One is Gordon O'Connor, the defence minister in the news again over Canada's see-no-evil handling of Afghanistan prisoners. The other is Michael Fortier, the unaccountable senator who is also the unaccountable minister of the same big-spending, historically corruption-prone public works department that sheltered the Quebec sponsorship scheme.
It's said that no good political deed goes unpunished. Harper's generosity to a former arms industry lobbyist and loyalty to his former leadership co-chair inflate that axiom from warning to prophesy.
Predictable from the start, O'Connor's troubles would be bad enough if limited to huge new military spending that's already attracted Auditor General Sheila Fraser's close attention. But they are mushrooming to intolerable along with a prisoner controversy that suggests the minister is at best misinformed or at worst negligent.
Along with either misunderstanding or putting a jolly face on Ottawa's suspect arrangement with Kabul, the minister somehow missed that what happened at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq made humane treatment of detainees in Afghanistan a precondition for mission support here at home.
Even if O'Connor doesn't get it, Canadians grasp that our behaviour there is inextricably linked to our declared purpose of advancing human rights, democracy and rule of law.
With the exception of the few still clinging to delusions about how modern conflicts are resolved, most Canadians also understand that the way we treat others is principally about us. It reaffirms our values, declares how we expect our troops to be treated and offers hope to ordinary Afghans that the future won't be just a replay of the past.
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/206311
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 25, 2007]
Note: http://www.thestar.com/...
"New" Government Showing Its Age
Posted on Wednesday, April 25 at 09:43 by 4CanadaContributed By
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I know you feel that you know more than we do and are progressively more and more entitled to a special say. I just think you need a little more practical experience instead of simply ranting all the time.
With that in mind I propose you, your wife, and your daughters, and any sisters you have, volunteer to share accommodations with those assassins of progressive women to make sure that nothing untoward to those poor misunderstood genocidal heroin smuggling killers (ok - farm boys and tourists that got accidentally lost in the middle of an Afghani battlefield). It sounds like they are the ones on your side. We have wronged the worse right wing religious nuts in history, by your own account, by trying to stop cold-blooded murder. Bad! Bad!
A person who either cannot (which I believe to be the case), or will not, admit to their mistakes is no person I want in any position of authority..
A real leader faces their mistakes, and deal with them directly.
All I've seen ever Harper do is run like a whipped dog every time he even comes close to accountability.
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The two most common things in the universe are apparently Hydrogen and stupidity.
You do realize don’t you that the submission wasn’t written by the contributor don’t you?
You selective outrage entirely misses the parts played by the World Bank, IMF, CIA and god knows who all else who played parts on the world stage to bring about what in now before us. Are you by any chance, any chance at all out there attacking various provincial or federal administrations who are cutting funding on women’s centers here in Canada?
Perhaps before you start to single out religious nut you might want to check out that wonderful bunch in Rome.
Selectively choosing one group to slog while ignoring the rest is the mark of not only a poorly educated man but also marks you as an idiot.
Come out here the Brokenagan Valley and I can squire you are to know crack houses or visit Hastings and Main In Vancouver and watch the disposed shoot-up. Next time self righteous prigs as yourself look to stuff outside of Canada to whine about
I want you to remember it is your ignorance that allows our citizens to slip through the cracks.
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"It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities."
—Sir Josiah Stamp
A real leader also has the support of those who are led. Harper climbed into the high chair despite the fact that at least 75% of the people did not vote for him.
directly."
And someone who does not take responsibility for their
mistakes will only continue to make the sames ones
over and over again. Unfortunately, these mistakes are
at the expense of the Canadian people, most of whom
(75%) he DOES NOT represent.
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The two most common things in the universe are apparently Hydrogen and stupidity.