PM Turns to the International Stage
To Avoid Tough Audience at Home
January12, 2005
Liberal strategists have determined it’s safer
to have Paul Martin play ‘Prime Minister of Canada’
on the international stage.
Mr. Martin’s natural indecisiveness and dithering
are difficult to hide when he’s facing the scrutiny
of our country’s national affairs reporters. He
fence-sits or passes the buck on just about every major
issue that’s faced Canada since becoming Prime Minister.
This includes the beef crisis, the softwood lumber dispute
with the U.S., missile defence, same-sex marriage, the
sponsorship scandal, and the immigration scandals.
Meanwhile, Liberal backbenchers are defiant with the
knowledge that he needs their vote in this minority parliament.
Behind the scenes, Mr. Martin faces the wrath of Jean
Chrétien allies still bitter over their unceremonious
dumping and poised to seek revenge at the first opportunity.
So, instead of having the PM face hard-nosed reporters,
opposition MPs, or rebellious caucus and party members
here at home, which doesn’t make for “good
TV” or headlines, Mr. Martin’s handlers have
deemed it wise to send him off on some extensive globe-trotting.
In less than six months, Mr. Martin has traveled to Russia,
France, Hungary, Chile, Brazil, Sudan and Burkino Faso.
He just wrapped up a visit with Libyan dictator Moammar
Gadhafi and a vacation in Morocco. This week, his travel
itinerary takes him to India, Japan and China.
Wisely, his staff just tagged on stops in Thailand and
Sri Lanka, finally recognizing that Mr. Martin has an
obligation to demonstrate support for the families of
victims of the Tsunami and aid workers struggling to help
the survivors.
The end result is that Canadians view an ongoing series
of quick images of their Prime Minister smiling, shaking-hands
with world leaders and touring notable international landmarks.
So what if it’s just a bunch of staged photo-ops?
What matters to Liberal strategists is that on TV and
in pictures at least, the PM looks busy. Conveniently,
the whirlwind travel agenda doesn’t allow time for
pesky, tough political questions.
Still, for national media outlets, the whereabouts of
the country’s leader, however superficial, is news
nonetheless. Why is it that I sense the vast majority
of Canadians would prefer he stay home and tend to business
here?
Ironically, despite strutting his stuff on the international
stage, Paul Martin’s government has one of the worst
records this country has ever seen on foreign and international
affairs. His Ministers and MPs publicly scorn the leaders
of our trading partners and allies. He keeps stalling
on the ballistic missile defence file. He missed his Fall
2004 deadline to conduct a comprehensive foreign policy
and defence review for Canada, something that hasn’t
been done in a decade.
And, the Canadian Forces, our single most critical tool
for ensuring that Canada can pull its’ weight in
international peacekeeping and humanitarian relief missions,
continues to be chronically under-funded by the Liberals.
I believe Mr. Martin is underestimating the Canadian
electorate’s ability to see through his worldly
publicity stunt. He may end up holding lots of mileage
points … but gaining zero political mileage.
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