James Travers Hits the Nail on the Head: Harper's Speech Was Rhetorical Hokum

Stephen Harper has embarrassed us many times on the world stage, but this was one time when he left me feeling incredibly sad.

I could be angry over Copenhagen but how do you deal with a prime minister who just effectively told other nations that they could bloody well look after themselves because he wasn't going to change course now. Then suggesting they should be guided by “enlightened self-interest”; who is this man? Absolutely no vision or compassion for anyone.

During his first visit to Afghanistan he told the troops that Canada was not an island. And yet he has spent the past four years trying to make us one.

From BusinessWeek:

Global Problem Solving? Stephen Harper Defends the Status Quo
Don Tapscott
January 29, 2010

Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s speech on Thursday in Davos was received well, many of the delegates that I spoke with told me they thought Harper’s vision was too blinkered.

With the conspicuous exception of global warming, Harper acknowledged that many challenges face the world, but told delegates that the two most appropriate arenas for discussion and decision making are the G8 and the G20. He described the latter as “the world’s premier forum for economic cooperation.” And each country should be guided by “enlightened self-interest” and a better “attitude.” ...

James Travers has a better interpretation of Stephen Harper's views: 'Rhetorical Hokum'.

Travers: PM fills political vacuum with rhetorical hokum
January 30, 2010

By suspending Parliament, Stephen Harper created one of those vacuums politics abhors. Now the Prime Minister is trying to fill it with promises that are puzzling at best, bizarre at worst.

Harper made news by sounding like a socialist in the first week that federal politicians were supposed to be back at work. At home, he discovered motherhood, pledging to put the world's women and babies front and centre at the G8 meeting Canada is to host this summer. Abroad, he lectured leaders roughing it in Davos, Switzerland, on the importance of applying "enlightened sovereignty" to problems without borders. ...