Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Blaming Ignatieff for UN failure is the most pathetic Harper ploy ever

Let me get this straight.The Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and various diplomats performed a full court press to try and avoid the embarrassment of losing out to Portugal in a vote for what has traditionally been a Canadian turn on the Security Council.  They applied all of the diplomatic resources available to them.  They made speeches to the U.N. General Assembly.  They begged.  They pleaded.  And the Leader of the Official Opposition made a few comments such as:

"This is a government that for four years has basically ignored the United Nations and now is suddenly showing up saying, 'Hey, put us on the council,'" he said.

"Don't mistake me. I know how important it is for Canada to get a seat on the Security Council, but Canadians have to ask a tough question: 'Has this government earned that place?' We're not convinced it has."

And this was the reason we lost the vote?  It is possible to draw a conclusion from this.  By the Conservatives own words, it is evident that Ignatieff has more standing and respect on the world stage than Harper and his entire ministers and all the weight of the Canadian diplomatic apparatus.  Ignatieff has the ear of the world.  The Conservatives  should, by a logical extension, step aside and let a Leader take over.
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2 comments:

Beijing York said...

CBC asked a number of UN diplomats if they had heard any of the statements made by Ignatieff. "Who?" would have been funny but nonetheless, a resounding "No" was their answer.

Brad Dillman said...

But, isn't it hard to say which Harper ploy is the MOST pathetic? If it were me, I'd try one of those "bracket" charts like they use for American basketball in March. Could be fun.