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September 29, 2006

Harper takes a Stand: Blocks Resolution

Any pretence of Canada being the world's smiley little cousin just got dropped, as Harper takes a stand and puts the world on notice that Canada has shed its limpid mealy-mouthed persona of the liberal era. CLICK

More at Cjunk

Update: Harper forces NEW Resolution

Canada was the only country that opposed the original resolution.

Harper said Canada deplored the war but couldn't accept a resolution that didn't acknowledge that Israelis had also suffered.

"I hope we can all recognize the suffering of humans -- men and women -- and not just suffering based on people's nationality,'' Harper said.

Posted by Cjunk at September 29, 2006 11:28 AM
Comments

Go Steve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That my friends is Leadership!

Posted by: Zip at September 29, 2006 11:43 AM

The principled leadership we're finally seeing from a Canadian Government is giving me shivers down the spine. Who would have thought it: a principled stand, from a Canadian PM. Gimme more of that scary agenda Stephen.

Posted by: Caveman at September 29, 2006 11:56 AM

From a prominent Liberal;

"Stephen Harper is one of the most impressive politicians around",.. Warren Kinsella.

More of us should be LESS Ideological and more Nation/economy builders,... like Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In my opinion, examples of pure ideology/politics;

Sponsorship Program
Terrorist Opologists
Multiculturalism
Kyoto
Billion $$ CBC subsidy
Policies that reward failure (Criminal rights)


Posted by: B. HOAX AWARE at September 29, 2006 11:57 AM

Thank God, finally we have a primeminister instead of a crimeminster. One this country can be proud of instead of some mud pumping, sewer sucking liebral! Aka, marin, cretch, trudo!

Posted by: bygeorge at September 29, 2006 12:01 PM

Finally a PM I can respect, what a change

Posted by: Larry at September 29, 2006 12:03 PM

I've got to go with Kinsella and everyone else so far. It's nice to hear what my Prime Minister is doing and it have the effect of making me stand a bit straighter and pull my shoulders back. For so long the actions of Canada's Prime Ministers were like body blows, one after the other.

Go Mr. Harper!!

Posted by: Pat at September 29, 2006 12:07 PM

Ya just gotta luv it, eh. Not the fact the PMSH stood up to the arrogant pompous French speaking countries but the coverage the MSM gives it.

CTV: States that Harper blocked the resolution but in a final anchor desk comment says " no doubt there will be fallout over this".

CBC: Bless their hearts, says that the resolution was blocked by some countries, including Canada. That gives me the image of PM Harper jumping on the band wagon and saying "me too".

So what to believe? Judging by what I have seen of the new government, I'd say that Canada stood up for what is right and didn't follow the gagle.

So way to go M. Harper (Lord & Charest aussi).

Posted by: Texas Canuck at September 29, 2006 12:08 PM

Maybe he will back his words with action by freezing off immigration from Pakistan until Musharraf decides he is going to work with us instead of our enemies.

Now that would be a definative action that send a message that Canada's days as a simpering pushover and dumping ground for the 3rd world's political problems are done.

Posted by: WL Mackenzie Redux at September 29, 2006 12:21 PM

wanna bet Jacques Chirac hacked a 20 pound furball when Harper didn't rollover and go along with the rest of the French world ? Sweet !!

Go screw yourself Chirac . . . Harper has the morality to do the right thing thay you so obviously lack.

Go Steve go . . . just gottta luv ya for doing the right thing.

Posted by: Fred at September 29, 2006 12:32 PM

Whoa, Fred. As I understand it, Chirac broke the logjam when he came out in support of PMSH's revised wording of the resolution.

I surely dislike Chirac but let's give him a bit of credit for this one. It likely won't happen again.

Posted by: BCer at September 29, 2006 12:41 PM

Goddamm, this is one more thing that is making me proud.
Evil triumphs when good men do nothing. Finally Canada on the world stage not just talking but following through.
enough

Posted by: enough at September 29, 2006 12:44 PM

Bravo! Prime Minister Harper

Posted by: Robert in Calgary at September 29, 2006 12:52 PM

it appears the MSM has resigned itself to the fact mr harper isn't going away.

mr martinet however, DID go away and good riddance. 'crimeminister' LOL !!!

