A good week for Harper and Co. By Leslie Campbell Published September 30, 2009    2 Comments

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Something very unusual, even shocking, has been happening. It's been building slowly, but last week, with the annual UN meeting and the G20 summit, it seems undeniable: Canada is becoming relevant again in world affairs!

While it's too early to tell if Canada's slide into international irrelevance, which started in earnest under the Liberals with the end of Lloyd Axworthy's tenure in 2000, has been permanently reversed, there is no question that a new wind is blowing.

Deftly handling both Iranian President Ahmedinejad and the "King of Kings" (as the Libyan UN General Assembly president introduced him), Moammar Gaddafi, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon had a good week.

Perhaps it was a coincidence that hints of a resurgent internationally-oriented Canada came on the heels of Michael Ignatieff's well-publicized "Canada's Place in a Changing World" speech, or maybe it was because of Ignatieff's speech, but whatever the motivation, Canadians who followed the happenings in the UN circus or who read the news of the G20 summit had reason to be proud.

Prime Minister Harper's decision to skip the UN gathering elicited some flak in Ottawa, but given his working meeting with President Obama in Washington the previous week and his appointment with G20 leaders in Pittsburgh after the UN event, the PM made the right decision.

Rather than trying to compete in New York with Barack Obama's speechmaking or Moammar Ghaddafi's ramblings, Harper left Minister Cannon to orchestrate what turned out to be brilliant political theatre.

Announcing ahead of time that the Canadian delegation would leave the auditorium before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had a chance to deliver his usual hateful, Holocaust-denying, Israel-baiting speech, Cannon took a calculated risk in being first to go. As it turned out, he was soon joined by Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, the US and many others.

With Iran's admission of the existence of a second nuclear plant on Sept. 25—forced, it would seem, by the imminent release of US intelligence analysis—Canada's orchestrated walk-out looked not only principled but downright prescient.

Cannon scored points later by threatening to confront Gaddafi on Canadian soil about the perception of that country's over-exuberant support for convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbesat Megrahi. While making it clear that Gaddafi was welcome to stop in Newfoundland to rest and refuel, the foreign minister planned to greet him with a lecture.

Being the inventor of a whole new political system, Jamahiriya, which he describes as superior to any existing forms of democracy, Gaddafi chose to skip Canada and the potential humiliation. It was just as well for Harper and Cannon as Gaddafi embarrasses just about every world leader he comes in contact with.

Cannon set the stage for a good week, but Harper was also on his game. Arriving at the meeting venue for the summit, the New York Times noted that Harper and wife Laureen seemed more popular with the Obamas than many of the other guests.

Acting as a pool reporter, Times correspondent Helene Cooper chronicled the arrival of each head of state. The Harpers got more than the perfunctory greeting, she noted in a blog-style column on Sept. 25: "Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrives with his wife. They get a warm welcome from both Obamas, the warmest so far. There's a lot of familiarity. Hugs, chats about daughters."

Perhaps pumped that Canada's relative success in weathering the recession was noticed by other world leaders, Harper held a markedly triumphal press conference at the end of the Pittsburgh gathering. Reuters noted the rare—for a Canadian—confidence of Harper's address as he suggested that Canada could lead in the world because "we have all of the things that many people admire about the great powers but none of the things that threaten or bother them."

Perhaps the Harper government's new energy for international affairs has been spurred, in part, by growing confidence in the US-Canada file. Canada's response to the Buy American provision in the US stimulus package has gained praise. While asking for an immediate exemption from the clause, the government also proposed negotiations to bring provinces and states into international government procurement agreements. Used to smug moralizing from Canada, US partners noted the constructive approach.

Despite the controversy in Canada, our willingness to sign a free trade agreement with Colombia is being used by some trade-oriented Members of Congress as a stick to prod their protectionist colleagues into speeding a US agreement with that country.

Canada's increasingly assertive Arctic policy, insofar as it gently antagonizes the Russians, or at least challenges their showy Arctic stunts, highlights an aggressiveness that has been missing for years.

Canada's steadfastness in Afghanistan inspires increasing admiration south of the border, and Prime Minister Harper's drop-in to the Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting on the margins of the UN conference was another sign of a serious Canadian commitment to the "Af-Pak" region.

Admittedly, the evidence of a resurgent international Canada isn't incontrovertible. A good week, or even month, doesn't prove a genuine change of will. With Copenhagen climate change negotiations pending, the government has another potential showcase. Leading on climate change is a lot to ask of a country so reliant on energy exports, but it will be interesting to see if Harper has genuinely caught the international bug.

editor@embassymag.ca