{"id":1107,"date":"2008-04-27T21:39:16","date_gmt":"2008-04-28T01:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1107"},"modified":"2018-08-14T13:27:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T17:27:38","slug":"sunday-april-27-2008-canadian-delusions-of-global-glory-it%e2%80%99s-time-to-wake-up-and-grow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1107","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, April 27, 2008 \u2014 Canadian Delusions of Global Glory: It\u2019s Time to Wake Up and Grow Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those Cana\u00addi\u00adans who imag\u00adine that Canada\u2019s role in glob\u00adal pol\u00adi\u00adtics is both impor\u00adtant and suc\u00adcess\u00adful need to have some of their bal\u00adloons punctured.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our politi\u00adcians are con\u00adstant\u00adly repeat\u00ading to us how much the world admires us for our \u201cpeace keep\u00ading tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u201d, and how impor\u00adtant our inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal com\u00admit\u00adments are. The truth is that almost nobody out\u00adside of Cana\u00adda has heard about them, and even few\u00ader care. I once checked out a pub\u00adlished his\u00adto\u00adry of U.N. peace\u00adkeep\u00ading. It con\u00adtained no ref\u00ader\u00adence to the activ\u00adi\u00adties of any Cana\u00addi\u00adan forces at all. Out\u00adside of Cana\u00adda, I have nev\u00ader encoun\u00adtered any press or per\u00adson\u00adal dis\u00adcus\u00adsion by any\u00adone about Canada\u2019s sup\u00adpos\u00aded\u00adly famous peace-keep\u00ading activ\u00adi\u00adties, or of any Cana\u00addi\u00adan mil\u00adi\u00adtary actions or com\u00admit\u00adments. Even in coun\u00adtries where we are, in fact, doing peace\u00adkeep\u00ading work, only the blue U.N. uni\u00adforms are rec\u00adog\u00adnized by the local bel\u00adliger\u00adents, and they don\u2019t care whether we are Cana\u00addi\u00adans or Mar\u00adtians. Far from car\u00ading about what Cana\u00adda does on the glob\u00adal mil\u00adi\u00adtary scene, few peo\u00adple out\u00adside of Cana\u00adda know that we have an army at all. If we are fight\u00ading any\u00adwhere near Amer\u00adi\u00adcans, it is tak\u00aden for grant\u00aded that we are Amer\u00adi\u00adcans, or that, if we are not, the dis\u00adtinc\u00adtion is of no impor\u00adtance. I hate to break it to misty-eyed fans of our glo\u00adri\u00adous mil\u00adi\u00adtary, but this is espe\u00adcial\u00adly true in Afghanistan, where we are engaged in our largest mil\u00adi\u00adtary project since the Kore\u00adan War.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even where we are fight\u00ading, and have direct \u201ccon\u00adtrol\u201d over an entire province, we remain invis\u00adi\u00adble, as a nation, to our ene\u00admies. Out of 42 Tal\u00adiban pris\u00adon\u00aders recent\u00adly cap\u00adtured by our forces, an enter\u00adpris\u00ading (and refresh\u00ading\u00adly cyn\u00adi\u00adcal) Toron\u00adto Globe and Mail reporter dis\u00adcov\u00adered that none what\u00adso\u00adev\u00ader knew what or where Cana\u00adda was.. They could not even iden\u00adti\u00adfy the name as refer\u00adring to a coun\u00adtry. One of our cap\u00adtive opo\u00adnents guessed that Cana\u00adda \u201cmight be an old and destroyed city\u201d , somewhere.[1]<\/span><\/p>\n

Com\u00adpare this real\u00adi\u00adty with the pro\u00adnounce\u00adments of Rick Hilli\u00ader, Canada\u2019s for\u00admer Chief of the Defense Staff, com\u00adman\u00adder in the field, and zealot for our pres\u00adence in Afghanistan. He claimed that a sui\u00adcide bomb\u00ading that killed more than 100 peo\u00adple in Kan\u00adda\u00adhar province was a response to debates in Canada\u2019s House of Com\u00admons about the future of our mis\u00adsion. It doesn\u2019t shock me that our politi\u00adcians and gen\u00ader\u00adals would ped\u00addle such non\u00adsense \u2026 they have long estab\u00adlished their propen\u00adsi\u00adty to bull\u00adshit and manip\u00adu\u00adlate the Cana\u00addi\u00adan pub\u00adlic. What does shock me is the will\u00ading\u00adness of pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal jour\u00adnal\u00adists and polit\u00adi\u00adcal ana\u00adlysts to let such idi\u00adot\u00adic pro\u00adnounce\u00adments go unquestioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cana\u00addi\u00adan jour\u00adnal\u00adists have also proven shock\u00ading\u00adly eager to swal\u00adlow the bull\u00adshit about \u201cengage\u00adment\u201d with Bei\u00adjing, the world\u2019s most bru\u00adtal vio\u00adla\u00adtor of human rights, which cal\u00adlous\u00adly exe\u00adcutes polit\u00adi\u00adcal dis\u00adsi\u00addents to har\u00advest their organs, and sells them at a tidy prof\u00adit. We\u2019ve been \u201cengag\u00ading\u201d the Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty in Bei\u00adjing ever since the slaugh\u00adter at Tien\u00adan\u00admen Square, and two decades of this \u201cengage\u00adment\u201d has pro\u00adduced exact\u00adly zero improve\u00adments in the Party\u2019s respect for human rights. As the Com\u00admu\u00adnist Party\u2019s pro\u00adgram of geno\u00adcide accel\u00ader\u00adates in Tibet, Cana\u00addi\u00adan politi\u00adcians flock to ban\u00adquet and clink cham\u00adpagne glass\u00ades with Par\u00adty offi\u00adcials, always care\u00adful to \u201cengage\u201d them about human rights issues (\u201cSo, what about them there hooman rites?\u201d \u2014 \u201cDon\u2019t wor\u00adry. Be Hap\u00adpy.\u201d \u2014 \u201cOh, okay.\u201d). The Com\u00admu\u00adnist gang\u00adsters gig\u00adgle and sneer at them, and refer to Cana\u00addi\u00adans by the Man\u00addarin slang term for \u201csuck\u00aders\u201d. In the eyes of the small-town hicks who pop\u00adu\u00adlate Cana\u00addi\u00adan pub\u00adlic affairs, all that mat\u00adters is the con\u00adstruc\u00adtion cranes vis\u00adi\u00adble in Shang\u00adhai, the opu\u00adlence of the Party\u2019s palaces, and the impres\u00adsive, inflat\u00aded fig\u00adures in the Party\u2019s made up sta\u00adtis\u00adtics. Our politi\u00adcians and busi\u00adness lead\u00aders bear a strik\u00ading resem\u00adblance to the illit\u00ader\u00adate, beard\u00aded bar\u00adbar\u00adians who were parad\u00aded through the cathe\u00addrals of Con\u00adstan\u00adtino\u00adple and, after being stuffed with wine and sausages, returned to the forests to tell their tribes tales of the infi\u00adnite wealth and pow\u00ader of the Emperor\u2019s realm.<\/span><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not exact\u00adly the first time. Remem\u00adber Indone\u00adsia? It was the pre\u00advi\u00adous Asian Giant, the poster-boy empire of devel\u00adop\u00adment with\u00adout democ\u00adra\u00adcy, beloved of all free\u00addom-hat\u00ading politi\u00adcians. In Jan\u00adu\u00adary, 1996, our Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter accom\u00adpa\u00adnied eight Cana\u00addi\u00adan provin\u00adcial Pre\u00admiers, and hun\u00addreds of tyrannophile Cana\u00addi\u00adan busi\u00adness\u00admen to Jakar\u00adta to be feast\u00aded in the Jakar\u00adta Hilton. They signed 2.7 bil\u00adlion dol\u00adlars worth of deals. Suharto\u2019s dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship was noto\u00adri\u00adous for bru\u00adtal repres\u00adsion, whole\u00adsale mas\u00adsacres, and prof\u00adli\u00adgate cor\u00adrup\u00adtion. It was con\u00adduct\u00ading a racist cam\u00adpaign of geno\u00adcide in ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adries it had vio\u00adlent\u00adly con\u00adquered. In this, it exact\u00adly par\u00adal\u00adleled the Com\u00admu\u00adnist Par\u00adty\u2019s activ\u00adi\u00adties in Tibet. But our Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter, Jean Chr\u00e9\u00adtien, dis\u00admissed such con\u00adcerns with the asser\u00adtion that human rights had to improve in Indone\u00adsia because we were giv\u00ading the dic\u00adta\u00adtor lots of mon\u00adey. \u201cIso\u00adla\u00adtion is the worst recipe, in my judg\u00adment, for cur\u00ading human rights prob\u00adlems.\u201d he lec\u00adtured Cana\u00addi\u00adan reporters. \u201cIt is par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpa\u00adtion. It is being there to raise the issue, to help them cope with their prob\u00adlems \u2015 that is the best way. .