Posted by: t. schmuck esq. at September 29, 2006 1:03 PM

Thank you, Prime Minister! Finally, finally....some intelligent leadership in Canada, something that has been sorely lacking for a very long time! And, considering the dangerous situations in the world, and the need for Canada and Canadians to wake up and shed the misguided naivity and delusional policies foisted upon us by the last two Liberal PM's, it's not a moment too soon.

Posted by: Teddy at September 29, 2006 1:06 PM

So is this what Priministers are supposed to do?
I don't have any experience with leadership from priministers, as I'm only 45 years old and lived all my life in Canada.

This is great.
Kick ass, Steve!

Posted by: richfisher at September 29, 2006 1:07 PM

Richfisher. I'm still laughing, as sad and true as it is.

Pat

Posted by: Pat at September 29, 2006 1:23 PM

By simple decent attention to principle we have a cogent request that the Francophonie recognize BOTH Lebananese and Israeli civilian casualties.

That the Lebanese should find this earth shattering; with Nasrallah continuing to spout off that they won't relenquish their further 20,000 missiles?

So much for the UN resolution to disarm subnational militias.

Well thank God for 'my friend Steve'.

Posted by: Hans Rupprecht at September 29, 2006 1:25 PM

I just read the CTV's article on this and felt so strongly about their coverage that I had to provide feed back to the editor.

Your web page story was informative but on the other hand your video story (TV) was terrible. Where is your support of our Prime Minister? PM Harper is standing up for the right thing to do but all you guys can do is say "lets wait for the fall out."
Finally we have a man in charge of Canada that makes a decision and stands by it no matter what. We haven't seen that in Canada in a very long time. Your Liberal/socialist bias is all to clear and you do not speak for Canada. You have a duty to this country to report the news not spin it.
Times are changing and if our national news outlets don't change/evolve then you will not have an audience to spin your bias to.
A man standing up for the right thing to do and you gut didn't even see it. Sad.
(I don't expect to get a reply)

Posted by: Carter at September 29, 2006 1:31 PM

Taliban Jack and his band of misfits wanted balance and nuance. Well they got it today in Romania. PM Harper demonstrated real leadership. While CBC reported other countries didn't like the resolution initially it was Harper and Charest who held up the meeting and would not agree to the resolution as originally drafted. We may be a small country but we have a powerful leader who is not afraid to take a stand at home and on the international scene. Of course, Martin was afraid of his own shadow and probably would have gone alone with the lopsided resolution first proposed. If Canadians would just look at what Harper is doing and not fall back on ideolgoy they would see this government is far and away better than the previous Liberal governments of Martin and Chretien.

Posted by: hollinm at September 29, 2006 1:34 PM

I have been saying for along time now that Stephen Harper is emerging on the world stage as a world leader.
I now believe that he has emerged on the world stage and is a world leader.

Posted by: bryanr at September 29, 2006 2:04 PM

Right about now, Chretien should be getting ready to drive la golfe balls with da 5 iron.

Posted by: Black Jacques Shellac at September 29, 2006 2:19 PM

What is this weird feeling? I think I'm starting to be proud of our government. The Conservatives are showing leadership at home and on the world stage.

The Canadian government is no longer a stooge of politically correct, elitist interest groups (lookout CBC), tin horn terrorizing dictatorships, or feel good socialist countries.

The only disturbing thing about all of this, is that despite an incredibly awesome showing at running the country and responsibility to all Canadians (as opposed to bottom feeding parasites that live off of government funding, people truly in need excluded) the Conservatives are still low in the polls. Are these polls accurate or are Canadians really that politically ignorant?

Hopefully through the blogoshpere Canadians will slowly come around to voting for a government that we can all be proud of, and once again Canada might be looked at as a country that has high moral standing.

Posted by: johnboy at September 29, 2006 2:27 PM

"Black Jacques Shellac" Chirac in Iraq.

Mars attack.

Posted by: Jack Nicholson at September 29, 2006 2:30 PM

CTV(tass) had it but CBCpravda hasnt reported anything at all. used to be that liberal attended francophone conferences would make all the headlines.starting with pictures of PMPM and Chirac laughing it up over huge dinners and lots of whine.

