Ramping up the hokum at Global Affairs Canada

Never imagined I'd say this, but I miss Bullshittin' Baird.

Those were simpler days, and Big John always wore his heart on his sleeve. When John was "deeply concerned" you always got a sense that, at some level, he probably was.

With the Trudeau crowd, you're pretty sure they're only "deeply concerned" if the object of their concern has passed muster with the usual partisan focus groups.

With the Harper Gang, the hypocrisy was hit and miss.

With the Sunny Daze Gang, the hypocrisy is systemic.

Take a gander at the Global Affairs website. The last three news items are about gender equality in Ethiopia, Canada's leadership in global gender equity, and Canada's leadership role in calling out the horrific human rights situation in Iran.

You know Iran; the only Middle East country outside of Israel where Jews are constitutionally protected, and a country where women have never NOT had the right to drive cars. Ya, that country. We're really upset about their human rights...

Yup, no way we'd ever sell those guys military hardware, because that would just be wrong, and besides, our besties in Likud wouldn't like it. We'll call out human rights in Iran, but we'll spout nonsense non-stop about Israel's right to defend itself while the human rights of Palestinians are trampled underfoot.

And while the KSA is setting liberal hearts a-flutter by allowing some women to drive, we'll not get too bothered about their overall track record on human rights, because, after all, they buy military stuff from US branch plants in Canada that employ Canadian workers.

And how lovely that we're gung-ho for gender equality in Ethiopia and beyond.

By the way, women in Canada are still a good distance away from achieving gender equality, but that's no reason not to champion ideals globally that we've not yet achieved here at home.


How about we address the beam in our own eye before we lecture the rest of the planet about the mote in theirs.

Canada committed to supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit and intersex policies domestically and abroad

That's according to a "backgrounder" at the Global Affairs Canada website yesterday.

The only other items on the site yesterday are a news release on the Equal Rights Coalition Conference in Vancouver, and a statement marking the tenth anniversary of Saakashvili's very short war with Bad Vlad, in which we are reminded yet again that we Canadians stand, unequivocally, no matter how corrupt or compromised they may be, with anyone who may have a quibble with Russia.

Because that's what we do...

We are gung-ho for human rights, we Canucks are!

Not a mention of the ongoing squabble with our Saudi friends over the jailing of a couple of high-profile Saudi dissidents. Interesting that Chystia and Justin are only concerned with the rights of internationally known dissidents. That gets headlines.

We won't condemn the Saudis for their genocidal war on Yemen, their support for radical Islamic fundamentalism, or their discrimination against ethnic minorities and foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, not to mention Saudi lesbians, gays, bisexuals, etc etc. That might antagonise you-know-who in Washington who greenlights these Saudi outrages.

If Justin and Christia had spent a few minutes contemplating this picture, they might have guessed they'd antagonise you-know-who anyway.