PAY ATTENTION AMERICA !

We Canadians, in a manner of smugness with which we're really not accustomed, thought we'd cornered the charisma market in the post Obama years after your bizarro President, Donald Trump, was elected and our sophisticated, charming, debonair, young, image obsessed Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, rose to the world's media attention.

Alas ! When the history of our 23rd Prime Minister is writ...pretty much all that may need mention is "That India Trip" to challenge our preconceived perception and to pinpoint that week in 2018 when the wheels came off the charisma wagon.

We're about to legalize Marijuana in Canada. I am assuming perhaps that it was the celebratory Indian Ganja shared onboard the Prime Minister and his entourage's flight from Ottawa to India a few days back that kiboshed their official mission. And, somehow and in some unimaginable way (For no particular worthwhile reason) allowed our government's leader to parade and blunder his way, family and retinue in tow, in overly inappropriate Indian outfits across a chunk of southern Asia. All of which, to say the least in just about less than 72 hours, turned a really important international sortie into a bad joke and an international embarrassment. What could they possibly have been thinking ?

Pundits have suggested that there had been recent hints that bats were slippin' out of the belfry. One of which was a recent overzealous suggestion that the term 'mankind' should really be changed to 'peoplekind' to reflect gender neutrality - A comment Mr. Trudeau subsequently characterized as a silly joke - Be that as it may, the current India brouhaha has likely left the world's media to revise or downgrade some earlier glossy front page adorable fawning over our photogenic Prime-Minister. Even former advisors to other Liberal Prime Ministers have weighed-in with the opinion that there seemed to be little purpose, and clearly no proper planning to this get together of Canadian official misfits on Indian soil. In a blunt editorial even the 'Toronto Star', certainly not a newspaper unsympathetic to Canada's National Liberal Party, calls the India misadventure "(perhaps) the least successful foray into that country since the repelled Mongol invasions of the 13th century." - Yikes !

Canada's trade mission to India may be one for the books, the bad books. But there has also been little if any progress on the sputtering NAFTA talks with the United-States and Mexico, the Trans-Pacific deal (TPP) though still in talks, minus the USA, is progressing at a snails pace and though concluded,  there's been little if any more mention of the European Free Trade accord. Later in the spring, Prime Minister Trudeau presides over the G-7 Summit of world leaders at La Malbaie, an idyllic resort on Quebec's lower St. Lawrence River. The conclave will involve Donald Trump's first foray into Canada as President of the United-States. The world has a fairly good take on what Mr. Trump is all about. But in the afterglow of this India imbroglio, we may have suddenly been jolted into a revised notion of Mr. Trudeau's competence playing at the world's leadership table. Let's hope it's not too late to reverse the damage suffered, and that the next time our PM comes to play, he shows up as who 'HE IS' and not as a Mr. Dressup - The clown shoes have already been claimed by someone else already.

HAWKS AND DOVES

It's inevitable, the President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, will set foot on Canadian soil when Justin Trudeau hosts the 2018  'G-7 Summit of World Leaders' in the spring, on June 8 and 9.

The somewhat unorthodox President will join other world leaders from the United-Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan as Canadians welcome the most powerful politicians on the planet to our land for the 6th time since the inception of the world body in 1976 when Trudeau 'pere' was added. An informal group of world leaders had been created a couple of years earlier for the most part under the tutelage of Treasury Secretary George Schultz a member of Richard Nixon's Cabinet.

The setting for this year's 'tete a tete' is the sumptuous Fairmont Manoir Richelieu in La Malbaie, on the lower north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec's Charlevoix Region. Mr. Trump should feel right at home: Built in 1899; for most of its first century, the manoir was a summer refuge of rich American patriarchs. Fact of the matter, it was the President of the United-States, William H. Taft (another Republican) who inaugurated the resort's 27 hole championship golf course in 1925. - Lest I digress about the setting, and to Prime Minister Trudeau's credit, at least no 'fake' Muskoka Lake setting will have to be built several miles away to accommodate the world's media as per the case of the 2010 event held (for the most part) secretly in Huntsville, Ontario.

As a sidebar it's none-the-less interesting to note the dynamics of a the 'Hawk / Dove' like relationships between previous Canadian P.M. and the U.S. President each previous time the G-7 has met on Canadian soil - In 1981 at Montebello, Quebec,  Ronald Reagan and Pierre Trudeau met (I sense the excitement). Though it was surely an altogether different atmosphere with the Reagan, Brian Mulroney 'kiss fest' at Quebec City in 1988 - Remember 'Danny Boy' ? ... Clinton faced Chretien at Halifax in 1995, Bush and Harper at Kananaskis, Alberta in 2002,  and as referenced already Obama and Harper in Ontario in 2010.


To the degree that it may be possible, the Americans have launched their own charm offensive to pave the way for their unpredictable President's June visit to the G-7 in Canada. Flanked by the  cannons, bombs and airplanes of Ottawa's War Museum, in just about her only public appearance since arriving in the nation's capital in October 2017,  Mr.Trump's envoy to Canada, U.S. Ambassador, Kelly Craft, told the annual gala of the MacDonald-Laurier Institute last week that "Trump has more in common with (Justin) Trudeau than most people might think" - Her comments were echoed by Texas Republican Congressman Peter Sessions, also in attendance, who was quick to add that it's in America's best interest to "make Canada stronger" ... Oh Dear ! - Lest you ask : Formed in 2010, the MacDonald-Laurier Institute which hosted this bun fest describes itself as a 'Public Policy Think Tank' - ("High Muck a Mucks" my late mother would have called them.) - Last week's $200 a plate dinner to hear Ambassador Craft was a sell-out...Somehow my invite must have been lost in the mail.

THE TRUMP SLUMP

Statistics from 2017 released last week show the United-States has lost its second place to Spain as the world's most 'visited' country. (France is #1) - Experts blame President Trump's travel ban on some primarily Muslim countries as well as his harsh rhetoric about Hispanics and others for this decline. It's also in part due to the 'Make America Great Again' mantra which has been interpreted by some as code for make America white again...an era when and where the white family patriarch always knew best.

Like so many of us, I grew-up in the years of those popular American television sitcoms, 'Father Knows Best', 'I Love Lucy', 'Leave it to Beaver' and I'd defy anyone to recall when a person of colour, (A Negro as we called them), or an Asian, Hispanic or 'First Nation' American was ever featured, except perhaps as a caricature, though each, as is the case today, then also made-up a substantial percentage of the population of the United-States of America.

For reasons I really do not quite understand 49.6% of eligible voters in the United-States (about 50 million electors) chose to abstain from voting in the November 2016 Presidential election. Be that as it may, the nation that once prided itself as the world's greatest democracy chose a 'Brand' of some dubious background and character as its leader rather than a person of diplomacy and political know-how. 

Most assuredly entrepreneur Donald Trump has set the world on its ear, if not a Twitter, with his silly pronouncements, gross accusations, and blatant untruths.  In the process he's tarnished the country's reputation as the leader of the 'free world,' with little if any noteworthy accomplishments to his administration's credit.

I have no vote in the USA:  If I did, I would hope that unlike so many Americans, I would have chosen to cast my democratic ballot in the fall 'Presidentials' of 2016. Though since that election and as those statistics bear out, I have chosen, along with many others, to vote with my wallet and remain on the Canadian side of the border with the United-States. It's a personal choice, easy to make considering that at the close of markets this weekend the Canadian dollar (The Loonie) was discounted just about 25% of the U.S. dollar....Let alone other expenses such as the cost of travel, lodging and most important medical insurance coverage while outside of Canada. Lest I digress: In December of 2015 my Canadian insurer was billed $21,060 US for the 4 1/2 hours I spent at a Florida hospital with a kidney stone.