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Posted by: cal2 at September 29, 2006 2:34 PM

CBC ignores it; but the G&M has an article about Harper taking a stand - finally supported by Chirac.

They also have another article, explaining that Chirac is praising Harper, both for his work and his 'command of French'. Hmmm. I wouldn't trust Chirac for a nanosecond. He's a crony of Chretien; he's a Gaullist, with dreams of France being head of Eurabia.

I read in some online paper, I can't remember which one (Toronto Star, NP, G&M) that Harper and Charest had 'fallen out'- what nonsense. The reasons given was that Harper had come into the room and then, Charest had come in only three minutes later; rather than both together. Now, if that's the empirical evidence for such a conclusion, then the author is Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

As for the Toronto Support the Troops Rally, so far, not a peep in any online newspaper or TV. Nothing.
And the Toronto Sun was the only one promoting it.

Posted by: ET at September 29, 2006 3:12 PM

Yeah baby. Diplomadelic!

Posted by: Wimpy Canadian at September 29, 2006 3:38 PM

Good on Harper for having some balls.

However, as johnboy pointed out, conservative polling numbers are not the greatest. I think a big reason for this is because many Canadians see Harper as Bush's bitch. For all the tough talk at home and abroad, none is ever aimed at the US. And it doesn't really help us anyway. As an example, the sell out on softwood lumber didn't really help with the passport issue. Canadians understand that the US is our best friend...we just don't need to lick their boots all the time. If this doesn't change then the Conservatives will have a hard time getting a majority in the next election.

Posted by: lberia at September 29, 2006 4:17 PM

"Bush's bitch", in deed and action. Some bitch.

Go bitch. ...-


Chirac lauds Harper's peace pitch
'We were all blown away by your speech'
DANIEL LEBLANC

From Friday's Globe and Mail

BUCHAREST — Prime Minister Stephen Harper appealed to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie yesterday to work harder to bring stability and democracy to the world's trouble spots, pointing to Canada's own interventions in Haiti, Afghanistan and Sudan and drawing praise from French President Jacques Chirac for his speech and his command of the French language.
......
French President Jacques Chirac praised Mr. Harper's maiden appearance before the group.

"The reviews are coming in and we were all blown away by your speech and your French," Mr. Chirac said of the Prime Minister's 10-minute effort in his second language. ...-
(from voy forums)

Posted by: maz2 at September 29, 2006 4:44 PM

Holy, Courageous Canuck batman!! A Prime Minister who doesn't hesitate to back Israel.

Israel being the only Liberal democracy in the Middle East that respects women's rights and doesn't clip off clitoris' at the rate of toenails, I'm glad we have a Prime Minister with the courage to back them up.

Posted by: jane at September 29, 2006 4:49 PM

Da proof is da proof. This is what a first rate Prime Minister looks like. From an inarticulate, do nothing, thug to a man of purpose, courage, action, and vision in less than three years. Never despair.

Posted by: Terry Gain at September 29, 2006 5:58 PM

A Liberal salutes Prime Minister Harper.

Patriotism can transcend partisan politics. ...-

September 29, 2006 - Not as a Liberal, nor as a partisan, but simply as a Canadian, I am so proud of this tough and principled stand taken by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Francophonie Summit. Both sides suffered in this conflict, and Canada was the only country that opposed the original resolution in consideration of this fact. This is what Harper said about his position:

"I hope we can all recognize the suffering of humans - men and women - and not just suffering based on people's nationality."

Very hard to argue with a statement that makes so much sense. ...-
tdh strategies

Posted by: maz2 at September 29, 2006 6:45 PM

My suprise meter has busted finnaly.

I don't know what we did right, to deserve a Prime Minister this principled of as man. Now running this Nation . I thank God for it.

Brings Pride back to our shores & as a people.

Posted by: Revnant Dream at September 29, 2006 6:51 PM

Liberals will be falling over themselves to praise Mr. Harper's insistence on a balanced approach to this one-sided declaration.

Posted by: Richard Ball at September 29, 2006 7:26 PM

Boy I've never seen so many uninformed people yapping about the samething...