\u2026 As this coun\u00adtry is open\u00ading up, the sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion has improved. I hope the pres\u00adsure all of us are putting on them is help\u00ading.\u201d [2] Exact\u00adly what this \u201cpres\u00adsure\u201d was, he did not spec\u00adi\u00adfy. The her\u00adnias caused by the strain of car\u00adry\u00ading away so much free Cana\u00addi\u00adan cash, per\u00adhaps. At the time, all the world\u2019s press was describ\u00ading Indone\u00adsia in exact\u00adly the same ecsta\u00adt\u00adic terms as they now describe Chi\u00adna, and ped\u00addling exact\u00adly the same non\u00adsense about improv\u00ading human rights con\u00addi\u00adtions through \u201cengage\u00adment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Six months lat\u00ader, Canada\u2019s for\u00adeign min\u00adis\u00adter, Lloyd Axe\u00adwor\u00adthy, was being hus\u00adtled out of the coun\u00adtry so that he, and oth\u00ader for\u00adeign dig\u00adni\u00adtaries, would not see the regime\u2019s riot police and thugs club\u00adbing and shoot\u00ading the pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. With\u00adin anoth\u00ader year, Indonesia\u2019s \u201ceco\u00adnom\u00adic mir\u00ada\u00adcle\u201d had van\u00adished, as all the fic\u00adtive \u201center\u00adprise\u201d, which was noth\u00ading but State-man\u00adaged swin\u00addles and ponzie schemes to begin with, evap\u00ado\u00adrat\u00aded. Most of the country\u2019s wealth van\u00adished into num\u00adbered accounts in Switzer\u00adland \u2015 and Canada\u2019s invest\u00adment and aid mon\u00adey went with it. Riot\u00aders over\u00adturned the regime, and a new one, which shows few signs of being any less cor\u00adrupt or more demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic, took the reigns. But all the \u201cengage\u00adment\u201d nin\u00adnies kept their mouths shut, and shift\u00aded their atten\u00adtion to Beijing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many who are sus\u00adpi\u00adcious of mil\u00adi\u00adtary adven\u00adtures, and dubi\u00adous of \u201cglob\u00adal\u00adized\u201d trade, main\u00adtain the delu\u00adsion that the old-fash\u00adioned kind of Third World Devel\u00adop\u00adment Aid that was fash\u00adion\u00adable in the six\u00adties and sev\u00aden\u00adties is our real forte. They wax roman\u00adtic about how much Cana\u00adda is loved by the world\u2019s poor for it\u2019s for\u00adeign aid suc\u00adcess\u00ades in the past. This is the sort of fan\u00adta\u00adsy that old NDP<\/span> activists like to indulge in: Cana\u00adda as the Great White Father deliv\u00ader\u00ading blan\u00adkets and beans to the starv\u00ading natives, and receiv\u00ading feel-good wampum and cer\u00ade\u00admo\u00adni\u00adal head\u00address in return. The whole world, we are told, is impressed and grate\u00adful for our his\u00adto\u00adry of human\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan aid.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, wher\u00adev\u00ader Cana\u00addi\u00adan aid has been con\u00adcen\u00adtrat\u00aded enough to be notice\u00adable, it has sel\u00addom achieved any\u00adthing very impres\u00adsive. Take, for exam\u00adple, Tan\u00adza\u00adnia, a coun\u00adtry which Cana\u00addi\u00adan politi\u00adcians enthu\u00adsi\u00adas\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly adopt\u00aded as a recip\u00adi\u00adent of large scale devel\u00adop\u00adment aid. Aca\u00add\u00ade\u00admics, jour\u00adnal\u00adists and politi\u00adcians alike were eas\u00adi\u00adly impressed by the pompous pseu\u00addo-intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal pre\u00adten\u00adsions of its dic\u00adta\u00adtor, Julius Nyerere. Cana\u00addi\u00adan aid mon\u00adey, exper\u00adtise, and per\u00adson\u00adnel poured into the coun\u00adtry, on a large scale, at least in rela\u00adtion to Canada\u2019s pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion and econ\u00ado\u00admy. The result was unmit\u00adi\u00adgat\u00aded dis\u00adas\u00adter. Cana\u00addi\u00adan devel\u00adop\u00adment projects bru\u00adtal\u00adly pushed self-suf\u00adfi\u00adcient trib\u00adal peo\u00adple off their land, cast\u00ading them into wretched pover\u00adty and