OTTAWA — The war in Iran proceeds half a world away, while here in North America, the war proceeds in its own way: a war of words, loathing, misinformation, and societal disruption.
In Canada, PM Mark Carney tried to walk a tightrope; one false move, and it could turn into a gangplank, which almost happened. And so, he declared that while Canada wasn’t going to enter the fray, he supported the decision to take down the Iranian regime, adding the caveat that he did so with regret: “We do, however, take this position with regret, because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order.”
It was not a bad balance: to those who fear and loath the Iranian government, to the hundreds of thousands of Persians living here, to those who remember when, six years ago, Iran’s much feared IRGC destroyed a civilian airplane killing all 176 people on board, fifty-five of whom were Canadian citizens with another thirty souls being permanent Canadian residents, Carney seems to have acknowledged their anger and pain with that carefully worded statement.
But the PM would also be aware that many people will oppose military action, particularly if it is undertaken by the Great Satan and the Little Satan. He was exposed, therefore, by his support, and attempted to cover up his exposed flank by adding that he regrets the war “is a failure of the international order.” Translation: Trump, for whom there is no love lost on Carney’s part (elbows up, eh), has broken the almighty rules of U.N. international law.
Carney has spent the past months bemoaning the death of that old, rules-based order, while attempting to use it to boost Canada (and of course himself) into a higher position in the pecking order of world hegemony, referring to Canada as a “middle power,” which, along with other middle powers can…actually, I’m not sure what we can do. A half a dozen middle powers probably add up to a very large middle power, but still, not a superpower.
This war is a good example: as the PM said, he wasn’t consulted. Of course he wasn’t! Did he really expect that Trump or Netanyahu would call him up?
“Hey Mark, just a heads up – later tonight we’re going to bomb the crap out of Iran. Mum’s the word, eh, bud.”
And certainly, Trump is not about to involve Carney when the PM has attacked Trump all year and likely would not respond as an ally anyway, which events of the past few days have proven true.
Anyway, Carney seemed to have done a pretty good job keeping his balance on the political tightrope that is Ottawa, but not for long.
And no, it wasn’t the two Satans, not even Poilievre (who some Canadians likely consider the third Satan). None of the above.
It was elements within his own Liberal Party who pushed against him.
His Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, called for diplomacy; Defence Minister David McGuinty wants a ceasefire, and former Liberal bigwig Lloyd Axworthy said, “We must oppose aggressive, illegal foreign policies,” in his short but (to give credit where it is due) well-written and well-informed essay on the rules-based international order.
He’s no slouch, but (from my perspective at least), given that Iran has shredded any vestige of international rule-based order both at home and abroad, his arguments for continued dialogue and cooperation exist somewhere in the rarified atmosphere of Neverland.
And then of course, there’s that unfortunate plane business, Lloyd, David, and Anita, which could have been interpreted as a warning shot across the bow, but this one was more than that; it blew up the bow along with the entire airship, which possibly could have been considered an act of war.
Of course, no war began, but dialogue and negotiations did continue through to last week.
During those years, Iran armed itself, Hezbollah, Yemen, and Gaza, while blowing up several targets, making it so hard to believe that they will ever be conducted in good faith, much less bring about an actual resolution.
But the negotiations did provide a pretext for not acting while keeping a lot of embassy people employed.
So, all seems not to be well in the House of Liberal.
It also seems that Canadians who thought Mark Carney was a far-gone, left-wing prime minister might have to reconsider, given that the PM apparently veers to the right of some of his party’s leftists, even after shedding Steven Gibeault.
But those who would like a centrist government need to realize from all of this that a vote for Carney is also a vote for more of the “beyond liberal” progressive left.
And now for the anti-climactic wrap.
Ever since Katy Perry’s boyfriend declared Canada a post-national state despite prefacing every major announcement with “Canadians,” and even though increasingly he represented fewer of that mythical being, I’ve thought it the height of arrogance to use Canadians as a blanket term for your own preferences and ideologies.
That torch was passed to Carny, who ran with it, as in:
“…Canada is actively taking on the world as it is, not passively waiting for a world we wish to be.”
Certainly, if Anita Anand, David McGuinty, and Lloyd Axworthy get their way, then Canada is not going to “take on the world as it is,” and many more Liberals will agree.
Whatever your thoughts, though, apparently the Canadian population is too fragmented about too many issues for anyone to speak with any degree of authority or moral clarity as to what Canadians think.
Indeed, some readers will respond, “Speak for yourself, pal.”
I just did, actually, and that’s exactly my point.
