Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird knows some of his government's positions on the world stage are unpopular....
... "We don't develop foreign policy to be popular around the world," he said ...
... Gone is the so-called "soft power" and "human security agenda" of the previous Liberal government ...
... The Canadian military has emerged as a major player in Canadian foreign policy in recent years, bolstered by the fact the Defence Department budget has increased nearly $5.6 billion to $20.3 billion since the Conservative government came into power. [$20B is about double what it was when I left the military.]
... Baird said the government is simply undoing years of damage wreaked by Liberal governments in the 1990s and early 2000s. "The military was gutted for 13 years," he said. ... the government is pre-paring to spend billions on new F-35 fighter jets..
... Baird indicates those who are most critical of Canada's stances aren't likely to be friends anyway. ... "We've taken a tough stand on human rights in some parts of the world, and that makes some people feel very uncomfortable," he said. ...As always it takes a Conservative government to clean up after years of Liberal weakness, neglect and folly. The last time there was any serious boost to defence was under Brian Mulroney and the Harper government has easily surpassed that.
Kudos to Harper, Baird, MacKay, et al.
I couldn't agree more. It is great to see Canada's traditions, values and true identity being restored. I still hope to live long enough to see the mythical Liberal fabrication completely buried, but there is still much damage to be repaired.
ReplyDeletePM Harper is very much respected by political leaders and military leaders around the world. But the media and the opposition parties keep harping on about Canada's status dropping in the world.
ReplyDeleteThis government wouldn't have to face such great expenses on the military today at a time when economy is fragile, had the liberals had done their job properly in providing the military with extensive and proper equipments and decent funding.
ReplyDeleteWhat bugs me is when I hear the opposition parties who some have called our troops 'war crimals' then pretend they care about our troops. Excuse me.
Our soldiers have been sent to Afghanistan by Jean Chretien without debating on the matter first in the HOC. And, for years while our troops were in Afghanistan since 2001-2005, canadians very rarely heard much about them in the news.-not until 2006, did we under this conservative government did we begin to hear see and understand the troops' mission.
Don't get me started on the Afghan detainees tale.
Military provides national security. It also offers opportunities for our young people. I consider it an investment.
ReplyDeleteSecurity begins at home and Canada has a lot of resources coveted by those in other parts of the world.
"Jen" claims opposition parties have called our troops war criminals. Names and dates, please. I say to you this is a despicable fabrication, typical of "blogging Tories" and the Canadian right.
ReplyDeleteDave:
ReplyDeleteJohn McCallum, Ujal Dusange (sp?), Irene Matheyssen
Got more you want em?
Dave, To add detail to Joseph's comment here's the McCallum reference where he said: "... they may have been committing war crimes, handing over detainees knowing that they were very likely to be tortured, that is a war crime ... ".
ReplyDeleteEven former Liberal leader Bill Graham Graham strongly disagreed with Ujjal Dosanjh when he made the same accusations.
Other refs are easy to google - if you really want to know.