Susan Delcourt has provided 10 good reasons why Canada’s U.N. bid failed, and the Irish Times comes up with an 11th that nobody else seems to have thought of--Mexico: specifically ,the 2009 decision to impose a visa requirement on Mexican visitors. This move was allegedly taken to stem the tide of illegal refugees, but served mainly to piss of middle-class tourists from that country, send the already falling number of Mexican visitors to Canada falling further and, now, apparently, incur Mexico's wrath at the United Nations.
Apologists for the government's screw-up on the U.N. bid have spun this as a principled stand against the Muslim hordes, or as a principled stand against the job-killing Kyoto accord. No word from them yet on how screwing over Mexican tourists fits into this grand narrative.
A 12th reason: you cannot take him anywhere.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091119/punjab.htm#2
Didn't Harper also downsize Canada's embassy in Dublin? Perhaps the Irish decided that if Canada wouldn't take them seriously, why should they take Canada seriously.
ReplyDeleteA better 12th reason: the New Government of Canada has repeatedly & demonstrably LIED about being endangered or threatened by other countries -- even its trading partners -- in order to divert attention from or bolster its own bungling policy decisions:
ReplyDeletetwice in the couple of months alone --
when it claimed we had to scramble our jets to prevent the Russian bombers from entering our borders (supposedly "within 55 kilometres of Canadian soil" even though they never entered the 200 mile perimeter, much less our actual air space, and they conduct such mock cat & mouse chases as joint excercises)
www.vancouversun.com/technology/Tories+using+fear+sell+fighter+deal+opposition+charges/3440369/story.html
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/08/06/mark-collins-um-about-that-russian-threat-to-canadian-airspace/
www.nationalpost.com/director+communications+statement+about+Russian+bombers+resembles+Cold/3442739/story.html
www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/08/25/cf-18s-russians-airspace.html
; and,
when it claimed the United Air Emirates turned away Peter MacKay's plane, mid-flight (even tho' they already knew well in advance of taking off that the base would be closed to all Canadian traffic until further notice).
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/uae-disappointed-with-canadian-actions-1.695559