Ignatieff has had a busy day of policy announcements, which surely caught most pundits off guard because he so seldom discusses real policy. Generally his press conferences are exhibitions of out of control hyperbole while staying very vague on anything to do with actual tangible policy. He had his standard spiel on being ashamed of Canada, and that we need a foreign policy that Canadians can be proud of. As a matter fact Mr. Ignatieff, I have been very proud of the role Canada has been playing internationally under the leadership of Stephen Harper.
I do agree that we should maintain a presence in Afghanistan after 2011. At least that much Iggy and I agree on. I'm not sure how the Dippers are going to feel about that one. But I strongly disagree that we need a massive foreign policy overhaul, including creating a slew of new diplomatic posts and assignments. I disagree that more bureaucrats is the solution to any problem. I also disagree that building abortion clinics in Africa is the most effective means of spending the money that has been set aside to save lives. If your goal is reducing mortality rates, there is a much more effective way to spend the money.
Me thinks Iggy is putting out policy to scare away Dippers or call out Side Show Bob as opposed to countering Tory policy.
ReplyDelete<-----HAHA!Most folks chose Mr Bean!LMAO!
ReplyDeleteJoshua
Iggy might be a terrible leader and politician with some really bad ideas about domestic policy, but I do have to give him credit for having a larger vision for Canadian foreign policy. Anyone who works in International Relations knows that beyond War in Afghanistan, Canada has very little say in world affairs. Sadly, our influence in Afghanistan will end in 2012. Other countries don't come to us when making decisions or even think about us. The fact is, Canada has always been an inward-looking country since our founding, thanks to having our foreign policy needs handled by the UK and US. For a country with as many resources and as much wealth as Canada, we aren't exerting our influence to its fullest extent. Harper has taken some principled positions but he has done very little to actually expand Canada's influence to its fullest capacity. Its a tragedy that Ignatieff did not join the Conservative caucus because both he and Harper are foreign policy realists.
ReplyDeleteMr. Iffy Bean should travel to all the North African Muslim countries this summer to see if Can-abort-ada can set up clinics and as well, how about some same sex counseling (the ultimate in birth control)clinics.
ReplyDeleteHow practical will it be for Canadian Military Officers (French/English) to instruct academics to an Afghan Military Officer who cannot speak any one of Canada's official languages.
ReplyDeleteI did like the way the Nat Post's John Ivison described this announcement set: "bumper sticker" policy.
ReplyDeleteThe major problem with these announcements is that you get the impression that they were created in the Liberal back room with little to no input whatsoever from the Waffle. There's no plank that you could point to and say, "no way Bob Rae could have come up with that one."