Are the days over when Canada built its image on peacekeeping and foreign aid?
Since taking power, the Conservative government’s international forays have raised some eyebrows and prompted some concerns about the waters our new helmsman is steering us into full-throttle. The international image of Canada is emerging as one with a no-nonsense, gutsy government, willing, for example, to become the first nation after Israel to cut aid to the Palestinian Hamas government, recognizing the Armenian genocide, declaring Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers a terrorist group, and adopting a hard line on Chinese spies; it’s a government that’s no longer willing to kid itself about meeting Kyoto commitments, and is charging full steam ahead into a war in Afghanistan that is losing popularity, meanwhile aligning itself ever closer with the United States. It may seem like a pretty dramatic departure from the international image Canadians are used to self-identifying with: the U.S.-weary, neutral peacekeeper; the environmentalist, or the foreign aid donor. But don’t be too quick to condem