destroy\u00ading their cul\u00adtures. The dis\u00adpos\u00adsessed made way for fields of wheat, for bread that only the country\u2019s urban elite could (or want\u00aded to) eat. State-man\u00adaged indus\u00adtries were built by the Cana\u00addi\u00adan tax-pay\u00ader, which nev\u00ader pro\u00adduced any\u00adthing, but bought equip\u00adment from Cana\u00addi\u00adan mil\u00adlion\u00adaires at twice the world price, They dis\u00adplaced exist\u00ading small-scale enter\u00adpris\u00ades, and then closed down. As usu\u00adal, the hun\u00addreds of mil\u00adlions of Cana\u00addi\u00adan invest\u00adment and aid mon\u00adey van\u00adished into Swiss banks. Nyerere, the sage and super\u00adman of Africa, loot\u00aded his coun\u00adtry like all the oth\u00ader scum\u00adbags wor\u00adshiped by intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adals in North Amer\u00adi\u00adca. Cana\u00addi\u00adan \u201cexper\u00adtise\u201d turned out to be most\u00adly use\u00adless or destruc\u00adtive, Cana\u00addi\u00adan trac\u00adtors and trucks lie rust\u00ading in heaps all over Tan\u00adza\u00adnia, and Cana\u00addi\u00adan aid did noth\u00ading but pro\u00admote injus\u00adtice and poverty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet we hear the same glow\u00ading reports about our won\u00adder\u00adful work in Afghanistan, and how beloved we are by the peo\u00adple, and how respect\u00aded we are in the world for our self\u00adless deeds and clean-cut, Sergeant Pre\u00adston Of The Moun\u00adties image.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wake up, Cana\u00addi\u00adans. We have no \u201cimage\u201d. The world does not think we are cool. The world does not know, or care, if we exist. Only the Dutch know we exist, and admire us for some\u00adthing we did half a cen\u00adtu\u00adry ago, an amaz\u00ading case of pro\u00adlonged grat\u00adi\u00adtude in a world where the cul\u00adtur\u00adal mem\u00ado\u00adry span is noto\u00adri\u00adous\u00adly short. But out\u00adside of the Dutch, nobody notices our glob\u00adal pres\u00adence or sta\u00adtus. Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Harper\u2019s \u201cshow\u00addown\u201d in Roma\u00adnia, where he \u201cdemand\u00aded\u201d replace\u00adment NATO<\/span> troops that he had already been told would show up, was briefly noticed in the Euro\u00adpean press, where it was enjoyed as an amus\u00ading joke. It was deemed some\u00adthing on the same lev\u00adel as a child\u2019s recital of a poem at a kinder\u00adgarten pageant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ading the record of our lame and dis\u00adas\u00adtrous aid projects, our naive suck\u00ader deals in inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal trade, and our immoral col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion with tyrants and inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal gang\u00adsters, we should be glad that nobody actu\u00adal\u00adly remem\u00adbers we are here. If they actu\u00adal\u00adly did think about us long enough to look at the con\u00adse\u00adquences of our actions, on the glob\u00adal stage, they would not be filled with respect, but with contempt.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>
\n [1] Graeme Smith, \u201cTal\u00adiban Foot Sol\u00addirs Deeply Igno\u00adrant of the World\u201d, Globe and Mail, March 27, 2008.<\/span>
\n [2] quot\u00aded in John Stack\u00adhouse, Out of Pover\u00adty and Into Some\u00adthing More Com\u00adfort\u00adable, Ran\u00addom House Cana\u00adda, 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those Cana\u00addi\u00adans who imag\u00adine that Canada\u2019s role in glob\u00adal pol\u00adi\u00adtics is both impor\u00adtant and suc\u00adcess\u00adful need to have some of their bal\u00adloons punc\u00adtured. Our politi\u00adcians are con\u00adstant\u00adly repeat\u00ading to us how much the world admires us for our \u201cpeace keeping \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-as-blog-2008"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1107"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8597,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions\/8597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}