PM Harper, Baird Forget Who They're Working For







In November of 2012, The United Nations General Assembly took a vote on whether to upgrade Palestine’s status from “observer,” to “non-member observer state.”  There were 138 votes in favour (Huffington Post), and this vote was an important first step in beginning to recognize the Palestinian state internationally.  Canada was not one of the 138 votes in favour of this upgraded status for Palestine.

It is no secret Prime Minister Harper’s government is a staunch supporter of Israel, and as Harper has said in the past, Canada is “morally obliged [to] always stand by [Israel].”

Unfortunately for Mr. Harper, the majority of Canadians do not echo his sentiment. After the November 2012 UN vote, Canadians made their dissatisfaction with their government’s decision known by sending letters to the government expressing their distain, letters of which 82% from November 2012 to December of 2012 vehemently objected the government’s decision. (Huffington Post

A couple of days after the vote, Israel began expanding the West Bank settlement, a plan that even our biggest trading partner and ally, the United States condemned ,with President Barack Obama saying “continued settlement activity [is not] constructive, [..] appropriate [or] something that can advance the cause of peace.  In contrast, Canada did not condemn Israeli’s actions.

Will the Harper government listen to the will of the Canadian people on this issue? If the letters of objection to Canada’s behaviour during the UN vote were not enough to convince the government people were unhappy, perhaps the public opinion poll conducted by the CBC and Nanos Research would make an impact.

The survey conducted in December of 2012 found that 48% of Canadians want Middle East policy that favours neither Israel nor Palestine. (Huffington Post)  Foreign affairs minister John Baird responded with complete disregard to the wishes of the people by saying “we don’t take positions based on what is popular. We make decisions based on what we think is right and wrong.”

It seems John Baird, and the Harper government need to be reminded who they are working for- the people of Canada. As one of only nine other countries who voted ‘no’ at the UN meeting on Palestine, we can only hope that our international reputation is not further dragged through the mud based on what Mr. Baird and Mr. Harper deem to be “right and wrong.” 


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