Human Rights: Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: If anything, the Prime Minister has been consistent in his reluctance to rub shoulders with despots and dictators. At the recent United Nations General Assembly meeting, Harper passed on taking his seat among world leaders of dubious character. At the 2012 summit of La Francophonie, he expressed hope that in the future La Francophonie and other major organizations will decide to hold a summit only in countries with democratic standards, according to The Star. One might therefore expect that Mr. Harpers distaste for human rights abusers would be matched with sympathy and compassion for their victims. The evidence, and in particular the Harper governments dealings with the Tamil community, victims of human rights abuse in Sri Lanka, would suggest otherwise and At first blush the decision by Prime Minister Stephen Harper not to attend this weeks Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, appears principled, even noble. Citing Sri Lankas past and present human rights abuses, Harper states: We remain disturbed by ongoing reports of intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances and allegations of extra judicial killings. ... It is clear that the Sri Lankan government has failed to uphold the Commonwealths core values which are cherished by Canadians. Critics have taken issue with this view, arguing that engagement rather than isolation best achieves foreign policy objectives of advancing democracy in the developing world. Former prime minister Joe Clark has admonished our current Prime Ministers belief that issues of democracy or development are best addressed from a distance than in the countries where they are most acute. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.