Thursday, August 03, 2006

How Harper Wants Washington To See Us

Canadians are well aware of the sharp right turn in foreign policy taken by the Harper government. For instance, fifty-three per cent of those polled by the Strategic Counsel for the Globe and Mail and CTV said they believed Harper has supported Israeli actions in the Middle East conflict because this is in line with U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration.

In Washington, the Harper government has been even more overt in presenting Canada as a freshly minted neo-conservative power and fervent ally. On a website called
CanadianAlly, the government of Canada tells American decision makers just how much in step the northern neighbour is with the Bush administration.

On the title page of this official site, you see heavily armed Canadian soldiers heading into battle. No blue helmets here. Canadians are tough warriors, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Americans. In an article on July 6, the day Stephen Harper visited George W. Bush in the White House, the right-wing Washington Times got the point of the website: “Canada has been eager to alert Americans to a more militaristic image. A smartly designed Web site (www.CanadianAlly.com) -- promoted with ads in the D.C. Metro system and elsewhere – bristles with photos of Canadian troops in action abroad.”

The first item on the web site, titled “War on Terrorism”, reads:

“Canada has deployed 16,000 personnel and 20 Warships to Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf since 2001. Canadian ship-borne Helicopters, patrol and transport aircraft have flown more than 5,000 sorties and at least 22,500 hours of mission flights. Canada has 2,300 troops in Afghanistan and Command of the Multi-national Brigade in Kandahar. Canada has suffered 18 Deaths and 67 wounded/injured personnel.”

The tone of the web site can be seen in the items it features on its title page:

Statement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the deaths of Corporal Francisco Gomez and Corporal Jason Patrick Warren
2 Canadians killed in Afghan suicide bombing
NATO Plans to Expand Afghanistan Mission
Canadian Government Deploys Military to Assist With Departure of Canadians in Lebanon
Statement by the Prime Minister on Cyprus airlift
NATO troops to battle mock disasters
Canada sends six ships to Lebanon
Envoy says Canadian soldiers 'in eye of storm'
Canada’s New Government keeps its commitment to support our military
The 2006 G8 Summit
Canadian soldiers feel like "bullet magnets" after Taliban ambush
Forces launch big attack in Afghan south
Canadians find link between Taliban, drug trade during furious firefight
UK and Canada strong allies in war on terror
No relief for Canucks - Canadians likely to endure more bloody battles
Three dead in military chopper crash
Death of a soldier
Soldiers engaged in lethal two-day game of cat-and-mouse with Taliban fighters
Canadian Soldier Dies in Afghan Fighting
2 Canadian soldiers hurt in Afghan firefight
Canada funding Toronto headquarters of global anti-terrorism financing group
Bush: Diplomacy is Key to North Korea Solution
Canada: Moving Itself Militarily
Cdn troops make progress in Kandahar allow for more aid to flow
Bush lauds Canada's terror efforts
EU, Canada to jointly patrol North Atlantic to stop illegal fishing
New Canadian leader to rebuild military
NORAD alert status stepped up
Canada Condemns North Korean Missile Launch
NORTHCOM, Canada Command Cooperate to Secure North America
Canadians in U.S. Honor Their Independence
10 responses to myths about Canada
Canadian forces coming to aid of Afghan Police post kill attacking insurgents
Aerial Drones on wish list
Canadians, Americans moving to each other's country in increasing numbers
Troops refuse to let attack mar Canada Day break

All this looks more like briefings from a war room than a summary of news items about Canada for Americans to read.
The other major emphasis on CanadianAlly.com is on trade and security. We are informed that: “Canada has the second-largest known oil reserves in the world” and that “Canada is America’s largest supplier of oil, gas, hydro-electricity, and uranium.” Colourful maps are provided with large arrows that track the southward flow of Canadian resources to a hungry United States. For those who thought we might have outgrown our role as a “hewer of wood and drawer of water”, the web site provides a nasty wake up call. Get out your copies of Harold Innis’ Fur Trade in Canada. Nothing has changed.
Indeed, in the new relationship being pitched to the Americans in the web site, Canada will be side by side with the U.S. in American wars and will be pitching in to provide secure oil to the United States. Developing the second largest oil reserves in the world means butchering northern Alberta, lobotomizing the landscape, using clean natural gas to produce oil from the oil sands and polluting and wrecking the province’s rivers. All this to feed American SUVs and to generate super profits for the friends of Dick Cheney. (Alberta collects shockingly low royalties on the oil and gas it produces compared to Norway.)
Under the rules of NAFTA, the more oil we supply to the United States, the more we are required to supply during a time of reduced supplies from overseas. Anyone who wants to know why the Harper government is ditching the Kyoto environmental accord should look at this web site and the role being planned for Canada. To export vast quantities of oil from the oil sands makes the Kyoto environmental targets absolutely impossible to achieve.
People are often told that they need to see themselves as others see them. On
CanadianAlly, we see ourselves as our government wants others to see us. The Washington Times understood the message, saying that in Stephen Harper, “President Bush will find an ideological soul mate.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link! Amazing. I wonder how much money the government is spending hawking Canada to the States through this site.
I am writing the Prime Minister about this. I'll be really choked if I find a link from the CPC site to this one, and if I don't find a link from the main government site to this "Canadian Ally" site.
If he's going to do it, he must be seen to be doing it. Transparency and all, you know?

Anonymous said...

Up until today, there were only three countries (US, UK, Canada) supporting Israelis in killing of innocent women, children and civilians of Lebanon. After today's news of even UK backing off this apparent human tragedy and war crime, Canada is now the only country left. Yes ladies and gentleman, at this moment we live in the only country in the whole globe that its head of state hasn't yet condemns Israel or at least asked for Israeli restrain (somthing that even Bush has done). SAD.