I'm prepared to admit, given the frigid winter we endure in this 'Great White North' particularly this year, that my choice to stay-put hasn't been easy. However, In my mind at least it's a choice that defines who I am as a Canadian willing to sacrifice my smallish level of personal comfort rather than enable they who chip away the basic tenets of their democracy.

I acknowledge and accept that others, Canadians like me, see things differently. That for reasons of their own they shop 'cross-border', travel to, and visit frequently for extended periods of time, months really, as Snowbirds spending hard earned discounted Canadian dollars contributing to making America great again. Canadians who seek admission to the United States are for the most part welcomed as visitors, and they become the guests of a foreign country. It's incumbent upon them to behave as respectful visitors. What I do not accept, and I witness it frequently, almost daily, is that they complain and be critical on social media and elsewhere of the politics of their host while on it's soil  - It's impolite, dangerous and akin to biting the hand that's feeding you with your discounted Canadian dollars : If I see and note it - Others too are watching !

HAWAII CALLS

Clearly the Prime Minister and his handlers have (somehow) managed to convince the President of the United-States to appear and appease Mr. Harper's long sought photo opportunity over the penning of "Perimeter Security" lite: Booyah! And so what, if that pesky Mexican guy must tag along.

Three Amigos - Not exactly as shown.

High-Fives at the PMO in Ottawa as the White House confirmed late on Friday that President Obama is convening the North American government leaders and NAFTA partners to a summit of the "Three Amigos" in Honolulu on Sunday, November 13. Really just a brief get together after Obama hosts the leaders of APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation, nations over that weekend in his hometown.

Frankly it's just we Canadians who may be sufficiently gullible to be sold a contrived photo-op which the handlers of "your Harper government" will tout as a sure sign of equality of purpose with the large economic power south of our border.

Amidst the mess back home, as Obama struggles to re-rail his failing presidency the last thing he wants is to appear to be facilitating business with foreigners (us!)  - Even less in the same breath explain to Mexican Honcho Calderon that he's opening-up Canada's borders while building a massive fence along Mexico's.  Fact is the "Three Amigos" last met when George Bush was President in 2009 at the Chateau Montebello Resort just south of Ottawa. In this case Obama and I suspect Calderone are happy to schedule the meeting as an afterthought to APEC, late on a Sunday afternoon in a time-zone 7 hours beyond the east-coast, and far enough away as possible from the prying-eyes of the American News networks.

Lest we be fooled: It's just the spin-doctors at Harperland Inc. who will doing their damned best to make sure this moment in history leads the following Monday's news headlines back here in the frozen north. The "Perimeter Security" pact announced with great fanfare the better part of a year ago was to have been finalized last summer. Instead, as Mr. Obama's popularity has tanked in the USA the negotiations have become an irritant and an embarrassment to the Harper Government: A "Buy America" provision has been tacked-on to Obama's jobs creation legislation. A new trade deal with Central America has re-introduced the $5.50 (per person) Customs user fee on Canadian travellers entering the United States, and legislators in Washington are agitating for U.S. ports to be given preferential treatment for goods entering North America from abroad.

Ay, Caramba! If this wasn't such a farce; I'd be expecting Don Ho to break-out into the Hawaiian Wedding Song.

THE GEORGE BUSH DECADE

Muted commemorations this weekend as the United-States marks the 10th anniversary of the start of hostilities in Afghanistan; a conflict which has cost thousands of lives and more than a trillion dollars. Sadly there is a growing list of experts who fear the country could be sliding back towards the kind of civil war which led to the radical Islamic regime of the Taliban after the Russian pull-out of a similar misadventure signalled the ultimate demise of the Soviet Union two decades ago.

It was all so predictable: In "The Daily Telegraph" of London this weekend Britain's former ambassador to Kabul, Sherard Cowper-Coles, says it's a fantasy to think the war in Afghanistan is being won. He writes that military operations will not cure the underlying disease which has hobbled the region. It's pretty well clear that no one, least of all our American allies, have expectations of remaining for another decade, though that may be the stark reality they face. The 'Telegraph' quotes former United-States Commander in Afghanistan, Retired General Stanley McChrystal, who says that America and its allies are a "little better than" halfway towards their goals in the war. Even the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose despicably corrupt regime has been propped-up for years by the United-States and the NATO allies (including Canada), says the mission has done..."terribly badly in providing security to the Afghan people and this is the greatest shortcoming of our government and of our international partners." No wonder that in Afghanistan this weekend the morbid anniversary is passing without commemoration by neither the government nor NATO and saddest of all, nor by the 140,000 foreign ground troops who are still stationed on the front lines. In a published report, "Jane's" the internationally respected defence publisher notes clearly that the future of Afghanistan will still "hang in the balance" after the planned departure of allied combat forces by the end of 2014. That's in sharp contrast to President Obama who yesterday told a gathering at the Whitehouse that the United-States is "responsibly ending today's wars from a position of strength." He made the remarks while honouring the military who've made the ultimate sacrifice since President George W. Bush launched the war against the Taliban regime after the Al-Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001.

In Providence, Rhode-Island meantime, researchers at Brown University say at least 33,877 people - foreign and Afghan troops, civilians, insurgents and others have died as a result of the conflict. The American Pentagon puts the cost of its own operations at $323.2 billion exclusive of costs borne by its NATO partners including Canada. Our Department of National Defence claims the cost so far has been $11.3 billion. Others have claimed that it's (in fact) closer to $22 billion. Canada engaged in the Afghan conflict in February 2002. It took on battle operations in August of 2003 with Operation Athena. History will show that it was a simplistic effort by the Liberal Government of Jean Chretien to abate American anger at our decision to stay out of President Bush's "coalition of the willing" in Iraq.

Buoyed by the initial success of the American military in routing the Taliban extremists from government in Afghanistan, the Bush Administration lost interest and quickly changed its focus to Iraq; leaving the hapless NATO allies (including Canada) to "clean-up" the Taliban's mess in Afghanistan. The problem is (and it continues to be): That while America's virtual carpet bombing of Kabul, Kandahar and other strategic targets in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks crumbled the Taliban regime - It scattered its supporters and fighters into the hills bordering Pakistan where in the decade since they've transformed from a rag-tag group of guerrilla fighters into a well disciplined and very patient militia. The irony is: That the United-States surreptitiously financed the Taliban insurgency against the Soviets two decades ago, and it continues to support (to the tune of billions of dollars each year) the Pakistani overlords who now protect them.

COMMANDER PUTIN IN CHARGE

I don't know what the correct course of action is, much less a solution, to the dilemna Canadians face over Arctic sovereignty. I just know that the one we're on now isn't making us any friends, and in the long term probably won't make much difference over how the rest of the world divides-up the resources of the northern pole's lands and seas.

Prime Minister Harper has made it a priority of his government to increase the nation's presence in the North as the countries of the Arctic Council eye the vast amount of oil and the many other resources in the area. The Council created in 1996, includes Russia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States. Though Canadians may assume that we hold claim to much of the Arctic continent, check-out this list and it's pretty obvious who the big players are: America, which despite its moribund economic outlook is still a "superpower," and the Russians who with Vladimir Putin soon back in charge expect to regain post Communist bloc superpower status within the next decade or less.

