Rideau Hall welcomes Belgian royalty with a German flag

Murphy

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This tickles my sense of humour. It might be the reason why I would not make a good diplomat.
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Rideau Hall welcomes Belgian royalty with a German flag
Both flags feature black, yellow and red bands, but Belgium's stripes are vertical
By Catharine Tunney, CBC News




A flag mix-up caused Canada a bit of embarrassment today — day one of a state visit by the king and queen of Belgium, the first such visit in over 40 years.

Belgian journalist Wim Dehandschutter was the one who first pointed out that the flag marking a tree Belgium's Queen Fabiola planted on the grounds of Rideau Hall back in 1977 was actually Germany's flag.

Both flags feature black, yellow and red bands, but Belgian's stripes are vertical while Germany's are horizontal.

"While we were preparing for the tree planting ceremony on the grounds of Rideau Hall, it was brought to our attention that there was a mix up with a small flag," said Marie-Ève Létourneau, a spokesperson for Rideau Hall.

"We rectified the situation immediately, prior to their majesties' arrival at the tree planting."

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders was unfazed by the flag faux-pas.

"They are the same colours so maybe that's the reason why, and we have very close relations with Germany so it's not a real problem," he told the CBC's Terry Milewski on Power & Politics.

The rest here:

Rideau Hall welcomes Belgian royalty with a German flag - Politics - CBC News
 
Mowich

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You beat me to it, Murph. How hard is it to ensure the flag you choose to welcome someone from another country is actually the flag of their nation?

Obviously, it is beyond the powers of Justin - He'll Never Be Ready - Trudeau. He just can't help embarrassing Canada. And here I thought his Dad's pirouette behind Queen Elizabeth was embarrassing. PT had nothing on his idiot son. And what's with the tiny flags stuck on a tree?
 
White_Unifier

White_Unifier

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Mowich said:
You beat me to it, Murph. How hard is it to ensure the flag you choose to welcome someone from another country is actually the flag of their nation?

Obviously, it is beyond the powers of Justin - He'll Never Be Ready - Trudeau. He just can't help embarrassing Canada. And here I thought his Dad's pirouette behind Queen Elizabeth was embarrassing. PT had nothing on his idiot son. And what's with the tiny flags stuck on a tree?
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That would be the job of some Bureaucrat. I'm not defending Justin here, just saying that that would be a job for some civil servant down the line.
 
Murphy

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Yes, it would be a civil servant who would have been responsible for preparing for the Belgian royals visit. Unfortunately for Trudeau, as PM, he has to shoulder the blame. No doubt there will be catcalls in the House.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

- thanks to all my English teachers and Bill Shakespeare. From King Henry the 4th, Part Two.
 
Twin_Moose

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Trudeau skips meeting Belgian royalty, business delegation

OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is raising diplomatic eyebrows for not meeting with Belgian royalty and business leaders during their week-long visit to Canada.
Trudeau has no plans to meet with the Belgian royal couple, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, or their delegation of 150 business leaders, academics and political leaders, who arrived Sunday.
While senior members of the Quebec and Ontario governments and business leaders are scheduled to meet with the group, sources tell the Star the delegation feels snubbed by the federal Liberals.
“With CETA, we’re even closer to Europe right now. We should be aligning ourselves on the political front,” said one source, refering to the free trade deal between the European Union and Canada.
The source, who spoke on background due to diplomatic sensitivities, said the delegation was “obviously” disappointed that Trudeau didn’t make time to meet.
The prime minister this week is touring steel and aluminum facilities in Quebec and Ontario communities to voice opposition to potential American tariffs on those industries.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration said last week Canada would be exempt from those tariffs, at least for now.
An official with the Prime Minister’s Office noted three cabinet ministers will receive the delegation during their time in Canada, including International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Treasury Board President Scott Brison and Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan.
Only Champagne, however, has a foreign affairs portfolio.
The Belgian delegation includes seven ministers, including Vice Prime Minister and foreign affairs minister Didier Reynders, as well as representatives from the country’s three regions.
The visit by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde to Canada is the first state visit by Belgian royals since the 1970s. Last month, Raoul Delcorde, Belgium’s ambassador to Canada, posted a photo on Twitter of Belgian King Baudouin meeting with former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1977.
From the standpoint of diplomatic protocol, Governor General Julie Payette is the official host of the Belgian royal couple.
But sources tell the Star it was expected that Trudeau would make time for the delegation, given the strong trade ties between the two countries.
Bilateral trade between Canada and Belgium totaled almost $6.5 billion last year, according to Global Affairs Canada.
That relationship is expected to grow with the ratification of the Canada-E.U. free trade deal.
While in Canada, the Belgian delegation will hold meetings at the MaRS building in Toronto, hold a Canadian-Belgian CEO roundtable at Power Corporation’s headquarters, and meet with pension fund giant Caisse de depot to talk science cooperation.
Trudeau's approach with the Belgians contrasts with his effusive welcome of Jordan’s King Abdullah last year. Trudeau met with him and held a joint news conference to publicly highlight Canada’s close ties with the Middle East country and personally praise Abdullah as a “friend.”
“It’s been an honour and a pleasure to host His Majesty and his delegation in Ottawa, and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership with Jordan in the years ahead,” Trudeau told reporters last August.
Trudeau used that visit to announce $45 million to support economic development, initiatives to gender equality and aid for refugees, using a news release to underscore the “strong partnership” between the two countries. So far, there’s no been no official statement from Trudeau about the Belgian visit.
When King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands visited Ottawa in 2015, they were met by then prime minister Stephen Harper and wife Laureen on Parliament Hill.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Canadian government was “delighted” to welcome the Belgian royal family.
“Canada and Belgium have excellent bilateral relations based on bonds of friendship and trust, as well as the shared values of liberty, democracy, solidarity and diversity,” wrote Adam Austen in an email to the Star.
“This visit is an important opportunity to build upon our strong relations and the bonds that tie our countries together.”
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captain morgan

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Twin_Moose said:
Be nice if the opposition can start making some good hay with all of these blunders and carry it into the fall of '19
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The opposition sure has a lot of ammunition if they want to use it.

That said, I think that all they really need to do is keep letting Trudeau self-destruct and that, in combination with his poor performance overall will likely have a tremendous impact
 
C

Curious Cdn

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captain morgan said:
The opposition sure has a lot of ammunition if they want to use it.

That said, I think that all they really need to do is keep letting Trudeau self-destruct and that, in combination with his poor performance overall will likely have a tremendous impact
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Just wait until right near election time with the attack ads or else the public might sympathize with Trudeau if they perceive that he's being "bullied". That sort of happened last time.
 
captain morgan

captain morgan

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Curious Cdn said:
Just wait until right near election time with the attack ads or else the public might sympathize with Trudeau if they perceive that he's being "bullied". That sort of happened last time.
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No doubt.

Seems that the attack-ad strategy ends up doing more harm to the 'attacker' than it does to the target.

That said, JT's been stumbling pretty hard this last year and I have to wonder if an ad that recognized these blunders would be digested by the public at large as an attack or as simply recognition of JT's own actions
 
C

Curious Cdn

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captain morgan said:
No doubt.

Seems that the attack-ad strategy ends up doing more harm to the 'attacker' than it does to the target.

That said, JT's been stumbling pretty hard this last year and I have to wonder if an ad that recognized these blunders would be digested by the public at large as an attack or as simply recognition of JT's own actions
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Timing will be everything.

(see: 2016 US Presidential election)
 
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