Damaging Damage Control

"I believe the prime minister either needs to substantiate these claims, that elements within the Indian government have played an active role in embarrassing our prime minister, or he needs to disavow these statements."
"The implications of saying that elements in the Indian government have played a role in this are profound."
"Either there are reasons for Canadians to be very concerned and obviously the prime minister and other officials have known about this [convicted and sentenced Indo-Canadian Sikh terrorist taken off an Indian government blacklist] for some time, in which case I think it needs to be expounded upon and Parliament needs to be advised. Or this is a wild accusation, not based on facts, in which case the prime minister has allowed a major diplomatic incident to happen."
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, Canadian House of Parliament

"On Saturday, Indian government officials were angry at suggestions by Canadian officials that India was responsible for Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal getting a visa to India and used his presence to embarrass Trudeau."
"[On the contrary, the Atwal invitation to attend a Trudeau entourage dinner at the Canadian High Commission] was part of a number of Trudeau's own events that did not involve the Indian government at all."
"[Prime Minister Trudeau's state visit/family holiday represented a] disaster that has little parallel in India's recent diplomatic history."
The Times of India

Still from video where Justin Trudeau assures Indian Prime Minister Modi that Canada is prepared to fight back against religious terrorism

"We know each other. He knows my name, he'll come and say, 'Hey Jas, how you doing?' We have a good relationship I never see any problem,."
"But now he says, 'Oh Jaspal's not supposed to be here, this and that.' It surprised me."
"I don't know why he's [B.C. MP Randeep Sarai, Surrey Center] taking all the responsibility; he had nothing to do with that [Atwal's invitation to attend dinner and other events."
"The high commissioner, they're the one giving the invitation. Everyone's name goes through CSIS and the RCMP."
"India's government has nothing to do with anything."
"I don't want to see our prime minister embarrassed. I will not come to Delhi, so please take me off the list. This is what I told them [Liberal party official in New Delhi]."
Jaspal Atwal, post-India trip, Surrey, British Columbia

The appearance of Jaspal Atwal, right, a B.C. man with Liberal ties who was convicted in the 1980s of the attempted murder of a Punjabi politician, was a huge embarrassment that threatened to derail the trip. He was photographed at one event with Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, left, as well as Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, and was disinvited from another. (Name of person who submitted photo withheld upon request)

Damage control has gone into overtime in the Prime Minister's Office. Trouble is, everyone involved is as left-footed as the blundering egotist they're trying to protect. None of what they claim is true, and the truth is that the Liberal party, and the Prime Minister of Canada are comfortable in the presence of individuals who have distinguished themselves as enemies of another state, even those fundamentalists given to violence who were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Indo-Canadians. They have influence among their followers; they are vote-guarantors.

No one, presumably was meant to notice the presence of a Sikh extremist among all the cozy attendees of various events celebrating Justin Trudeau's scintillating presence at the Canadian High Commission, during his India trip, where his prancing idiotic little infantile dance in Bollywood garb appeared to thrill onlookers admiring of this man who, wherever he goes on the international circuit embarrasses both himself and by extension, Canada and citizens of Canada.

Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, left, met with Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh in Amritsar on Wednesday, a meeting that initially helped ease Indian concerns about Canada's stance on extremism. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Indian government concerns that Canada, under Justin Trudeau, will do nothing to disrupt a resurgence of Sikh separatist conspiracies against India appear to be fully justified by the imbecilic performance that Trudeau engaged in throughout his eight-day family junket to India, where he felt he could show off Canada's embrace of its huge Indo-Canadian population through the elevation of elected Members of Parliament to important positions in Trudeau's extremely select Liberal cabinet.

Through sheer unadulterated ineptitude and rank stupidity, Trudeau has succeeded in justifying Indian authorities' concerns over Canada's real position with respect to Khalistani separation groups within Canada once again, whipping the embers of potential violence into the atmosphere, re-igniting passions in Canada and elsewhere, victimizing an important member of the British Commonwealth. That Canadian government officials are now busy spreading their version of a conspiracy against Canada hatched by Indian authorities is beyond belief.

