Slow boats
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2006/07/20/1693668-sun.html
PM and one ship evacuate Canucks, thousands left waiting
By KATHLEEN HARRIS, SUN OTTAWA BUREAU
Canadians wave the Maple Leaf while waiting to be evacuated from the port at Beirut yesterday by one of seven passenger ships chartered by Canada. Right, PM Stephen Harper leaves Paris yesterday on a Canadian Forces Airbus he diverted to Cyprus to pick up evacuated Canucks. (AP)
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper rerouted his plane from Paris yesterday to pick up 120 evacuees, but critics said the move was little more than a photo-op as thousands more Canadians were left stranded and panic-stricken in the Lebanese war zone.
Liberal MP Dan McTeague said any assistance will be welcomed by desperate Canadians fleeing the war zone, but he slammed the Conservatives for spinning in damage control that could have been mitigated if the government had acted with earlier urgency.
"It's a token gesture, more of the politics of desperation than it is a genuine attempt to appreciate the dimensions of what has happened here," he said.
McTeague said Harper is merely playing "catch-up" after a barrage of stinging criticism over his government's sluggish response.
NDP MP Alexa McDonough said Parliament must carry out a thorough review of the failed response to evaluate what went wrong. She criticized Harper for failing to demand safe passage through a ceasefire, but called his plane's detour "entirely appropriate."
"I think it's more than symbolism - I don't disagree with the decision," McDonough said. "But photo-ops cannot be a substitute for the kind of leadership that's needed."
Hani Fanous, an Ottawa resident whose wife and two girls are trapped in Beirut, said stranded Canadians will take little comfort in the PM's side trip.