Posted on 11/07/2015 6:07:09 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
A week after he was elected prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau visited a church in Toronto to attend the funeral of a friend and national hero: Ken Taylor, the Canadian diplomat who, as ambassador to Iran during the hostage crisis, worked with the CIA to help six U.S. Embassy employees escape the country in 1980. Most Americans learned of the ruse from Ben Affleck’s 2012 film “Argo,†but in Canada, it has long been celebrated as the “Canadian Caper.†“It was a very Canadian thing to do,†eulogized Joe Clark, who was prime minister at the time of the rescue. “We acted on principle, we acted in friendship, and we acted quietly, professionally.â€
When I interviewed Trudeau on the campaign trail earlier this year, he brought up Taylor’s gambit as an example of what Canada can do as a country that shares the United States’ values but not its low approval rating. It is “actually very helpful†that Canadians and Americans are perceived so differently, he said, “because there are places in the world where, for historical or ideological or other reasons, Americans are less than welcome.†In those no-go zones, Canada can score small victories.
Stephen Harper, the nine-year incumbent whom Trudeau just dethroned, had a more muscular vision for Canada’s role abroad. He told Vladimir Putin at a G-20 summit in November 2014 to “get out of Ukraine†and later sent Canadian military advisers to train Ukrainian troops. In the Middle East, he contributed fighter jets to the U.S.-led bombing campaigns in Libya in 2011 and Iraq beginning last year. These were odd moves for a country that spends less on defense than any other member of the G-7, and they never accomplished much.
After taking office this past week, Trudeau is now free to implement his retiring, helper-like foreign policy. It is a much meeker role — and exactly the right fit for Canada.
It’s an understandable role for a country 1/10th the population spread out across our northern border. In Florida we have lots of Canadians visiting in the winter. Great people. We all know governments right now suck. So let’s chill out, calm down, relax, take a deep breath. We have the same cultural roots, the same basic laws, and are “sibling” nations from the same mother country, Great Britain. And this November 11 we are, together, commemorating a shared event: Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, Veterans Day - the end of the Great War and the loss of so many young men, and of the loss of lives in wars since.
Canada is like us. Half of the country are batsh#t crazy leftists.
Up in Canada, half = 90%.
“Canada Sucks”
Fortunately your opinion and what is fact are entirely two different things.
The author is a Liberal, seeking to discredit the foreign policy of the deposed Conservative Prime Minister Harper. Part of the Liberal meme has been that Harper achieved little because he was out of step with world Progressivism. The author treats us to an extra helping of this bilge.
How about: “Canada’s government sucks”? Most Canadians I have met were good people, but then they were from western provinces and hate easterners just like western Americans hate the east coast types.
I’ve always felt welcome traveling in Canada. Business in Toronto, fun at the Stampede a couple of times, and traveling up to Thunder Bay (eh?)
There’s a secret open pit mine near Thunder Bay that’s worth a visit by Yanks who’ve never seen it.
Exactly!
I had a similar experience last summer up there. I had a political conversation a young chick from Alberta, very conservative. We talked about socialism, she knows it robs those that work, destroys good jobs and creates dependency. Just about everyone I ran into seemed “normal”.
So yes, the people are good, but their government has much in common with ours, they both suck.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.