Appearing before Parliament's Committee on Defence a year ago in October 2010, the Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, Michael Byers, warned that Canada's planned purchase of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) could cause "angst in Russia" and trigger an arms race over the Arctic.



Before becoming Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister last winter, Nigel Wright was closely associated with a major U.S. aircraft manufacturer (Hawker Beechcraft) that is partnered with Lockheed-Martin with whom Canada has a sole-source multi-billion dollar contract to purchase the F-35 JSF being developed for the American military.

Though Canada's Defence Ministry remains steadfast in its willingness to buy the jet fighters as replacement for our fleet of CF-18's; defence analysts, some Members of Congress, and an ever increasing number of pundits, critics and bloggers south of the border aren't even sure the stealth fighter will ever make it into full production. The F-35's skyrocketing development costs estimated at $1-Trillion have placed the plane at the top of potential military program cuts as the United-States staggers under the weight of uncontrolled spending and debt.

Regardless of the fallout in America, on the other side of the North Pole the Russians it seems aren't waiting any longer to confirm the ominous prediction from U.B.C.'s professor Michael Byers. Pretty much secure in the knowledge that former President Putin, currently Prime Minister Putin, will once more be President Putin by 2012, after the present President (Dmitriy Medvedev)announced this weekend he's bowing-out in favour of Putin's return: The Russians have just announced they are substantially increasing Arctic military presence.

Here at home both the Minister of Defence, Peter MacKay, and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Walter Natynczyk, have been chastised for their personal (perhaps frivolous) use of military aircraft. But much more significant of the deteriorating consideration Russians hold for Canada's military and our Arctic plans, their announcement followed within hours a 3-day visit by Natynczyk to Moscow which, according to DND, was to..."gain the Russian perspective on a range of issues to improve and develop Canada's military relationship with Russia." Meantime Putin was in Iceland announcing that the country would be building a total of 9 ice-breakers to expand transportation in the Arctic. The announcement follows a July commitment to establish a 2000 soldier permanent force based in the Arctic, just a month before Canada's three week long fly-in / fly-out "Operation Nanook" in the North. By the way, Russia has permanently staffed Ice Station Borneo (about 40 miles from the North Pole) since 1996 and it's made it clear on several occasions in the recent past that NATO isn't welcomed on the frozen continent. - Which pretty much explains why the course we're on up there is not likely to work to our ultimate favour and advantage.

1-2-3 "RED" LIGHT!

Faced with an economy so fragile that this week Standard & Poor's issued an unprecedented warning to the U.S. to fix it's financial woes or risk it's credit rating; the Obama Administration can ill afford to offend America's Cuban diaspora.

As the joke goes; our neighbour's economy is so bad that a truckload of Americans has been recently caught sneaking "into" Mexico...I digress. Both the economic and political clout of the the Cuban exiles and their descendants now scattered throughout many southern states (and beyond) is sufficient to deliver the State of Florida and to influence the results in many others in American Presidential politics.

So that despite the rhetoric of his first campaign on easing the five decades old hostilities between Cuba and the United-States; it seems at the threshold of his campaign for a second term, Mr. Obama is prepared to reverse course. In Washington though U.S. officials think that they have done enough to elicit a more positive response from Cuba; in reality the easing of travel restrictions for Cuban exiles in America to visit relatives and families on the island is their only concrete achievement. And the exiles in Florida and elsewhere have warmly embraced the change. Hundreds of charter flights shuttle between Miami and Havana each week...but they are loathe to support any measures which would open-up tourism for "other" Americans to the Caribbean Island 90 miles offshore.

In the American capital they say that it's Cuba which has soured the political climate. The current irritant is the detention and 15-year jailing of contractor Alan Gross for spying. The U.S. Government claims that Mr. Gross was in Cuba to expand Internet services for Jewish groups but concedes that he entered the island on a tourist visa that would not permit such work. And, his work was funded under a U.S. Government program aimed at "promoting democracy in Cuba" - A program which the Cubans claim is part of a long term campaign to topple their government.

Overshadowed by the crisis in North Africa, the former Democrat President, Jimmy Carter, spent three days in Havana from March 28 under the auspices of the "Carter Center Foundation" which was founded in 1982, the year after he left the Presidency. Under the guise of various enterprises since Mr. Obama's election, both former Presidents Carter and Bill Clinton have travelled as "de facto" emissaries of the administration. The Carter Center claimed that the ex-President sought to learn about..."new economic policies and the upcoming Party Congress (held last weekend." Though it's widely rumoured that in a private "tete a tete" with President Raul Castro, Carter advised that, for the reasons just outlined, Obama was backing away from the fragile improvements until into his second term of office...Ah; assuming he has one.

Fidel Castro reportedly said on the weekend that it just never occurred to him to step-down as Chair of the Cuban Communist Party after he handed the country's Presidency to his brother Raul five years ago. Be that as it may; yesterday the full transfer of power was (apparently) completed when President Raul also became Communist Party chief. It was Prime-Minister John Diefenbaker who in 1961, primarily because he couldn't stand President Kennedy, refused to follow America's lead and cut-off Cuba. Canadians have had an up-and-down relationship since, but some economic ties particularly pertaining to the tourism industry have remained strong. Recently, each winter about 3/4 of a million Canadian tourists descend on Cuba to inject about $700-Million into the Cuban economy. It's an economic relationship that Cuba can ill afford to jeopardize.

Back then John Diefenbaker believed that with the United-States breaking relations, Canada could fill the gap. In general subsequent (Liberal) Prime Ministers, Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau subscribed to the idea. Pierre Trudeau in particular had a warm personal relationship with Fidel Castro. But with the rapprochement of our shared economic vision to that of the United-States under the free-trade accords of the early 1990's, the political relationship with the island nation has chilled. Tourism aside, our bilateral relations have been "shaded" by the United-States.

And - It seems that when it comes to U.S. - Cuba relations, old habits die hard. Perhaps only for purely political gains in the 2012 Presidential elections down south, both the Americans and the Cubans are on the verge of falling back into old antagonistic ways which will obscure whatever progress had been made and hinder further advances. In the end; we may all lose.

GIVE IT TO MIKEY...HE'LL EAT ANYTHING

I've been reminded of the breakfast cereal commercial - "Give it to Mikey" - on learning that a Canadian General has been handed command of the hot-potato of NATO's commitment in the Libyan civil war.

Doubtless high-five(s) all around at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa with the announcement that Chicoutimi native, General Charles Bouchard, has been designated by the partners in the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) to head the campaign to - Let me quote United-Nations Resolution 1973: "...enforce a no-fly zone, prevent the transport of arms and munitions into Libya and protect the country's civilian population from its unpredictable leader."

Let me be clear: On past occasions I have been accused of not supporting our troops. In fact I've lost a couple of FaceBook friends over the matter. - Nothing could be further from the truth. It's the troops' political masters whom I take issue with; in this Libyan case, particularly with what is right; and what is wrong with our foreign war commitment.

In just the past few days the United-States administration of President Barack Obama has come under increasing pressure to limit (if not altogether withdraw from) the aggressive military campaign along Africa's Mediterranean coast; and as Canadian politicians embark on a Federal Election campaign our "mission creep" into Libya is being expanded expeditiously. - Prompting the question at least on the pages of the 'Globe and Mail': What is Canada doing in Libya? The newspaper notes retired Major-General Lewis MacKenzie's concern..."Our troops went on a mission to rescue people in the line of fire, then to deliver aid, then to escort sorties. Now they're dropping bombs."