The Old-new Canada Re-emerges

"The old Canada of Stephen Harper is gone and the new Canada of Stephane Dion is ascendant. We no longer take sides on global affairs. We don't pass judgement on right or wrong. We issue 'tough messages' to our 'friends' in Israel, while agreeing to let bygones be bygones with Iran. We signal our sympathy for Ukraine, but also our willingness to pursue 'common interests' with Russia. We're good guys. We're on your side -- whoever you are. However bad you may be, we want to get along. We mean no offence."
"You knew it was coming. You could tell, back when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was leader of the third-place Liberals and -- desperate for ways to differentiate his party from the Conservatives -- pledged to end Canada's involvement in the bombing campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. It was obvious during the campaign debates when Trudeau invoked Canada's mystical, and largely mythical, past as a stalwart of the UN's peacekeeping forces. Appointing Dion as foreign affairs minister left no room for doubt: Canada was clambering back onto the fence of international affairs, where moral equivalency rules and every outrage is relative."
"On Sunday, Dion issued a fairly pallid statement signalling that the Liberals had no intention of continuing the uncompromising support the Harper Conservatives had offered Israel."
Kelly McParland, journalist, National Post

"As a steadfast ally and friend to Israel, Canada calls for all efforts to be made to reduce violence and incitement and to help build the conditions for a return to the negotiating table."
"[Isolating Iran, as the Conservatives had done] is not good for the people of Iran ... for the promotion of human rights ... for our strategic interest in the region ... for Israel."
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion

The Canada that preferred its milquetoast image of not unsettling foreign powers whose agendas are rife with malice on the world stage is back. It returned on the back of the Liberal Party of Canada whose new leader, recently installed as another Liberal Prime Minister taking his predestined place, is set to reverse virtually all initiatives and directions that the former Conservative-led government of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper had committed the country to as a nation proud of its equable nature but firm convictions.

Diplomatic relations with a country that has underhandedly conspired to furnish itself with nuclear weapons the more convincingly to threaten its geographic neighbours, are to be resumed. In a country where such foreign missions are often under siege. Iran finds common cause and partnership in nuclear and ballistic missiles development with North Korea, reminiscent of Pakistan's aid in persuading Libya's Moammar Ghadaffi and Iraq's Saddam Hussein that they too could aspire to the prestigious nuclear club.

The time of Canada naming and co-sponsoring the annual resolution against the Islamic Republic of Iran as an gross abuser of human rights and a supporter of terrorism in the United Nations in the annual rebuff of civilized nations to Iran's power-hungry aspirations is obviously now a thing of the past. It will be viewed by the new Liberal government of Justin Trudeau as diplomatically inappropriate, while re-establishing ties with the rights-abusing Republic.

Not only do the mullahs and ayatollahs of Tehran make life miserable for religious minorities in Iran, for gays, for political dissidents, but before the Iranian mission in Ottawa was shut down, expatriate Iranians living in Canada were treated to the delightful anomaly of Iran violating their safety and security through threats and intimidation within Canada itself. Now that diplomacy will be resumed, so too can the interference in Canada's internal matters be taken up once again.

Israel will have to become accustomed to gentle official Canadian chiding about 'disproportionate' responses by the IDF to Palestinian assaults against Israel and its people. The mantra is that Israel must be responsible for handling the Palestinian demands of nationhood which they interpret as the dismantling of the state of Israel with the kid gloves preferred by European governments, while no mention is made about inconvenient and ongoing attacks by Palestinians terrorists against Israeli civilians.

"The Palestinian people has developed its [methods[ of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry", bragged Hamas MP Fathi Hammad, augmenting the statement by former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh: "We love death like our enemies love life". And nor is Palestinian Authority (Fatah) President Mahmoud Abbas a laggard in promoting the Palestinian cause, promoting assassins of Jews to martyrdom status, naming squares and streets in their honour, conferring handsome annuities on their families.

