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Fri 23 Jan, 2004 12:54 pm
We've got a new prime minister here in Canada. We're watching him to see what direction he's thinking of taking things.
Traditionally, new Canadian prime ministers make a point of inviting the U.S. president to exchange visits as soon as is possible. (It doesn't mean it happens, but the invites go out).
Our new fella seems to be making a statement with his first invitation. It is not to George Bush but Kofi Annan. It strikes me that he's taken a gutsy step.
Quote:Annan to address Canadian Parliament
DAVOS, Switzerland (CP) - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has accepted an invitation to address the Canadian Parliament sometime in the first two weeks of March, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced Friday.
Martin, who met Annan privately at the World Economic Forum in this Swiss Alps resort on Friday, said the invitation to Annan was the first he has made to a world leader because he wanted to underline the importance of the United Nations at a crossroads in its history.
"If the United Nations doesn't work, we are severely hobbled," he told a news conference.
Martin said in a world where superpowers like China and India are emerging to rival the economic might of the United States, the United Nations will be critical over the next decade in trying to determine how the world is governed.
Annan will be the first UN secretary general to address Parliament in the more than 50-year history of the organization.
By inviting Annan to speak to MPs and senators, Martin wants to express the role that Canada can play in achieving change at the United Nations.
"Canada has a very important role to play in the world, it is a proactive role and it is a role that carries a wide number of areas," he said, citing the AIDS crisis in Africa and establishing the rule of law in failed states as examples of areas where Canada has made a difference.
But Canada must also be involved in the way the United Nations evolves to deal with new global challenges, the prime minister said.
"No country has as great an opportunity and as great a responsibility to make this happen as does Canada," he said.
source
Whaddya think?
Seems like a good move to me... I'm surprised that no other UN Sec'y General has ever addressed the Canadian parliament.
I worry that George, surrounded as he is by vindictive guys like Karl Rove, will take it badly if he doesn't get an invitation soon. He'll make trouble somehow if he doesn't, no doubt about it.
I can't really see Canada as having the greatest responsibility to making sure that the UN evolves, but if you want to step up to that plate, good.
It's very rare for anyone to be invited to speak to Parliament, piffka.
I'm a bit startled by the news. Paul Martin was always thought to be affiliated with money-men. Then he invited Bono to speak at the convention which brought him to leadership of the Liberal party. Seems like he's trying to stake out some sort of higher ground. Interesting to watch, from north of the elephant.
Ah yes, PET's elephump . . . Mayhap Mr. Martin's loud noises will awaken the elephump, and demonstrate, at least so far as the Great White North is concerned, that the elephump's tusks have been drawn . . .
Maybe the U.S. president will suddenly develop a great interest in supporting the U.N.?
Sorry, Miss Girl, i couldn't hear your last remark for the din of my pig's wings flapping . . .
i know.
i hear those wings too.
trying to figure this out.
Setanta wrote:Sorry, Miss Girl, i couldn't hear your last remark for the din of my pig's wings flapping . . .
<snort>
Sounds like this new PM might be a good guy. How'd Canada get to be so lucky?
He kinda snuck up on us, Piffka.
Martin was minister of finance under the previous prime minister. Big business was his beat.
He's only been prime minister for about a month now.
Interesting days ahead of us, by the looks of it.
Dear George, not only am I not inviting you to my house-warming, but I'm inviting someone you don't care for much.
It'll be interesting to watch what W. is told to do.
Piffka wrote:
Quote:I can't really see Canada as having the greatest responsibility to making sure that the UN evolves, but if you want to step up to that plate, good.
In 1957, Lester B. Pearson, a Canadian diplomat and later our Prime Minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his plan to send troops from members of the UN to get between warring factions in international trouble spots.
Canadians have a vested interest in the UN, both historically and emotionally.
I'm really proud of our new PM. He seems to be a man of his word. This world needs peacekeepers. There is far too much violence.
He sounds like a great guy, Ceili, and I wish we had a leader like that in this country.
What I was thinking, without downplaying Canada at all, is it surprised me that he would say Canada has the greatest responsibility to the UN -- I wondered what your new PM was thinking. To my mind that responsibility should be the role of the permanent members of the security council.
I truly wish the United States of America were being more supportive right now (we were in the past, we were the main force for establishing it, the charter was written here) and I'm glad Canada is willing to step up to the plate.
Piffka, I think this was a subtle rebuff aimed at the 'elephant'. Many canadians feel, the decision not to go to Iraq, angered Bush and co. and we have been unreasonably punished, economically.
But as Paul Martin says, our greatest responsibility is to the UN, not American interests.
Many Canadian were adamantly against the Iraqi War and our country tried several times, through the UN, to come up with more reasonable resolutions to the impending war. All were snubbed by the US in favour of the mess we have now.
I wish the permanent members would step up to the plate too, but if they won't, maybe smaller nations can do a better job.
Ka-ching, ceili!
I wish I could give you a real hug for expressing that very Canadian sentiment so nicely.
Ceili,
In what way has the United States "unreasonably, punished economically" our Canadian neighbor? I'm certainly not aware of any such thing. I believe Canada enjoys a favorable balance of trade with the US, and derives substantial economic benefit from US industries located there.
We have grown accustomed to Canadian carping. I doubt very much that George Bush cares about the invitation. More than anything this story illustrates a rather well developed sense of self importance on the part of Mr. Martin, or at least on the part of those touting it.
Sounds like he's thumbing his nose at Bush. Great stuff.
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