists were among those fleeing Syria.  From what I've read, this is not true and the terrorists' passports were fake, but were instead from Europe, one particularly from Belgium.  So, my knee-jerk approach will not give-in to fear here.  The refugees are fleeing from these very terrorists.


And of course there are the usual ignorant masses who blame Islam in general for these terrorists.  For terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIL, they constitute less than 0.01% of all Muslims.  So put your broadstroke back in your pocket and note the countless Islamic groups and Imams who have condemned these attacks.   And don't ever forget the hundreds of thousands of Muslims who have been killed by terrorist attacks either.


For Trudeau, Canada appears to be returning to the usual Liberal middle-power approach on international issues.  This means we are not going to be necessarily leading as much as it did with Harper, who, despite the campaign b.s., garnered much reputation for Canada as it continued to try and punch above its weight as was remembered during the World Wars and the Korea War.


I think Canadians can live with us being somewhat participatory in fighting ISIL, but not full-out like France is now engaged in.


But would that change if the unthinkable happened?







8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are You a Blogging Tory?? I think NOT Komarade..
JoeFrmEdm

ward said...

Middle power? That's libspeak for corrupt self interest. Sorry but this is a pathetic attempt at spin.

Mike B. said...

Canada under Liberals have traditionally played a middle power role in foreign relations. Everyone knows that. Not spinning anything. Just stating what I see without partisan blinders on. You should try it sometime. I've also been a Blogging Tory since 2006 and was on Harper's first leadership campaigns.

Anonymous said...

I see that some Conservatives have developed a "purity test" similar to the Tea Party in the U.S, deciding who is or isn't conservative enough. Those found lacking are insulted and derided.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like someone wants a selfie.

Bugs said...

There's a difference between being a middle power, and simply holding the coats for the combatants, passing out sandwiches to refugees, and all of that. There was a time when peace-keeping was a valuable contribution, but that hasn't been true since the Croatian-Serb battles. It didn't work there, and it didn't work in Rwanda.

It's ideological to say there are no risks in accepting a large number of Syrian refugees in a short period of time. Hatrock's figures are wrong. A survey of the migrant flow into Europe shows that easily a third of the migrants support ISIS. Germany is committed to accepting 800,000 in this year alone. Many of the migrants are 'economic migrants', lone males with cell phones and big plans, not whole families desperate to escape the ravages of war.

If 1% of 25,000 Syrian immigrants (without papers) are jihadis, we would have an additional 250 of them in the country. It deserves some frank talk.

Anonymous said...

"Sounds like someone wants a selfie"

Like I said.

Alain said...

What they Liberals call playing the middle non partisan role in foreign affairs has always been moral relativism. Holding the rapist and the rape victim equally responsible is what this has amounted to. The new Liberal government has demonstrated that it is even more morally corrupt that previous ones. The examples are numerous. Trudeau disagreed with calling customs such as honour-killing barbaric. He and his party see no problem with hiding behind a mask when taking the oath of citizenship, even though Muslim countries do not allow such things. They cannot bring themselves to call a spade a spade such as the latest example of Islamic terrorism in Paris. Oh, and they have vowed to do away with the requirement for Indian band councils to post their "salaries" and benefits for the public to see, which by the way means also the band members themselves.

I won't even go into the insanity of accepting 25,000 so-called refugees as Bugs has addressed that.