Second Thots

Question: When was the last time Canada showed the kind of leadership we saw from Harper during the Francophone Summit in Romania?

Could you have imagined Liberals rocking the boat like this in order to do the right thing? It was risky, but leadership often involves risk.

Harper insisted that Israelis receive recognition in a resolution concerning victims in the recent war in Lebanon. The other countries at the summit eventually agreed.

While other Canadian leaders always talked a good game about the kind of role Canada could play in the world, we finally seem to have leadership that's about more than just words.

I think it also might be noteworthy that this kind of international leadership didn't involve the firing of one bullet. Domestic critics who accuse Harper of only wanting to use guns in Afghanistan might be excused for wiping a bit of egg from their faces right now.

UPDATE (Sep. 30, 7:39 am): You gotta love some of the headlines describing these events in the Canadian media. None of them give Harper credit for any kind of achievement. Many of them simply state he "forced a debate." One of them even suggested Harper is now "in the hot seat" for defending Israel.

Why can't the Canadian media simply call a spade a spade?

Harper was able to force consensus on a resolution recognizing Israeli victims alongside Lebanese victims. When's the last time an international summit did that? When's the last time the UN showed some balance towards Israel, while we're at it? Sheesh.