But Canada is now being committed to resuming warm relations with those formerly held at arm's length, including a regime that excels in beatings of its citizens in custody, along with torture, execution, and generally inhumane treatment of Iranians; inclusive of the imprisonment of the Bahá’í leadership. Ethnic minorities see themselves discriminated against in Iran. Women have few rights, and political dissidents are imprisoned and murdered. Freedom of speech is non-existent; Iran imprisons more journalists than any other country in the world.

Iran vies with Saudi Arabia in the frequent and medieval-style imposition of a death penalty, imposing hanging of juveniles, criminal convictions less due process resulting in beheading, crucifixion and military-style executions by firing squad.  Coerced confessions are useful against gays, for a fairly comprehensive picture of an rights-abusing state which should remain a pariah within the international community, but is now enjoying an enthusiastic renaissance embraced by trade-hungry countries of Europe -- and Canada.

Racial Profiling or Experience?

"Officers on the front line, such as the officer herein, cannot be expected to leave their experience -- acquired usually after many years of observing people from different countries entering Canada -- at home."
"The officer simply asserted in his statement that in his experience it was not uncommon for Chinese persons to bring agricultural products with them upon returning from China. The officer's hunch, based on his experience and his observance of the respondent's demeanour, was confirmed by the secondary examination."
"[The tribunal's conclusion was] totally devoid of merit [in its finding of racial profiling]."
Justice Marc Nadon, Federal Court of Appeal, Canada

"Because it has been my experience working in the air mode stream that it is more than common that individuals of Chinese origin returning from China bring agricultural products with them [he asked leading questions]."
Canada Border Service Agency customs officer, Macdonald-Cartier International Airport

The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that customs officers can use their on-the-job experience to inform decisions about whom to stop and search at Canada's airports.
Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press

Justice Nadon saw fit to overturn a tribunal decision that decided for an Ottawa woman, Ting Ting Tam in quashing an $800 fine levied upon her when she returned from a trip to China back to Canada, failing to declare food products stored in her luggage. The Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal had ruled a year ago that Ms. Tam was the victim of racial profiling. A retired hairdresser, Ms. Tam, 72, had returned to Ottawa after a family visit in China.

She had stated on a declaration card that she had no meat or meat products with her which she was bringing into the country. Twice the customs officer repeated his query, whether she had food, plants, candies or anything remotely resembling food in her bags, and on both occasions the elderly woman responded she had nothing that could qualify as food or agricultural products in her possession. Because the woman standing before him appeared nervous, the customs officer sent her on to a secondary inspection.

Where it was discovered that Ms. Tam did indeed have "assorted pork products" from China packed in her luggage. She received an $800 fine under a federal law concerning the health of domestic animals. Ms. Tam has a limited English vocabulary and the widow, living on a small pension had a friend come to her aid. Tony Fan appealed the fine to the Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal. That she had a few snack items with her was attributable to her having failed, as intended, to eat them before landing in Canada, he said, and that she was undeserving of a fine.

The agricultural review tribunal came to the conclusion this Chinese woman represented an unfair target since the customs officer expressed his belief that Chinese people were likely on the basis of his past experience, to smuggle food into the country. Ottawa lawyer, Bruce La Rochelle, the presiding tribunal member ruled that the secondary inspection resulted from "an irrelevant consideration: Ms. Tam's race." Based on the customs officer's own statement, evidence of racial profiling existed, according to Mr. La Rochelle as he voided the $800 fine.

"There is no evidence that he conducted himself otherwise than in what he genuinely believed to be an appropriate manner. However, as superior courts have noted ... racial profiling is not necessarily conscious behaviour", wrote Mr. La Rochelle. And to that the federal government appealed. To see eventually the Federal Court of Appeal reject the reasoning of the three-person tribunal.

It was the appeal court's position that the tribunal gave no consideration to the customs officer having made his decision based on his own reasoning that was twofold in nature: on Ms. Tam's interview demeanour, and on his own professional experience as a customs officer. No evidence of racial profiling existed, wrote Justice Nadon.

There will be further repercussions as a result of this Federal Appeals Court ruling, few of them having anything to do with the unintended smuggling of forbidden food items into Canada. There are other issues where racial profiling is so often considered to be at play when criminal acts take place and those charged claim to have been targeted because of their race. The issue, for example, of police, based on their experience, having suspicions about the behaviours of young black men.