No doubt that President Obama is happy to have handed deFacto command to his trusted Canadian ally. Somewhat unlike General MacKenzie's rhetoric, increasingly the pointed questions being asked of the military and the administration in the United States is whether the battle for Libya is (as we've been led to believe) the clash of a brutal dictator against a democratic opposition, or is it just fundamentally a tribal civil war in a country where tribes and sects have been held together by a succession of iron fisted dictators.

In the 'New York Times', journalist Thomas Friedman put the issue more succinctly: " It is no accident that the Mideast democracy rebellions began in three of the real countries, Iran, Egypt and Tunisia, where the populations are modern, with big homogeneous majorities that put the nation first before sect or tribe...but as these revolutions have spread to the more tribal/sectarian societies, it becomes difficult to discern where the quest for democracy stops and the desire that my tribe take over from your tribe begins."

So as political unrest seemingly spreads across North Africa and into the Persian Gulf; into Libya, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia we may be witnessing a series of moral and even strategic dilemmas whether to intervene in support of emerging serious democratic movements; or simply ignore another outbreak of the traditional tribal conflicts and wars which have tormented the region for centuries.

It's an important debate which is being muted in Canada because there is an election about to get underway which will focus on domestic issues rather than our international commitments. But in the absence of an election in their homeland, and doubtless with gratitude for Canada's decision to take a leadership role in the volatile Libyan civil war, Americans are being far more cautious than their Canadian allies in trying to determine whether the clashes in Libya truly signal an honest democracy movement led by tribes; rather than opposing tribes merely exploiting the language of democracy.

FALSE PROPHETS AND THE DECLINE OF DEMOCRACY

The Egyptian effect is reverberating across the Mideast and into the "Maghreb" along the north Mediterranean coast of Africa. Essentially one revolution ended over the past weekend; and another may soon begin in Egypt as elsewhere: Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, the Emirates, Iran...the circulating list seems just about endless.

With the case of Egypt: In our western world it's uncharted territory and a moment that may prove as decisive to the Middle-East as the Suez conflict in the mid-fifties; the 1967 Arab-Israeli war; or the war between Israel and Egypt in 1979. Little wonder then that the President of the United-States has dispatched the American Joint-Chief Chairman, America's senior military advisor Admiral Michael Mullen, to reassure crucial allies, Jordan and Israel. Mullen is scheduled to meet this week with Israeli President Simon Perez, and later with Jordan's new Prime-Minister Marouf Bakhit. Mr. Bakhit himself is being forced to implement political reforms demanded by protesters who forced King Abdullah to shuffle his ruling cabinet.

In addition to the democratic movement which seems to be sweeping the Middle-East, Admiral Mullen's mission is said to be prompted by a blistering private phone call from the Saudi King last week to President Obama accusing the American administration (in no uncertain terms) of literally abandoning its ally of 30 years, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak's ouster; like America's attitude towards the fall of the Shah of Iran (Reza Pahlavi) on February 11, 1979; is a bitter painful reminder in the "holy land" of the unforgotten and far reaching political, economic and social impacts of the "Great Crusades" of the middle-ages. Impacts which have lasted into contemporary times. As with Germany in the two World Wars, and Japan after 1945; It may be the clear nature of "our" western culture to decide; act; move-on; forget about it and forge new relationships. This is not always (perhaps never) the case in the deeply rooted historic relationships within the Middle-Eastern culture.

Of course there is some delicious irony in our North American rejoicing and hoopla on the triumph of democracy over the autocratic rule of the Egyptian President and whichever ones may follow over the coming weeks. As the thousands celebrate in Cairo one can't help but wonder about the state of our own North American democracies which pundits and critics (far better qualified than I) are wondering out loud are in real and serious danger of becoming democracies in name only.

In my home and native land; Canada's ruling Conservative government is accused of giving tax cuts to fat cat corporations and wasting billions on toys for the military and prisons that turn scared kids into hardened criminals. All the while keeping Parliament and the rest of Canadians in the dark about their true plans. South of the 49th parallel, millions of U.S. citizens struggle with unemployment and the declining North American standards of living, while the true levers of power have been but all completely commandeered by the financial and corporate elite. North Americans (we) may be celebrating the triumphs of democracy in Egypt and the Middle-East; but back here: The wealthy and well connected call the tune - And; the politicians dance.

The four great crusades of the "Middle Ages" from 1095 to 1204 may be ancient history. In the past century, as I was reminded a few days ago - From the Great War at Vimy Ridge, through the Suez Canal crisis in 1956 and frequently in between during some of the planet's darkest moments and perhaps a few times thereafter, Canada developed and nurtured a stellar respected engagement for the promotion of peace, and our willingness to engage constructively (including in the Mideast) with peoples who aspire to keep the planet a place without conflict.

Alas! Now relegated to watch from the very back row as the history of the modern world unfolds: My (our) country has been abandoned to play a marginal role without any say, or any more imminent prospects of influencing the events which shape the destiny of human kind.

SPICE OF LIFE

About 27,000 people have logged-on to this blog site since I posted the very first comment late in 2007. The statistics available through Google's Blogspot confirm that more than 500 have read "The Enigma In Fowler's Mission To Niger", (Feb, 1/2009) about seven times more than the next most popular post.

Canadian Ambassadors Robert Fowler and Louis Guay were kidnapped in the African nation of Niger in December of 2008 by al-Qaeda operatives. They were released several months later, and returned to Canada.

In Africa, perhaps more than anywhere else, it has become a frequent occurrence that foreign travellers, emissaries, and tourists are kidnapped regularly by supporters of AQIM, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb - The North African branch of the radical Islamic group which has been operating with impunity in the vast desert area across Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger where it's been carrying-out attacks, trafficking and the kidnapping of westerners...including high profile foreign Ambassadors Fowler and Guay slightly more than two years ago.

And this month just as Wiki-Leaks released secret documents are seeing the light-of-day; special forces from Canada's elite counter-insurgent JTF-2 are being assigned to a U.S. led mission to train and assist soldiers in North Africa fighting against al-Qaeda.

The Wiki-Leaks released secret cables, transmissions and documents make it abundantly clear that our allies were none too happy about Canada's surreptitious payment of a substantial ransom (Reportedly five-million euros) as well as arranging the release of four jailed "mujaheddin" fighters. Of course all of this contradicts statements made by the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, when Fowler and Guay were released after 130 days in April 2009..."but as you know, the government of Canada's position is clear in these things: We do not pay ransom and we do not release prisoners."

Two years hence sending elite forces into the "heart of the matter" as part of an American led effort dubbed Operation Flintlock clearly is the Harper Government's effort to make amends to its allies who (so it's claimed) were somewhat displeased with Canada's decision at the time regarding measures to secure the release of Ambassadors Guay and Fowler. In light of the Wiki-Leaks documents now available it's obvious that major allies: The United-States and the United-Kingdom were not "on-board" with whatever insight led Canada to follow the secretive ransom payments route.

Obviously, it is unclear what fate would have ultimately awaited Robert Fowler and Louis Guay had the kidnappers' demands not been met. Within the same time frame, the British Government still had a hostage in the hands of the AQIM who was subsequently executed.

