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.
More Positives and Negatives As mentioned last time there are a lot more negatives than positives in politics, but let's start with a positive happening in an increasingly negative world. It is Prime Minister Harper's announcement of more than $30 million in immediate aid to Lebanon. Some may question why, considering that Canada supported Israel in the conflict with Hezbollah, but it is strictly for humanitarian reasons. Canada has received considerable applause for its aid package and positive comments for being wise enough not to volunteer peacekeepers while our troops are fighting terror in Afghanistan. It is questionable if even a large peace force will be able to disarm and neutralize the terror group that really was in control of Southern Lebanon for several years and a constant threat to Israel. The group has its own political party, three cabinet ministers and solid financing from Iran and Persia. There is no indication that Israel expects anything but trouble from Hezbollah in the future, and will remain on a war footing. Three opposition MPs visited Lebanon on a fact-finding mission, and two Ð a Liberal and New Democrat from Toronto (of course) Ð came up with the brilliant suggestion that Hezbollah should be taken off the Canadian terrorist list. Their rationale was that you have to negotiate with them to stop their terror activities as the British did with the IRA. The Bloc MP did not agree, and neither did very many others, including the interim Liberal leader. After all, it was the Liberals who put Hezbollah on the terrorist list. The question is, Do you negotiate with those who want to kill you and innocent civilians? Should we negotiate with Al-Quaeda? After his statements were criticized, the Liberal denied he had said what he was quoted as saying. Sounds like a typical Liberal! There has not been a lot of support from the Canadian public for the Lebanese- Canadians' complaints about their evacuation from the war zone (one even complained about the sandwiches he was given). In fact, quite the opposite. One irate Winnipeg writer "came to the conclusion that Canada is a land of opportunists, not opportunity... no one asked most of these people to go to Lebanon so a free trip back with minor inconveniences is a good deal Ð better than being dead!"He also offered to pay for a trip back to Lebanon for any ingrate who will renounce their Canadian citizenship and pay back the Canadian government for all the free services received. Another prominent writer for a large daily asserts that if someone wants to be a Canadian, "that person should give up citizenship in his birth country." He also asks, "Why should the government be responsible for naturalized citizens who return to live in a dangerous country in which they are also citizens?" He adds that this situation is ludicrous and the citizenship law should be changed before the next crisis. There were of course demonstrations in various cities in Canada by mainly Arab-Canadians against the government policy of supporting Israel. They were generally lightly reported and sparsely attended, but they did include some Lebanese-Canadians who had been rescued. One hilarious scene took place in Winnipeg, where supporters of Israel got there early and took all the best spots at Portage and Main, leaving Hezbollah supporters out of luck. The demonstrations were pretty weak and did not attract many mainstream Canadians, but they did provide CSIS and the RCMP an opportunity to identify demonstrators for possible future investigations. I had a great conversation with a Flin Flon activist about what the future holds for the Mideast and other trouble spots. He speculated that about 50 years from now, the world would need an all-powerful governing body to control all nuclear weapons. They would say to countries like Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, etc.: "You have three choices: 1. Solve your dispute. 2. We will arrange for say, Israel, to vacate the country and immigrate to Canada, the U.S. and Australia, or 3. We will attack with nuclear weapons and vapourize the country." The same hard-nosed approach would be used with other dangerous disputes between nations. Interesting! This is quite different from the "peace at any price" advocated by many in Canada and the United Nations. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