The issue of Muslims claiming they have been racially targeted for special attention and interrogation based on their appearance identifying them as originating from areas of the world where terrorism is a rampant danger and its importation a constant concern. The starkly obvious fact that terrorism is mostly Islamist in origin, and that people from Muslim-majority countries of Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa are those most prone to engage in it, identifies the unfortunate potential by physical appearance leading to suspicion.

Based on a reasonable assumption, given realities.

And then there are charges of racial profiling quite trivialized, for example, when something as absurdly removed from terrorism as a similar instance of importing meat was tossed after a tribunal found that Youssef Bougachouch was fined in a politically incorrect manner when the tribunal heard that only passengers whose appearance was Arabic on a flight from Morocco were referred for secondary inspection.

Leading, On The World Stage

"You are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan."
"Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail. And because the costs associated with military action are so high, you should expect every civilian leader and especially your commander-in-chief -- to be clear about how that awesome power should be used."
"As frustrating as it is, there are no easy answers, no military solutions that can eliminate the terrible suffering [international conflicts] anytime soon."
U.S. President Barack Obama, West Point Military Academy 2014 graduation ceremony

Was there ever before a president of the great United States of America who so relished referring to himself so constantly as "your Commander in Chief"? In that pondering, professorial, lecturing voice?

Obama arrives at West Point. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

"In helping those who fight for the right of all Syrians to choose their own future, we also push back against the growing number of extremists who find safe haven in the chaos."

As for Syria and American non-involvement in the mass butchery of the Syrian regime, well, chemical weapons are being (eventually) removed and destroyed (eventually).

Citing efforts to rally European support for sanctions against Russia after the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, President Obama claims Russia is isolated, while his critics scoff, pointing to his inability to stop Vladimir Putin from proceeding to take the peninsula to begin with as a failure of resolve and capability.

Interestingly enough, Exxon Mobil Corp. extended its partnership with Russia's OAO Rosneft this month. It has seen no requirement to alter its business in Russia despite Ukraine-related sanctions claiming such steps typically are ineffective. "We don't find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented", said chief executive Rex Tillerson during a shareholders meeting Wednesday in Dallas

Exxon, you see, is among U.S. oil producers ignoring U.S. State Department recommendations to skip an energy forum in St. Petersburg last week, extending a pact with Rosneft involving drilling for crude both in the Arctic and Siberia. This, while the U.S. and European nations have imposed sanctions for the quite express purpose of punishing Vladimir Putin's regime for his Ukrainian interference and aggression.

And while in Canada an independent pharmaceuticals tycoon spearheads an international movement to boycott the products of major sponsors like Budweiser and Anheuser-BuschInBev, to help implement a move away from Russia of the 32018 World Cup. "[Putin] has no right to have that. It goes against every possible theme of soccer and the World Cup and what it's supposed to stand for", said Eugene Melnyk, chairman of the Campaign Advisory Committee for United with Ukraine.

Coming a day after outlining his plans to wind down the country's involvement in Afghanistan by the end of 2016, President Obama was delighted to inform the military graduates that they, unlike previous graduates, will not be likely to be posted abroad to fight in foreign war theatres. He took time to praise ongoing diplomatic efforts between Iran, the U.S. and other negotiating partners making up the G5+1.

Accomplishments? Zip. President Obama agreed the odds of reaching an agreement appear remote. However, a diplomatic breakthrough would be "more effective and durable than what would be achieved through the use of force". Does this man really know his adversary? "Throughout these negotiations, it has been our willingness to work through multilateral channels that kept the world on our side", he self-congratulated.

U.S. President Barack Obama and the superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, Lieut.-Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr., take the pledge of allegiance at the start of the West Point Military Academy 2014 graduation ceremony in Highland Falls, N.Y., on Wednesday. EPA/Peter Foley Org

However, America would continue to use military force on its own "when our core interests demand it -- when our people are threatened, when our livelihood is at stake, or when the security of our allies is in danger". He does, it should be iterated and reiterated, prefer acting as part of an international coalition rather than pressing on alone.