The problem for Canada, as I explored in what has turned-out to be the popular post of February 2009, is that Robert Fowler wasn't working for us when he fell victim to his al-Qaeda kidnappers in Niger in December of 2008. He was there on a somewhat nebulous mission as a personal emissary of the Secretary-General of the United-Nations, Ban Ki-Moon. A mission that neither Mr. Fowler nor certainly the Head of the United-Nations have ever explained. At the time, while Secretary Ban Ki-Moon professed many pious concerns for the welfare of the kidnapped Ambassadors; he seemed perfectly happy to dump the entire mess on Canadian laps. And - Mr. Harper's government, anxious to secure a Canadian seat in 2010 on the U.N.'s Security Council, seemed only too happy to oblige. Costs be damned!

Mercifully, Rabert Fowler and Louis Guay are now safe on Canadian soil. But: Ban Ki-Moon did not deliver. Canada flamed-out to an embarrassing defeat by Portugal at the Security Council. We're left with making amends for the lingering resentment of our allies for caving-in to ransom demands from al-Qaeda.

Me thinks someone has some 'splainin' to do!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Recent "Wiki-Leaked" cables from the Station Chief of the American Interest Section in Havana, Cuba have been critical of Canada's relationship with the Communist island nation less than 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

In the aftermath of last year's visit to the Cuban capital by Canada's Minister of State for external Affairs Peter Kent, the Station Chief Jonathan Farrar, who is America's highest diplomat in Cuba, told his handlers in Washington that Cuba was being given a "free-pass on its human rights abuses" because of economic motives, the results of which were..."risible: pomp-full dinners and meetings and...a photo-op with one of the Castro brothers."

Cuba is guilty of abusing the rights of enemies of, and dissidents against the regime. Though, lest I digress human-rights abuses are frequently within the eye of the beholder: For instance Amnesty International believes the rights of more than 30 Florida teenagers jailed for life (without parole) for crimes less than murder have been abused...and, some would surely argue that rights have been denied to many detainees held at the notorious Guantanamo prison, ironically located on Cuban soil.

Canada established diplomatic relations with the Castro Government of Cuba while Pierre Trudeau was Prime-Minister. So grateful was the Cuban President for the overture that the reclusive leader travelled to Montreal in the fall of 2000 to attend Trudeau's State Funeral. Given the state of Canadian politics ten years hence; it's doubtful anyone of the same stature will return the favour when Castro expires...I digress once more.

If there are (and were) economic motives behind Canada's accommodating approach towards Cuba, they have paid-off. About half-a-million Canadians vacation on the Caribbean island each year, many at resorts owned by investors and their partners from the "great white north." - We are Cuba's single largest source of tourism. The surprising truth that few Americans seem to know though is that despite the intense rhetoric and a 60 year old embargo against Castro's Government; the United States is now sending the second-most visitors to Cuba than any other country; about 400,000.

President Obama fulfilled an election promise in April 2009 and lifted all Bush era restrictions against Cuban descendants in the USA as well as for some Americans allowed to travel for "sanctioned" activities. Since the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations, American Presidents have tread carefully over their relationship with Cuba because of the politically well connected and wealthy community of exiles in south Florida which now numbers about 2-million. After 60 years they won't forgive Castro...but ironically their second and third generations are among the ones agitating the most for open travel to the offshore nation.

Sanctions and embargoes prevent U.S. based commercial airline traffic to Cuba; but President Obama lifted those same sanctions against charter carriers which are now allowed to fly to Havana from Miami, New York and Washington. This weekend...In Miami alone, fifty-five charter flights carrying thousands of Cuban descendants will wing-on over to Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. They (and most especially) their money will be welcomed with opened arms by the Cuban Government which imposes a 25% import duty on all the Christmas presents they'll be bringing long lost relatives. The President of Gulfstream Air Charter of Miami, Tom Cooper, told the Associated Press the load on-board the company's daily 737 flight to Havana is so great that..."for about half of Gulfstream's flights, the company charters a twin-turboprop cargo plane to carry the excess baggage."

Maybe the time has come for Washington to turn away from its inexorable intransigence over Cuba; or at least turn the other cheek in the spirit of the Christmas season. Either way there's good reason to suspect that Fidel Castro; though sick, weak and demented; is laughing all the way to the bank.

HEY NEIGHBOR!

Ever since the War of 1812 forever sealed our fate as sovereign partners dividing-up just about half of the North American continent; the United-States and Canada have shared a very special relationship: The envy of the rest of the planet.

Through much thick and thin we've had, in modern parlance "each others' backs". I grew-up along the Canada / United States border in the mythical "Republic of Madawaska" astride the Province of New Brunswick and the State of Maine. (You may "Google" that.) I majored in Canadian - American Relations in my Political Science studies; I am fortunate for spending more than 5 months each year at a winter cottage in the American south; and this Blog frequently pays homage to our partnership. I am, some have said: A legend in my own mind!

Having thus established my "bona-fides," and as the week wraps-up again in a rare moment of our modern history when Canada's "loonie" dollar coin is trading "on par" with the American "greenback". It seems a good time to reflect, review the status of our relationship. As it turns out; relationships, partnerships, special friendships, neighbourliness ebb and flow over time. Certainly since the mid-point of the last century; World Wars, the subsequent Cold War and other international flashpoints caused our two nations to become increasingly integrated. The last 60 years saw more than 85% of Canada's exports shipped over our seamless border to the southern economic Juggernaut. At about $2-Billion per day, ours remains the biggest single trading relationship the planet has ever known.

After 1950, Canada vaulted to one of the world's most industrialized economies thanks in no small measure to the neighbour with whom we shared what was then - "the world's longest undefended border." PS: You may have noticed that we spell "neighbour" differently. That's one of our cultural differences.

Maybe that's where I'll start: The savage attack on the United-States in the morning of September 11, 2001 changed everything. Though Canadians rescued thousands of stranded airline passengers from the hundreds of flights forced out of U.S. skies on that day; we've struggled since then to convince our American partners that the radical terrorists did not enter the United States from Canada. It is (was) a myth that is still far too frequently repeated. Concerned for the security of its borders our neighbour has restricted (some say far too much) access to its homeland. Lest it be called "arming" our prideful heretofore "undefended border"; it's been dubbed: "thickening of the border"...the effect has been pretty much the same.

Canada is a Member of the exalted G-7 (now G-8) Group of economic super-powers thanks to the direct intervention of President Gerald Ford at its formation in 1976. Just more than two decades later it was Canada that launched what is now the G-20. G-20 has played a critical role in the efforts to stifle a world financial catastrophe. We share cultures, we share ideas, we share ideals: Here and abroad, on the world's stage as here on North American soil.

Relationships change and history modifies expectations: Ours is not "frosty": Never will be! Though there is anecdotal evidence which leads me to conclude we may have entered a slow but steady 'ebb' period. To wit: Insiders at the U.S. State Department claim that America's Ambassador to the United-Nations, Susan Rice, specifically instructed American diplomats to..."not get involved" in Canada's efforts to regain a seat on the U.N.'s Security Council. In a major diplomatic snub of un-precedented nature, and it seems without its anticipated American support, Canada earlier this week lost a bid for one of the temporary Security Council seats for the first time since our Great White North help found the world's premier organization in the fall of 1945.

Then there's the decidedly unfriendly expulsion of Canada's Air Force from the United Arab Emirates. Canada has been a steadfast supporter of the American intervention in Afghanistan to rid that country of the scourge of terrorists bent on imposing their twisted view of the world on the rest of us. In our own Afghan military effort, Canada has had a secretive armed forces re-supply operation based at Camp Mirage in Dubai. We've been unceremoniously kicked-out because of a dispute over the sheikdom's desire for more commercial (passenger) flights between our two countries. Returning to Canada from celebrating (Canadian) Thanksgiving with the troops last weekend in Afghanistan - The flight with onboard Canada's Defence Minister, Peter MacKay, and the Chief-of-Defence-Staff, General Walter Natynczyk, was refused permission to land at Base Mirage by the United Arab Emirates. Nothing could be clearer. But imagine albeit for a brief moment, if this had been Defence Secretary Robert Gate's flight. It's obviously not up to Washington to determine Canada's sovereignty issues: Under the circumstances an encouraging word from the Obama Administration though would surely have been appreciated.

