Harper's Showing Disappoints

Bush rejected his two main requests: that the U.S. concede Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters and that it drop the proposed passport requirement for Canadians crossing the land border. I happen not to share the national angst over passports. Every Canadian citizen ought to have one to help reduce cross-border delays, which besides inconveniencing travellers cost business billions. The North American Competitive Council, the big business lobby, wants a hassle-free border and greater standardization. Fine, but not just to create bigger corporate profits and shed some more jobs. The challenge is to compete with a resurgent Europe (Britain and Germany, especially), and booming India and China. Their economies are creating jobs, reducing poverty and expanding the middle class, while ours is doing the opposite. Travelling there, you cannot help but notice how upbeat they are, while we are becoming increasingly morose. None of this was on the Montebello menu. As for the two other issues that Canadians wanted raised, Harper didn't – gun trafficking ("more than half of gun crimes committed in Canada's major cities are with guns smuggled from the U.S.," Dion said), and the fate of terror suspect Omar Khadr held by the U.S. at the naval detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Whether Khadr is a good guy or bad is irrelevant. The issue is one of upholding Canadian values. Do we stand up for a fellow citizen? Do we believe in the rule of law? Do we raise our voices against cruel and unusual punishment? http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/249031 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 24, 2007]

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