Sunday, January 12, 2020

We Need Embassies In Difficult Countries


One of the complicating factors surrounding the deaths of 57 Canadians in Iran is that we have no embassy there. Martin Regg Cohn writes:

We closed our embassy in Tehran with good reason after then-ambassador Ken Taylor put himself in harm’s way by helping to “exfiltrate” American diplomats during the 1979 hostage crisis. But bear in mind that we never severed formal diplomatic relations, nor did we prevent Iranian diplomats from using their embassy in Ottawa in the years that followed.
Keeping that formal bilateral channel open helped us reopen our embassy a decade later in Tehran, which in turn opened the door to a flood of talented Iranian immigrants to Canada numbering 300,000 people today.

But, in 2012, Stephen Harper once again closed our embassy in Tehran:

Stephen Harper’s Conservative government cited a grab-bag of concerns, from human rights violations to its nuclear program and security concerns that politicized the issues.

And, even though Justin Trudeau promised to reverse that decision, he didn't:

The Harper government boxed him in with legislation that permitted potentially enormous lawsuits against Iran — a roadblock to re-establishing bilateral ties, and a delicate matter for Trudeau to reverse.

But it's precisely in times like these when we need an embassy in Iran:

Now we are more isolated than most. Germany and Sweden also suffered casualties in the crash, but their diplomats on the ground were able to move in swiftly to protect consular and humanitarian interests.
Others understand that diplomatic relations are never an endorsement of international lawlessness, merely an instrument to protect national interests and defend dual nationals. We cannot afford to cut ourselves off for years at a time, no matter how frustrated.

All of this is worth keeping in mind as we deal with China.

Image: michaelgeist.ca

4 comments:

the salamander said...

.. your post is extremely timely and valid.. this is a huge issue, as our elected 'public servans'' aka our 2 main political parties must be responsive and indeed informed of OUR (the citizenry) wishes. YEs, yes.. we are but mere ignorant children compared to the genius level of political parties.. their candidates, their caucus, their donor base.

Au contraire ! The collective wisdom, intellect, veracity of millions of Canadians of all ages, dwarfs the meager or even tainted knowlege of political parties and partisan governments. Examples are endless, simply endless. Overwhelming, and indisputable. Harper is likely the classic example along with HIS rebranded Reform Party. Who was Ed Fast spouting when he said something to the effect that military armaments would become a 'key driver of the Canadian Economy. He was one of those Harper token 'Ministers' a la the vacant courage and ethics of Peter Kent or Jim Flaherty and the rest. Harper decreed Canadian Diplomats must in future be corporate International salespeople.. not diplomats. And oh.. the Energy Superpower that was to be.. gotta sell that ideology

Trudeau is warming to the task of embracing that diplomatic vacancy Harper designed and implemented.. but between he and Harper, how many Canadian Embassies were sold ? What is our current roster of Ambassadors, Diplomatic corps, country by country ? Or even regionally ? Yes, Gordon Campball no longer holds court in auld England, but what is happening now over the China Huawei 'Incident' ? What's with the staggering stream of lobbyists camping within OUR government offices ? What exactly does OUR Government, which includes the Opposition, think their job is ? The Prime Directive ?

Owen Gray said...

In recent years, sal, embassies have been seen as trade missions, whose purpose is to drum up business. Recent events should remind us that they can make the difference between war and peace.

Trailblazer said...

The recent addiction to having childish hissy fits on foreign relations generally driven by special interests rather than common sense or ,aghast, common cause is making the world a more unpleasant and dangerous place.
The special interests of late have been money driven and religiously driven.

The prime mover in middle east politics has on one hand been Israel and on the other oil interests of the USA and the UK.

TB


Owen Gray said...

You've correctly identifeid the two prime movers, TB. If they remain predominant, there will be no peace in the Middle East.