Going Along to Get Along: John Baird’s Mideast Tour0

• Analysis
• April 5, 2013

Foreign Minister Baird’s seven-country, ten-day tour of the Middle East provides final confirmation that his much vaunted “principled” foreign policy committed to promoting “freedom, human rights, democracy and the rule of law” is little more than empty rhetoric. So far, …

Baird’s Silence on Abuses in Bahrain Exposes Canada’s Inconsistency0

• Analysis
• April 5, 2013

Published in the Globe and Mail, April 5, 2013

The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper prides itself on having a “principled” foreign policy and for taking “clear positions” in the defence of human rights. Why, then, did Foreign …

Baird Muddies the Waters: Canada and the International Criminal Court0

• Analysis
• March 10, 2013

The Canadian government has yet to fully explain its reason for refusing to support an initiative to persuade the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). As discussed previously, last month Foreign Minister Baird …

Canada Abandons International Justice Effort in Syria0

• Analysis
• January 21, 2013

In the past week, amidst the crisis in Mali and the hostage crisis at the gas plant in southern Algeria, the world’s attention shifted away from the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. This perhaps explains how the Canadian media missed what …

A Footnote on Canada-Iran Relations0

• Analysis
• December 17, 2012

The Harper government took a decision in late August 2012, to bring Canadian diplomats out of Tehran and expel Iranian diplomats in Ottawa. It was described by some observers as a sudden decision, but it was obviously a measure which …

Principle or Prejudice? Canada’s Misguided Denial of Palestinian Statehood0

• Analysis
• December 3, 2012

Prime Minister Harper tweeted on Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had called to thank him for Canada’s “friendship and principled position this week at the UN”.  The friendship may be obvious, but one searches in vain for the principle …

A Not-So-New Foreign Policy Plan0

• Analysis
• November 20, 2012

The Harper government’s “secret” foreign policy plan, revealed by the CBC today, offers few surprises. Its emphasis on pursuing economic opportunities, particularly in emerging markets, is a reflection of what the government is already doing. The real news is …

The Central Conundrum of Baird’s UN Speech0

• Analysis
• October 8, 2012

It’s too easy to dismiss John Baird’s October 1 speech to the UN General Assembly as simply another exercise in appealing to the party’s base. True, it did precisely that, capturing headlines back home as a “scathing rebuke” to the …