Relationships have warmed-up and cooled-off since time immemorial. It's the ebb and flow of the human experience. Sometimes it is perceptions that matter most.

IS 2012 THE END OF US?

Apparently things are going to hell in a garden basket! As the meltdown nears, a company in Thomson, Illinois will, for $149 (Credit Cards gladly accepted), send you a bag of seeds so that on the eve of Armageddon you can grow your own crisis garden.

According to the "Survival Seed Bank"..."you don't have to be an Old Testament prophet to see what's going on all around us. A desperate lower class demanding handouts. A rapidly diminishing middle class crippled by police state bureaucracy. An aloof, ruling elite that has introduced an emerging totalitarianism which seeks control of every aspect of our lives."

Though; according to my grand-daughter, it didn't live up to the advanced hype: I am waiting for the appropriate dark, morose and inclement day to "gird my loins" and pop into the DVD player the ultimate action-adventure movie: "2012", which - "brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors" - No doubt with a bag of Illinois grown survival seed in hand! - I digress.

Chances are that most everyone spends their day going about the casual business of life never imagining that millions of fellow earthlings are freaking-out that the world will end in a little more than two years. Apparently there is even some disagreement on whether the "End O' Time" is December 21 or 23. Authors of doomsday scenarios plastered all over the Internet say it's December 21, 2012 - The winter solstice. Scholars, historians and anthropologists say the "doomsday" is actually December 23. It's not clear, even to the panicked, what precisely will happen but: IT WILL BE BIG! Or, so we've been warned by the Maya calendar on which it's all based.

I'm not sure of anything anymore: But, apparently scholars claim that fears about 2012 rest on just one of at least three Maya calendar systems, the so-called "Long Count" which began on August 13, 3114 B.C. and which ends on 13.0.0.0.0, what we (non-Maya) call December 23, 2012. God knows! Just hang-on to those "survival seeds" bags, because if 2012 fails to bring about the end of the world, there is an Aztec calendar that ends in 2027.

Anyone remember Y2K?

Worries about 2012 are based from fragments of a Maya inscription at an archaeological site in Tortuguero, Mexico. It's just the kind of boost the Mexican tourist industry can use for the next couple of years - or beyond. Last year's panic over the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic, which was blamed on a Mexican pig farm. - And, the current travel fears over the violence and more than 18.000 murders associated with Mexican drug-lords, really haven't been very kind to the Peso. Obviously there is a tourist "Tee-Shirt" hued rainbow just over that bleak horizon. And if 2012 (like the movie) fails its expectations; the Aztec 2027 Tee-Shirt can probably already be ordered.

MAHMUD AHMADI-NEJAD -VS- AGENT CODY BANKS

International Affairs pundits have come-out swinging over revelations contained in: "Our Man In Tehran", a book published this week which claims that former Ambassador, Ken Taylor was a CIA spy.

They suggest the information may compromise our diplomatic mission to Tehran, and it may expose Canada to accusations that our legation in Tehran is a nest of American spies.

In fact, relations between Tehran and Ottawa can't get any much colder than they have been since 1980 when Ken Taylor and his staff first hid, and subsequently spirited away 6 high level American diplomats with faked passports and visas. Since that time, Iran has refused to accept any nominee to replace Taylor. Our last appointee, John Mundy, was expelled from Tehran even before he could present his credentials to the country's authorities in December 2007.

The new book written by Trent University historian and author, Robert Wright, claims that Ambassador Taylor was rather more than a Canadian diplomat; but a top CIA operative once angry Iranians occupied Tehran's American Embassy in the fall of the 1979, holding fifty-two U.S. citizens hostage for 444 days. Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, Flora MacDonald, has confirmed that American President Jimmy Carter asked Prime Minister Joe Clark for assistance in the planning of a rescue mission during the hostage crisis. That mission, code named "Desert One" was launched 90 days after Taylor arranged the escape of his six U.S. diplomats, destroyed Canada's records with an axe, shuttered our Embassy and left Tehran.

"Dessert One", the rescue mission, was a total failure resulting in the deaths of 8 U.S. Servicemen and further aggravating the relationship between the Carter Administration and the Government of Iran. It cost President Carter the 1980 Presidential election, and as a parting insult the Iranians waited all of 20 minutes after his successor, Ronald Reagan, was sworn-in, in January 1981, before releasing all of their hostages.

Upon his return, Ken Taylor was named Canadian High-Consul in New York City. Although he was born in Calgary, Mr. Taylor, now aged 75, has remained in the United-States since that time. Now there is talk that Hollywood mega-star George Clooney and a co-writer, Grant Heslov, are working on a movie script based on the "Canadian Caper" as the Americans dubbed Taylor's escapade at the time. It seems a script perfect for Agent Cody Banks, alter-ego of teen star, Frankie Muniz, of last decade's TV series: "Malcolm In The Middle."

LIKE BEGGING FOR SCRAPS

The Department of National Defence is attempting to deflect criticism by putting the best possible spin on news from the the U.S. Pentagon that the Americans will not share the sophisticated codes that program the new F-35 jet interceptor.

The Canadian government has invested half-a-billion dollars in the development of the F-35, "Lightning II", so-called Joint Strike Fighter, which made two maiden flights shrouded in secrecy at the Patuxet River (Maryland), Naval Air Station 10 days ago.

Canada is one of eight NATO members that have put-up a partner's share of the development costs of the jet fighter which is being built by Lockheed-Martin at the company's fabled California "Skunkworks". The partners have now been told by the Pentagon, in no uncertain terms, that "no country" will be given access to the software codes that program the aircraft's sophisticated electronic systems. Critics claim that without the codes, any participating or purchasing partner will require American involvement in maintaining and/or upgrading the future needs of the F-35. So incensed are the British that the U.K.'s air force has threatened to cancel its order for 138 of the jet fighters.

Canada has been looking at spending more than $10-billion to buy the fighter beginning in 2017 to replace our ageing fleet of the American (McDonald-Douglas) built CF-18 "Hornet". It appears that in order to deflect any criticism back home, National Defence has trotted-out a charm offensive over our significant joint involvement and sharing of resources with the Americans in NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. It just so happens that NORAD is currently undergoing a review of its resources which, since the end of the Cold-War, are more appropriately aimed at protecting major cities from attacks by terrorists. A Canadian, Major-General Pierre Forgues, is in charge of this review as Director of Operations for NORAD. He's now apparently been tasked with making the media rounds to tout our involvement in the protection of the continent.

The scenario playing-out over the development of the F-35 "Joint Strike Fighter" all sounds too familiar. Half a century ago the U.S. Government of President Dwight Eisenhower torpedoed the Canadian developed CF-105 Avro "Arrow" because it was superior to any aircraft the Americans then had in their fleet or in development, and they did not want that to occur. We were subsequently sold 75 used CF-101 "Voodoos" by the U.S. Air Force. The half-dozen "Arrows" build were cut-up for scrap and Canada lost the best and brightest brains of the world's aerospace sector. They emigrated to the United-States where they became the backbone of the Apollo "moonwalk" program a dozen years later.

