Beyond The Commons

Beyond The Commons

Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Let us storm the beaches of Sudan, Iran and Guantanamo

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 11:13am - 10 Comments

Apropos of all sorts of things, here is Stephen Harper’s answer to a National Post questionnaire in 2004 that asked “What have we learned from the William Sampson affair?”

Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance: “We’ve learned that “soft power” doesn’t work when dealing with regimes that only understand hard power. Liberals cling to this doctrine, but in practice it has failed time and again. The highest duty of government is the protection of its citizens. Canada must ensure consequences when foreign governments torture or kill our people.”

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  • http://intensedebate.com/people/mrgenier mrgenier

    gotta love when harper the economist tries to demonstrate any knowledge outside economics. And even thats not very admiring.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

      A negative reputation score? It must be your sunny disposition.

  • Wayne

    Pretty well sums it up and right on point!

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Nich Nich

      So you are in favour of invading Sudan, Iran and Guantanamo?

      That is just crazy, Straw Man.

  • John W.

    So that leaves the question. Will he really pull out of Afghan in 2011?

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/hardmouth hardmouth

    "The highest duty of government is the protection of its citizens. Canada must ensure consequences when foreign governments torture or kill our people.”

    hahahhah. bhahahAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHahhaa haaaha. phew.

    http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/15/harper-…

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/edit…

    http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Canada+reject…

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/PhilCP PhilCP

      Pointing out apparent contradictions between recent actions and somewhat recent statements is fair game; you could call it a form of political accountability. But your examples are not all equally valid.

      The Abdelrazik case (the second link) provides a strong example of contradiction between statement and action, while the other two cases are not at all as clear cut. In those cases Harper has taken the defensible position that Canada will not intervene in situations where Canadians have (had) access to a fair trial.

      You may not agree with the merits of that distinction but it does put those two contradictions in a different light than the Abdelrazik case.

  • zamprelli

    Don't forget the beaches of Montana.

  • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

    "Canada must ensure consequences when foreign governments torture or kill our people.”

    Harper was correct in 2004. Too bad that Harper no longer exists.

    • Kevin

      You're right. That Harper was only just visiting.

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