During the past year, the world has experienced the Paris attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the killing of two Canadian soldiers in October, the ISIS/ISIL beheadings, the Boko Haram kidnapping of young girls in Nigeria, the growing Al Qaeda presence in Yemen, and more. A world-wide declaration of war against radical Muslim jihadists is needed and is coming. Canada must have a strong Prime Minister in place when that happens to ensure that we make an appropriate and effective contribution to this global effort.
A former Liberal strategist assesses Stephen Harper much more favourably than Justin Trudeau or Thomas Mulcair on this front. Here are key excerpts from Warren Kinsella’s January 8, 2015 column in the Toronto Sun (“Conservatives winning values debate”):
“Stephen Harper’s willingness to be tough with terrorists and dictators – in effect, punching above Canada’s foreign policy weight class – is something to be admired, whether you agree with him or not.”
“In Canada, the choice is presently between, on the one hand, two opposition leaders who seemingly oppose confronting and defeating terror in every possible circumstance and, on the other hand, a prime minister who believes humanitarian aid alone is insufficient.”
“Foreign affairs, however nuanced diplomats consider it to be, is mainly an unending debate about values…The Tories’ position is clear and comprehensible to the electorate. The shifting positions of the Liberals/New Democrats are not. Juvenile jokes about our military, and our military capacity, haven’t helped.”
“Canadians understand that the world has become a much more dangerous place, and they don’t consider handing out box lunches to the many victims of ISIS/ISIL – and nothing else – to be thoughtful foreign policy. They consider it to be mistaken.”
In other words…Stephen Harper is a strong leader, highly knowledgeable about today’s global concerns, and willing to take tough, principled stands on Canada’s behalf. Simply put, he is the right Prime Minister for these times.