FOLKS - THIS IS WAR.

Finally, Canadian sensibilities have apparently been offended by the revelations to a Committee of the House of Commons that Taliban prisoners captured by Canadian troops and turned over to Afghan police were tortured.

Though Canada "came of age" in the War To End All Wars between 1914 and 1918; and subsequently grew into one of the world's foremost economic and military powers in the Second World War from 1939 to 1945; we are neither a warring nation nor a combative people.

What is more shocking to me, and has been since we became involved in the Afghanistan fiasco as Jean Chretien's panacea to the folly of the American Iraq invasion; is how in this process we have obliterated our honoured international image and reputation as the planet's foremost peacekeeper.

In this endeavour, there is enough blame to share all around: The successive Liberal governments of Mr. Chretien and Paul Martin committed us to this error of our way. Just as appalling (more so perhaps) it seems the current government then concocted and orchestrated a ruse to cover-up allegations of prisoner abuses, and perhaps other of war's nasty fall-out, once the rumours began to circulate almost three years ago.

The charges from a senior diplomat, Richard Colvin, who then represented Canada in the Afghanistan capital and is now based at our Embassy in Washington are not shocking. The shock is in the aggressive campaign to discredit his testimony. Successive government spokespeople this week including Cabinet Ministers John Baird and Peter MacKay, as well as the former Chief-Of-Defence Staff, Rick Hillier, feigned ignorance of the allegations while (in some cases at least) openly calling into question Colvin's credibility. Except for the tragedy of the circumstances it was as if the Caribbean trio "The Baha Men" had reunited to carol - "(Who) Let The Dogs Out" - Give me a friggin' break!

The reality is that one Cabinet Minister, the hapless former Minister of Defence, Gordon O'Connor, already paid for this one by being unceremoniously demoted to Minister of Revenue (bean counter to the nation), from whence he's been uncharacteristically silent ever since...most noticeably in the aftermath of this week's Colvin confessions.

It will take decades (if ever) for Canada to regain the trust of the world, particularly in the conflict riddled emerging countries of the middle and near east, and reacquire our honourable reputation for fairness and a balanced approach to securing and maintaining peace in far off lands. Fessing-up to our mistakes instead of pillorying the messenger, and breaking free of Afghanistan before the conflict turns even uglier would be a good start.

FROM THE OTHER SIDE

It may be argued these days that from an economic perspective Canada is better off than its much larger partner the United-States. Recent statistics indicate that Canada's unemployment rate is below 9%; the Americans are at about 10%. Governments in both countries are tallying-up enormous deficits...but on a per capita basis, Canada's remains well below America's monstrous debt.

Still though it is good to get the occasional perspective from the "other side". That's what I aim to do as I head south through nine of the Atlantic Seaboard States into central Florida...abandoning the miserable winter of eastern Ontario for the warmth and the perspective of a winter spent amongst our American brethren.

The drive through the next week is steeped in American history, from the majestic "Thousand Islands", through the coal mining communities of Pennsylvania; the historic Civil War battlegrounds of the Washington belt-way...Gettysburg, the Mason/Dixon Line, the Shenandoah Valley, the Dixie Capital of Richmond, and on to Petersburg, Savannah and well beyond.

Because of Canada's "minority government" status the threat of a Federal Election is forever present. But, the worse seems to have passed for now and the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, is planning trips to China and to India. Both countries are emerging economic forces in the post crash months since the collapse of world markets about a year ago.

Getting, and subsequently reporting on these pages, America's perspective on and opinion of Canada will be all the more significant over the months ahead. On the domestic front, the first half of 2010 at least will be enormously significant for Canada's international status and reputation. The final determination of our contribution to the world's quarrel with Afghanistan may be a year away...in the meantime though Canada will host the world at the Winter Olympic Games of 2010 in February in British Columbia. It is widely expected that in early spring our delegation to the United Nations will be elected to an always important seat on the "Security Council": A matter which could be of significant interest to the United States as the world grapples with crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea and the always existing tensions of the Middle East.

By early summer Huntsville, Ontario will receive both the world's G-8 Summit Leaders and the G-20 Economic Summit. It is widely anticipated that the Queen will travel to Canada to open one or perhaps both of these "World Stage" events. The G-20 is widely credited with pulling back the planet from the brink of economic collapse during the past 18 months. World powers owe a debt of gratitude to Canada: Specifically to the former Prime-Minister, Paul Martin, who as our Finance Minister in 1997, created the "Group of 20" and hosted its two first meetings in Montreal and in Ottawa.

With eyes opened-wide and my ears perked for the latest insight, even gossip sometimes; I am anxious to focus on the topics of interest to matters of politics in Canada from the widened perspective and insight of the all significant most powerful country on earth, The United States of America. Sometimes it helps to see ourselves as others see us. As always I shall value your comments, interest and input. Let this journey begin!

ALI BABA AND THE MAYOR OF ST.JOHN'S

The Mayor of Newfoundland's capital, Denis O'Keefe, was right last week to infer that there was more than re-fueling a jet plane behind the planned visit of Libyan dictator, Moammar Gadahafi to St. John's.

In fact, O'Keefe's curiosity (among other things) probably played a role behind Gadahafi's "no show" on "The Rock". The since cancelled visit virtually took on a life of its own in the latter part of last week. The Mayor, among a growing list of commentators, speculated on Saturday he didn't believe it was just a re-fueling layover, or that Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon, was only going to scold Colonel Gadahafi over the release of the Pan Am flight 103 bomber from a Scottish jail.

Rather, the facts were reversed. To digress; there is a TV Commercial airing currently for the "Play Station" video game console. It suggests you can't believe everything you read on the Internet..."that's how World War I started." I'd put a bet on the following story:

Airplanes are able to cross the Atlantic with ease, thus going to the difficulty of an overnight stop without an ulterior motive seemed odd to most observers. There is a growing body of circumstantial evidence that Gadahafi's last minute choice of Newfoundland was anything but, and may have been scoped-out with Canadian Foreign Affairs and all the way up to the Prime Minister's inner sanctum quite some time before the dictator ever left Tripoli for his speech at the United Nations in New York.

Four things changed in the intervening period, eventually forcing the reversal of plans for today's overnight stop in St. John's. - 1) The world's outrage over the hero's welcome Libya gave to the Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi. 2) The tenure of Gadhafi's disjointed, rambling 90 harangue of the United Nations in New York last Wednesday. 3) His cozying-up to Hugo Chavez the revolutionary leader in Venezuela this past weekend. And, as I alluded earlier 4) The buzz, curiosity, and skepticism in Canada over the motive for the St. John's visit.

With the ever hanging, ever growing threat of a Federal Election in Canada at any moment; the Conservative Government of Prime Minister Harper concluded it couldn't be placed in a position of international embarrassment if the real motive about the visit was exposed...or even speculated about as so many had been doing, including the high profile Mayor of St. John's, Dennis O'Keefe. So the planned stop-over was abandoned.

In 2003, Moammar Gadhafi, the Bedoin self-described "King of Kings in Africa", announced he would drop his support of international terrorism and dismantle his country's programs to build chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. In return, western powers, including the United-States, almost immediately eased or altogether abandoned international sanctions against Libya. Though George Bush wasn't about to drop in on Gadhafi nor invite him over for tea in Washington. Among the first Western Leaders to visit with the reformed dictator in Tripoli in 2005 was then Prime Minister, Paul Martin. Martin's visit established valuable capital for our Foreign Service with Libya and earned us Gadhafi's gratitude.

