It's
sad, and a tad ironic. As Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay calmly
and steadfastly defended Canada's policy on the fighting in the Middle
East this week, Opposition MPs made increasingly hysterical demands
that he be more "neutral."
By doing so, the NDP's Alexa McDonough et al. only reminded us how grateful we are that they aren't in charge.
McDonough
trotted out two sadly familiar lines of attack Tuesday: One, accusing
MacKay and PM Stephen Harper of being in "lockstep" with "only" U.S.
President George Bush (even though MacKay made it clear that Canada
supports the call by the European Union and other countries for a
sustainable ceasefire and an international force to make it work). And
two, whining that by taking a pro-Israel/anti-Hezbollah stand, the
Harper government has somehow turned its back on Canadian traditions
and the public's desire that we not take sides.
We'd like McDonough to explain just how a
democracy like ours could not take a side here. As MacKay put it: "It's
not a difficult choice between siding with a democratic state with an
elected government ... or a group of cold-blooded killers.
"There is a marked difference between a
democratic country (Israel) defending the lives of its citizens and a
terrorist army (Hezbollah) intent on death and destruction." Exactly.
We're
aware that a Globe/CTV poll this week showed 77% of those surveyed
thought Canada should be "neutral" in this conflict (only 16% took
Israel's side; 1% Hezbollah's). But that's a false choice. "Neutral"
sounds nice, and the fact is it's unlikely Canada will take any action
like sending troops. We're also sending humanitarian aid to Lebanon and
will continue to do anything we can to make the killing stop. All good.
What MacKay had the courage to point out,
however, is that we are not and cannot be neutral regarding Hezbollah
-- designated a terrorist group by Canada since 2002. Nor can or should
we downplay our ties to our democratic allies -- with whom we, under
the Liberals, joined the war on terror -- the U.S., Britain and, yes,
Israel (although we can criticize them).
"Simply calling for a ceasefire doesn't make it happen," MacKay pointed out. "There has to be more than words."
That's
a reality of leadership that his political opponents -- who then went
on to bicker for five hours over the wording of a resolution calling
for a ceasefire -- will never understand.
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