Israel is the aggressor, When was the last time you heard of the group jews against Israel? or about the huge peace marches in Israel.

Maybe your readers should get educated about the facts before they throw thier lot in with the Nazi's

Thats right Nazi's hiding as Jews!

Sheep following thier master to slaughter.

Your group made it possible for the Bush administration to cancel peoples rights.
``Habeas corpus" is the legal mechanism that gives people the right to ask federal courts to review their imprisonment.

But why would someone want to do that?

If they arrest you your guilty!

Posted by: neutralsam at September 29, 2006 8:03 PM

"I hope we can all recognize the suffering of humans - men and women - and not just suffering based on people's nationality."

Sorry for the rerun, but i had to post that line again. I found it inspiring when i heard our prime minister say it, and I figured it might serve to freshen the air after the Israel = nazi idiot drooling.

Posted by: dean juke at September 29, 2006 8:19 PM

Bravo, Prime Minister Stephen Harper! You've done Canada proud. You are an honest man of principle and we are fortunate to have a man like you leading our country at a time when moral pygmies have been littering the leadership landscape.

And that Chirac. What a bad actor he is, gutteral grumblings and all. Yesterday's leader.

Posted by: 'been around the block at September 29, 2006 8:46 PM

Finally .... a Prime Minister I can be proud of.

Posted by: Nana at September 29, 2006 8:56 PM

GOD BLESS PMSH!!

Posted by: sumbuddy at September 29, 2006 9:06 PM

I love having a prime minister who is principled and not afraid to take a stand, even though it might be unpopular in the "weak" crowd he is a part of.

Lucky Canada for getting a fine fine man for Prime Minister.

Now we need a majority for him to get the country really going, and to finally show the mixed up Liberals/NDP what kind of a country Canada really is.

It's not the one they think that it is.

God bless Canada, and God bless Stephen Harper.

Posted by: anonymous at September 29, 2006 10:47 PM

PMSH's French is not as great as Chirac's suggests it is(having listened to his full responses) but he is rapidly improving. Nevertheless, those suggesting that his testicles are as good as Chirac's need to give their head a shake.

Canadians have definite values. PMSH is defending our values on the world scene.

Thank You. Right Honourable Stephen Harper!

Posted by: Fergy at September 29, 2006 11:34 PM

The suprised look on some faces and angry looks on others was priceless. I can imagine many were asking, WHAT HAPPENED TO CANADA'S WIMPS.

Posted by: mary at September 30, 2006 1:45 AM

Did Canada stumble into the leadership of a principled and honorable man? With real beliefs and values? Who says what he means and means what he says? A leader?

On behalf of this free man: Canada, congratulations and thank you.

Posted by: Tom Penn at September 30, 2006 3:26 AM

There surely cannot be a TRUE Canadian of any political bent who isn't proud of Harper's performance as PM thus far.
At long last our Canadian values are being made known to the World.

Posted by: Liz J at September 30, 2006 8:41 AM

"Progressive bloggers" says:


Steve Shows His Temper Today

He walked out... at an international meeting... then returned to veto...

The national post does not show the film coverage but CTV did today during supper news... and Steve was fuming and shaken.

Steve, how does showing your temper help Canada's international reputation?

Posted by: maz2 at September 30, 2006 9:02 AM

The rest of the Francophonies should be hanging their heads in shame. Are they truly that stupid or hateful that they need to have it pointed that the Israeli's suffered in the war as well?
Are they that pathetic that they couldn't see it for themselves?
Most likely they were fully aware of their bias.
If this is the best the francophonies can come up with, we should pull out and cancel the upcoming conference in Canada.
It's nice to see Harper take his belt off and straighten them out on a few things.

What a bunch of scumbags.

Posted by: Stan at September 30, 2006 11:07 AM

media bias... what media bias??? Allan Woods of CanWest News Service just couldn't resist editorializing in today's National Post piece. Check out this little opinion gem stuck in the middle of the article

"...But it also served to strengthen Ottawa's already staunch pro-Israel position and bring the Harper government sharper into line with the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush."

This should become the new drinking game - everytime a Canadian "journalist" uses the GWB comparison while discussing the Harper government. I'd probably need a liver transplant by now.