There is anecdotal evidence to speculate last winter, desperate for a break over the capture and taking hostage of Diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay in neighbouring Niger; Canada went knocking on the door of the "King of Kings in Africa" for assistance. Bob Fowler, who was in Niger for the United-Nations, has hinted recently that people with knowledge of his mission were behind the kidnappings on December 14, 2008. For sure the United Nations, and its Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, were powerless to deal with the circumstances. The Canadian Government quickly took over from the U.N. in the search for, and eventual release of Fowler and Guay on April 21, 2009. Canada's pay-off from the United Nations Secretary-General will come when our delegation is elected to the 15 member Security-Council this coming winter...I digress.

Now you get the drift of the St. John's visit: Moammar Gadhafi's overnight stop-over on Canadian soil, and private visit with Foreign Minister, Lawrence Cannon, was to accept (to the extent that if could be diplomatically) an expression of official gratitude from Canada for his role in working on the release of Fowler and Guay. Circumstances over the last several days changed the agenda.

Lastly, McLeans.ca, the news magazine's website, has reported that although hotel rooms and other bookings for Colonel Gadhafi's delegation and retinue of body guards in St. John's have been cancelled..."the accommodations were still paid for." I would be surprised if the payments came from the Government of Libya.

SMARTEN-UP!

Perhaps it is just that one has to be born within spitting distance of the border to understand the clout some communities may have against America's obsessive compulsive security issues...if only the politicians would help.

Granted that 60% of Canadians live within 100 Kilometers of the border with the United-States, but in many border communities our American neighbour is dwarfed by the economic clout of its much larger Canadian counterpart. Whether it is in Van Buren or Madawaska, Maine; Massena, New York; Port Huron, Michigan or Point Roberts, Washington just to name a few; residents there count on business from Canada to exist.

From a Canadian perspective I guess our politicians who matter most weren't born that close to Uncle Sam's shadow. Either that or they are just too busy trying to pacify recent American administrations, and obviously blinded by the clout some border communities could have with even a minuscule measure of encouragement from Ottawa.

For instance in Sarnia, Ontario across the border from Port Huron, Michigan, they can't even get an acknowledgement from the Prime Minister's office about a "Peeping Tom" helium balloon which has been watching the community from the other side. It isn't just an irritant...it is a downright insult to the once friendly relations between Canada and the United States.

There are flying drones over the Great Lakes and the Dakotas, now this! Late in July a private American company, Sierra Nevada Corporation, launched a 50 foot helium balloon equipped with a $1-million camera to watch activity over the border. The American firm, based in Sparks, Nevada, is looking to impress Homeland Security down south and trying to sell its technology to the Obama Administration. Locals in Sarnia have several different names for the balloon...some less flattering than others. It is offensive, clearly it should be, as it transmits photos from the Canadian side to American authorities...none of which, locals conclude, are any of Homeland Security's business. Though Sarnia's mayor, and the local Member of Parliament have written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper; It seems they can't even get an acknowledgement about the validity of their complaint.

The fears of Mayor Mike Bradley and M-P Brian Masse are that if Canadians don't express their opposition, America's obsessive border surveillance will continue to escalate and relations between our two countries will only erode further.

If national politicians won't heed the danger, Sarnia residents are only too happy to oblige. On Saturday (August 15) they plan a cheeky protest in the city's Centennial Park. So far more than one thousand people have signed-up for the "Moon The Balloon" protest. Lily white Canadian "arses" pointed south may be a little risque. It's unclear whether Mayor Bradley will be there in the buff as it were. But, their M-P, Mr. Masse, says:..."people are entitled to do what they want in a free, open democratic society." I interpret that to mean no one is likely to be charged with public nudity by local authorities.

Regardless, and be that as it may: It is a whole new modern twist on demonstrating friendship across the world's longest undefended border. Maybe it will catch on?

NOW FOR THE PAY-OFF

Two "western" seats on the Security Council of the United-Nations are coming-up for grabs in a rotation of some of the ten "non-permanent" seats on the UN's most powerful institution.

Canada's profile at the United Nations has been somewhat subdued in the three and a half years since the Conservative government was elected. Prime Minister Harper's close ally, U-S President George W. Bush, was somewhat lukewarm to the world body, to say the least, and Canada's foreign policy initiatives marched mostly in lock-step with the American view.

Though our representative to the United Nations is a competent career diplomat, Ambassador John McNee, who replaced Allan Rock when the Tories were elected in 2006, is hardly a household name. Previous Canadian representatives have included, Lester Pearson, Lloyd Axeworthy, Barbara McDougall and Robert Fowler. In fact the Prime Minister himself has only attended once at the United Nations in New York since his election in January 2006.

The 192-member United-Nations General Assembly will elect a total of five new members to the 15 member Security Council. Very recent events, including renewed tensions between North and South Korea, highlight the important role played by the Security Council in all of the 64 year history of the world organization. Canada has held one of the non-permanent council seats in every decade since the formation of the United Nations in 1945. In the past it's always been considered a "big boy" amongst the Security Council candidates.

Over those decades every Canadian has shared in the pride of our traditional role as "Peacekeeper" to the world (Now abandoned to wage war in Afghanistan); Lester Pearson's "Nobel" Peace Prize for solving the Suez Crisis of 1956, and our sense of inclusion and fair play on the global stage.

Under the UN's regional voting system the two "western" Security Council seats will be filled from a short list of three declared Candidates - Germany, Portugal and Canada when the General Council votes in the fall of 2010. Since coming to office Prime Minister Harper has been publicly criticised by the Opposition for his half-hearted response to Canada's candidacy. Despite concerns within the bureaucracy, the lightweights who (in succession) headed Foreign Affairs in Harper's first government: Peter MacKay, Maxime Bernier and Liberal turned Tory, David Emmerson did not accomplish much of anything in advancing the file.

As I speculated on this "post" back in February (See: PAYBACK Feb. 22) - Canada's quick response in taking over the investigation and negotiations for the eventual release of Ambassadors Robert Fowler and Louis Guay kidnapped in Niger last December, may have provided an impetus for the Harper Government to avoid the international embarrassment of Canada being left off of the Security Council in 2010. Though Fowler and Guay are both Canadian, they were working directly for the Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon. By Christmas, the UN's lame efforts at securing their release was abundantly clear, and Ban Ki Moon was treading water well beyond his depth to deal with this crisis.

In gratitude; what's obvious now is that the men in suits at the highest levels of the United Nations are leaving few stones unturned...mountains moved...pulling-out all the stops to get pledges of support flowing for Canada's bid. Recent published reports say that secret written commitments are in-hand from half a dozen African countries, the continent where Fowler and Guay were abducted; as well as from several states in Central and South America, where Mr. Harper has recently opened several trade initiatives.

On Canadian soil, and in the hands of a more competent Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon, a whole section has been set-up at DFAIT (Dept. of Foreign Affairs & Inter'l Trade) to guide and direct our candidacy. Officials are being dispatched to the African Continent, South America and pretty much anywhere else an ounce of support may be obtainable.

Canwest News Services recently quoted an unidentified insider: "They realized they'd dropped the ball...the Security Council campaign is now so important it is mentioned at just about every policy and programming meeting affecting international matters."

A turnaround at the United-Nations is harder than stopping the Titanic "on a dime". But at last, there is a glimmer of hope and a sense of optimism amongst strategists at Foreign Affairs that they may be able to salvage a monumental diplomatic embarrassment which would have been of our own making. Amen!