Aug. 2, 2006: Cdn. wishful thinking, "neutrality", Deh Cho

Canada's contribution is wishful thinking -- MacKay is neither Peter the Great nor the Invisible Minister , Don Martin, National Post, August 02, 2006
www.canada.com/nationalpost/news
/story.html?id=7ae39bcd-fbbf-436e-a5bf-3300cb780c6e

the foreign affairs committee ... still debating [....]

But this much was clear -- if this footdragging committee was charged with deciding Canada's role in the conflict, it would still be debating which cruise ship had the right-sized swimming pool for the first Lebanon evacuation attempt and Harper's plane would still be waiting in Cyprus for his ship to come in.

MPs droned on for hours with a laughable seriousness that suggested they believed they were choosing the path for a nation with the clout to ease a crisis that defies resolution. [....]

Canadian neutrality a myth -- historians: Mideast stance NatPost, Aug. 2, 06
www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost
/story.html?id=49a0fcdf-68ba-4349-afa3-3e8e24d79409&k=41820

[....] As far as our track record in the region goes, Canadians have a skewed perception, he added. "I think Canadians are as uninformed about [this] as they are about the Canadian peacekeeping role ... [They think] we don't take sides, we put on blue helmets and we go make nice, nice," he said.

Mr. Harvey [Frank Harvey director of foreign policy studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax] dismissed the notion of Middle East neutrality altogether.

"What would neutrality look like?" he said. "You either support a set of policies that are clearly in opposition to one side or support a set of policies that oppose the objectives of the other .... There's no such thing [as neutrality] in the Middle East." [....]

There is mention of the teaching of history in Canada, also.



Deh Cho declines share of multi-billion dollar MacKenzie Valley Pipeline Financial Post, August 02, 2006
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost
/story.html?id=b212f9f7-b43e-4bdc-acf3-947e3a47b647

What do the Deh Cho want? Just a thought ... Have they been encouraged to block the pipeline until the political party which buys their loyalty and their votes returns to its rightful position ... standing for nothing but being re-elected year after leftist year using taxpayer dollars? Is that too cynical. Well, gee ... why would I be cynical?

Boo extremism, hooray free speech Stephen Taylor, Aug. 1, 06
www.stephentaylor.ca/archives/000640.html

We must marginalize extreme opinion where we can, but we must also engage it as fellow conservatives (and Canadians) that disagree.