February 18, 2005

Close Encounters of the Intransigent Politician Kind

This is as close as it gets to liveblogging on the Dominion Weblog... I'm at McGill's "Canada's Place in the World" conference, where a few Canadian foreign policy bigwigs (Bill Graham, Pierre Pettigrew, Aileen Caroll) and a lot of fresh-faced students are discussing, well, Canada's place in the world.

Wireless isn't working, so I'll post this post facto.

The debate seems to have been significantly constrained by the fact that our government apparently has little to no ability to deviate from what the US tells us to do, and the terrorist threat of course dominated the agenda. Security certificates, AIDS, and other worthy issues did make guest appearances.

But let's be honest, I was there to ask questions of the keynote speakers, the three ministers listed below.

Pierre Pettigrew

It's the usual. Pettigrew talked about his eight day trip to the middle east, and how he was always hearing. A lot of people seemed to be impressed, though I confess that it seemed like a lot of abstract platitudes: partnership, trust, etc.

The interesting part came during the press scrum after the talk. One reporter asked him about human rights in Haiti, and he responded with a throwaway answer about strengthening "our" presence there. I asked him a followup about whether the Government was going to fully disclose the program that the RCMP is using to train the Haitian National Police (which several human rights groups and eyewitnesses have accused of commiting massacres in poor neighbourhoods in Haiti and taking political prisoners), but I didn't finish the question. He cut me off, and ignored attempts to finish the question. He was heckled a bit by some activists who were in the scrum. I followed him out the door, repeatedly asking the same (simple) question about disclosure. He didn't say anything, but got a bit flustered and started making faces at me and waving his hands around his head (apparently mocking me?). This image will be with me for a while, and was, despite the seriousness of the issue, totally hilarious in a pathetic way.

His communications guy Sebastien Théberge stuck around and answered questions, but was stunning in his total lack of basic information, despite having been to Haiti. He kept telling me to send him human rights reports. There's no way an even remotely responsible Foreign Affairs dept wouldn't be aware of, say, the University of Miami Report on Haiti. In this sense, I sort of preferred Pettigrew's faces to Théberge's bullshit. But I'll send him the report all the same.

Earlier on, I evesdropped a bit on Pettigrew's schmoozing, and was, despite my jaded nature, astounded at the intensity of the self congratulation and reinforcement that goes on. If you've seen The Corporation, the footage of Pettigrew with Tom D'Aquino is totally indicative of what goes on in these comfortable rooms.

But jeez, what I wouldn't give for a photo of Pierre Pettigrew making faces at me.

[after the jump: Aileen Carroll, Bill Graham]

Aileen Carroll

"Canada is poised to reclaim its rightful place in the world."

Carroll, the Minister for International Cooperation, said nothings very similar to those of Mr. Pettigrew. We need to make hard choices about our aid spending, reflect our values, "eliminate global poverty" by "liberating entrepreneurs", and achieve social justice. [Isn't that nice? --ed] She quoted her "good friend", Irwin Cotler, who she said expressed "a very Canadian sentiment," that "the test of a just society is how it treats the most vulnerable within." Also, we need to fight poverty in developing countries because they might become "havens for terror".

Where Pettigrew made jokes about his accent and his hair, Carroll joked about being a "two fisted drinker" (because she's "from the maritimes")... of water, in this case.

Again, the post-speech orgy of adulatory congratulations rained down. "The speech made the conference"; "wonderful"; "congratulations", and so on. This is apparently what happens when a federal minister acknowledges the existence of poverty. Or maybe it's what happens no matter what they say.

After the speech, I asked her what, given her plan to "liberate the entrepreneurs," she thought about calls to liberate the political prisoners in Haiti. She apparently has never been asked about Haiti, because she simply stated that she had no idea. Her frank surprise (unless she's an excellent faker) made me think that maybe Théberge actually was completely uninformed, and that the high levels of the Canadian government simply have no idea what they're supporting in Haiti. But that was just my first impression. My guess is that they simply play dumb whenever they can get away with it. That way that can act like they're engaging with you by offering to look into it and chat more, while saying nothing. Classic.

(Carroll was also asked basic questions about Canada's AIDS legislation, one of her supposed policy mainstays, and again claimed ignorance.)

But if they really know as little as they claim to, they would either a) be not unlike the majority of Canadians or b) be utterly incompetent and need to be replaced immediately by people who can grasp the basic facts of the things they're in charge of.

I got the contact information of her assistant, so I'll be following up, albeit with very low expectations.

Bill Graham (defence minister) is speaking later this afternoon, but I'm going to go to a press conference about Palestinian refugees, so I'll probably miss it. I got the interviews done at the Palestinian refugee rally (more later), and arrived with plenty of time for Graham's speech.

Bill Graham

Paraphrasing... (direct quotes are in quotes)

The old style of international peacekeeping, where lightly armed soldiers patrol the boundaries of conflict, is no longer enough. Today's military (apparently we're not using the term "peacekeeper" anymore) needs to fight insurgents while minimizing civilian casualties. Hostile forces are often scattered among civilians. Military activity needs to be "consistent with our national character," "collective values": "tolerance, respect for one another, and cultural sensitivity."

"Targeting the enemy while avoiding noncombattants". "Negotiation, compromise". "Ability to establish a relationship with people who need [Canadian military's] assistance."

"We need [military commanders] to help [occupied populations] understand that civilian casualties are for their greater good, not repressive measures of occupying military force." (Yes, he actually said that.) "Ensure that no life is threatened beyond what is absolutely required by the situation."

"Our real goal is to get civil society started in those regions."

And the best line of the night:

"We're not just here to conquer, were here to engage with a civil society."

(Yes, he actually said that too.)

There was, naturally, much gratuitous and intense congratulating. It was kind of gross to watch, and I won't mention what metaphor came to mind.

I asked Graham if he thought that the Canadian situation would be affected by human rights reports about the abuses of the Haitian National Police. He responded by describing in very broad terms "what we're trying to do in Haiti."

His style was different from Pettigrew's "I'm won't talk to you, I will make faces at you" and Caroll's "I really don't know anything at all". He just responded to some other question that he made up, and then refused to admit that he knew anything concrete at all.

Transcripts to come.