Posted by: John Brown at September 30, 2006 1:11 PM

The Alberta Aardvark says:

This bit from a comment left on Chuckers blog made me laugh and spoke volumes.

"What Harper did today was, regardless of the MSM best efforts to play it low key as possible without looking conspiratorial, remarkable.

He stood top representatives of 52 other nations on their ears and made it stick.

On his best day Paul Martin couldn't stick a wad of gum to the underside of his office desk."

H/T:
http://thealbertaardvark.blogspot.com/2006/09/from-anthill-sept-29th.html

Posted by: maz2 at September 30, 2006 4:47 PM

Very impressive what Harper did at the Francophonie Conference. He schooled every nation there as to what a fair and unbiased Resolution must be to pass the test of rational thought. It is shameful to our country that our national news networks are not giving this man the credit that he deserves.

Posted by: Mark M at September 30, 2006 8:17 PM

Very impressive what Harper did at the Francophonie Conference. He schooled every nation there as to what a fair and unbiased Resolution must be to pass the test of rational thought. It is shameful to our country that our national news networks are not giving this man the credit that he deserves.

Posted by: Mark M at September 30, 2006 8:26 PM

Another point about Israel and the "Francophonie" is worth discussing. From a 1995 poll, French is the mother tongue of 6% of Israeli, and 22% speak it (over 1 Million people). That's more than the Franco-Ontarians or the Acadians.

Yet, Israel has never been invited into the "Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie", and never will.

Instead, they are proud to count as member Equatorial Guinea (about 500 francophones), Albania (they don't talk to anybody, so nobody knows) and Vietnam (0.2% francophones). New Brunswick has a seat, not Ontario.

This bi-yearly farce has little to do with French. It is mainly another occasion for anti-Americans to show the world how everyone hates Bush and his friend Israel. This time, thanks to Harper, it did not work as planned.

Posted by: Joaquim R at September 30, 2006 10:53 PM

Regarding the above comments about MSM coverage - it is typical of Stockholm Syndrome. I think the media in Canada is so tied to the Liberals for so long that they have been trained to say anything favourable to Liberal causes - no matter what the issue - to maintain contacts for fear of being denied access to 'news'.

On the other hand, the MSM may be nothing more than a bunch of socialist left wing wingnuts with an idealogical bent that the gov can solve all our problems and really resent someone saying otherwise.

All I can say is thank God for Steven Harper - he is taking a stand on issues locally and on the world stage. The left in this country are being exposed for the mealy mouthed do nothings they really are. They figure a problem is solved if they throw a billion dollars at it with no accounting or accountability.

They stand for nothing and will fall for anything. I don't think they really care about the welfare of our country.

The MSM in this country should realize and soon that they are not the sole repositors of information they used to be - many people have more than TV & radio. Grandma's have PC's so they can share pictures of grandkids and the like. They are also surfing.....

Sorry for my diatribe, but I get so pissed off when the Canadian MSM downplays an important foreign policy statement by our PM because it doesn't agree with 'liberal straddle the fence we are neutral' bullshit.

Posted by: Leda at October 1, 2006 4:15 AM

Here is a good example of biased editing on the same story by Allan Woods on Saturday, September 30:

National Post:
PM makes stand for Israel at summit.
Vetoes statement of Francophonie on Lebanese victims of war.
By Allan Woods
BUCHAREST - Stephen Harper blocked a last-day statement at.........

Winnipeg Free Press:
Harper's stand triggers furor.
Uses veto power at Francophonie summit.
By Allan Woods
BUCHAREST - Prime Minister Stephen Harper sparked a diplomatic flap yesterday on one of his first outings among world leaders...
Canada's rookie prime minister.....

After reading the two columns you conclude that either Brian Woods suffers from a split personality or the Winnipeg Free Press is desperately trying to discredit our Prime Minister.

Alex
Winnipeg

Posted by: Alex Mills at October 1, 2006 6:44 AM

I can assure you that the Winnipeg Free Press is trying to discredit the Prime Minister.

That newspaper is devoid of content and is a waste of money.

Posted by: Leda at October 2, 2006 1:38 AM
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