Haïti: swift Conservative response... but...

Although I am not at all a fan of Harper's Conservatives, nobody can refute their swift response to the catastrophe caused by the earthquake in Haïti. Thousands are feared dead under the rubble of collapsed buildings, thousands more are starving as they still haven't been reached by NGOs and, finally, thousands more lie in understaffed makeshift hospitals, scattered all over the country, suffering from serious injuries, some of which have had their limbs amputated.
Canada's response was in direct response to the Governor General Michäelle Jean's press conference, held one day after Haïti's devastating 7.0 earthquake, when she was brought to tears by the situation in her homeland. As always, Canadians have had an outpouring of sympathy, opening their wallets and donating to numerous charities such as the Canadian Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Doctors without Borders.

I'm quite pleased at the non-partisan cooperation that has come out of this crisis and what seems to be an almost flawless response by the Canadian government. The Conservatives have even taken the lead internationally by calling for a multilateral conference which will take place on Monday January 25th 2010 in Montreal and will include the participation of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Haitian President René Préval. That is obviously not the problem.

It's quite interesting that such a conference would coincide with the day that Parliament was SUPPOSED to begin sitting after the Christmas recess. Harper has been consistently silent ever since Ignatieff announced to the media that on that very day, Liberal MPs and Senators will be back to work on Monday January 25th 2010 and will be working hard for Canadians while the Conservatives "recalibrate" their "agenda".

So, how is it that all of a sudden, the Conservatives have time to be away from their "agenda recalibration" to focus on the Haïtian recovery? Let me be clear: I'm not criticizing the fact that Canada is playing a leading role because our country's international leadership has been seriously lacking. Our foreign policy has been in a constant decline and narrowly centered on the war in Afghanistan. To prove my point, Harper only recently visited China after a 4 year delay. By the way, Stephen, China is the world's new economic powerhouse! Mr Harper continues to insist that Canada must wait for the American version of a climate change plan before the Government of Canada will even consider touching this policy topic.

It's great that Canada has taken the lead on the humanitarian front to support the Haïtian population. What I'm saying is that it's quite hypocritical of the Conservatives to have SHUT DOWN PARLIAMENT supposedly to "recalibrate" their "agenda" yet all of a sudden they have time to host a high profile meeting which will inmate the discussion pertaining to the rebuilding process in Haïti. Might the Conservatives be trying to drown out the media attention the Liberals are scheduled to receive when they arrive back in the national capital to work on that same day.

Therefore, it can be said that seemingly "clean politics" will always have partisan connotations for the Harper Conservatives which is quite unfortunate. Although I'm happy with their response to the Haïtian crisis and the leadership shown on the international stage by the government, it's quite shameful to try and grab all the media spotlight away from the issue of prorogation and to play on Canadians' emotions to gain political capital especially when you claim to need all this extra time to "recalibrate" your "agenda". Where then would you all of a sudden find the time to host a conference that just so happens to be scheduled on the very same day YOU were supposed to get BACK TO WORK?