No sign of weakness as his detractors claim; it highlights the ability of the U.S. to lead on the world stage.

Foreign Affairs

"I think too often ... in the past, we just went along to get along. If the equation is always that when things are really difficult, back down because this might upset this or that country, well, sorry. If everyone is talking around the issue, you get nowhere. Sometimes you've just got to ruffle feathers."
"[Condemnation of forced child marriage objection] I said no. I didn't back down. I wanted something about this issue in [a Commonwealth communique] and I said, 'Tell me wh- it's OK for a nine-year-old to get married to a 50-year-old. Explain it to me."
"Well, sorry, I came to this meeting and this is one of the only two or three things I am pushing [religious freedom] and you are not taking it out without talking to me. So I said I am not agreeing to the statement. We pushed and they put it back in. They may not like it, but they respect us for that."
"If we are supporting Israel to get votes, we are making some bad choices out there."
"[Standing with Israel...]I've travelled to virtually every Arab country in the Middle East and North Africa. I had the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority come to Ottawa and call me a friend. We have excellent relations in the Arab world, and we now have a representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah. They disagree with us on Israel, but it's not an impediment to our relationship."
Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird, Canada

Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird, centre, walks in Kiev's Independence Square, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Emilio Morenatti

"I like Stephen Harper, I like being part of his team and I have no interest in becoming leader."

This is the expression of Canada's new world view rooted in the values that Canadians hold dear, in a culture of freedom, security, equality, pluralism, prosperity and the rule of law. And the determination to speak truth to power even if that power is that of the world's most influential political leaders. And to speak with conviction and principle of matters recognized as wrong whoever commits them, and to refuse to accept that those injurious actions can be or should be overlooked in the interests of harmony.

Or, at the very least, no longer shirking responsibility by making an effort not to give offence, by stating Canada's objections to objectionable actions or achievements meant to isolate, overwhelm, and slander others. Making a stand without making a fuss, just to ensure that those in the international community know unequivocally where Canada stands in the interests of justice and fairness in dealing with others. In this, John Baird, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade stands shoulder-to-shoulder ideologically with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Whose own attitude toward world events and whose words have been taken up by his foreign minister. They share, the prime minister, and the foreign minister: "remarkably similar view[s] of the world. We arrived in government with similar views and we generally have the same gut instincts. We see eye-to-eye on the issues." Whether the issues relate to a commitment to offer gays the same protections under the law as anyone else, or to assure Ukrainian-Canadians that their concerns for Ukraine's plight is also Canada's fight.

Prime Minister Harper expressed his own views more than adequately on the world stage when he made the declaration that Canada is not interested in "trying to court every dictator with a vote at the United Nations or just going along with every emerging international consensus, no matter how self-evidently wrongheaded." And, standing at the United Nations, denouncing the "endless, fruitless, inward-looking exercises" and preoccupation with "procedure and process", bypassing "substance and results".

Mr. Baird prides himself on being careful to consult and being a careful listener to those whom he respects for their thought and expertise. And those whom he consults range from Janice Stein of the Munk Centre on Global Studies, to George Shultz, former secretary of state under Ronald Reagan, and David Miliband, former British Labour foreign minister, among others of experience and level-headed intelligence in assessing world affairs.

Critics of the government's more assertive stance claim this is an elaborate ploy to court votes, and cite the Government of Canada, under the Conservatives' expressed admiration and support for the State of Israel, as evidence that Canadian Jews are being manipulated to support the Conservative government. To which Mr. Baird points out that his Ottawa West-Nepean riding hosts 2,800 Jews and 11,500 Arabs and Muslims.

As for the 2015 election, he says bring it on. His prediction is for a tough national fight. His level-headed assessment of the strengths of the opposition betrays no evidence of partisan tooth-and-claw in this statement: "Thomas Mulcair is a very strong opposition leader, and Justin Trudeau has something Paul Martin, Stephan Dion and Michael Ignatieff didn't have -- a united party behind his leadership. So it is definitely moving into uncharted waters."