The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
From The Toronto Star Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces a major foreign policy test when the House of Commons resumes sitting Jan. 28. Early in 2008, the Conservatives have to decide whether to soldier on in Afghanistan when CanadaÕs current mission in Kandahar expires a year from now. While Harper would prefer to stay the course, after two years in power he has failed to marshal anything like a consensus in Parliament. Canadians are not persuaded that the good we are doing outweighs the $4 billion cost and 73 lost lives. Nor has Harper succeeded in persuading European allies to shoulder a fairer share of the risks. That leaves Canada carrying a disproportionate burden, as an air of political uncertainty hangs over our commitment. But if Afghanistan is the main issue that needs sorting out in 2008, it is far from the only one. While Harper has promised to be a Òguide to other nations,Ó the Conservatives have not shown the requisite focus or energy. At the United Nations, Canada is gaining a reputation for being a shirker on climate change, erratic on human rights and inactive on nuclear disarmament, three areas where we once proudly led the way. On foreign aid, our performance is shabby, and deteriorating. After promising in Kyoto to lead the global drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Canada is now a laggard. Domestically, HarperÕs green plan imposes no hard caps on industrial offenders. So, our emissions down the road, in 2020, will be higher than in 1990, instead of being deeply cut. And internationally, Canada earned a black eye at the Bali conference on the next stage of action by arguing against the even tougher emission cuts scientists say are needed. And CanadaÕs foreign aid, at about $4.6 billion, is lower than last year as a percentage of our economic output, and is half the UN target. Even on a file that the Conservatives claim to Òown,Ó defence, the governmentÕs vision is suspect. Harper intends to boost the Canadian ForcesÕ budget to $20 billion by 2010, but has yet to deliver the long-awaited Canada First Defence Strategy outlining long-range military thinking. Yet, he has found $20 billion for Arctic patrol craft, supply ships, heavy airlift, tanks and other equipment. These purchases do not rise to the level of a 21st-century defence strategy. If Harper truly aspires to advance ÒCanadaÕs international leadership,Ó he will have to bring more creativity and engagement to the file in 2008 than he has shown thus far.
