Canadian flags in Columbia

[darkbeaver]

ednesday, June 10 at 13:24 by ssaffari

Don’t sew that flag on your backpack if you are heading down to Colombia


By: Mariam Ibrahim and Siavash Saffari


If you’ve ever travelled anywhere outside of Canada, chances are somewhere along the way you met some fellow Canadians with the country’s flag sewn on their backpacks. It’s almost as if the flag is meant to say to the rest of the world, “Don’t worry, I can be trusted. My country doesn’t have military bases all over the world. My country isn’t waging war indiscriminately. We’re just peacekeepers.”

According to Yves Engler, author of the recently-published The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, a vast majority of Canadians believe that Canada is a force of good in the world.


However, there appears to be a significant disconnect between what Canadians see as distinctly Canadian values and the Canadian government’s actual record in conducting its foreign policy.

The disconnect could partly be attributed to the Canadian government’s tendency to do the bidding of its U.S. counterparts on many fronts, despite a 2007 Angus Reid poll, in which 70 per cent of

http://forums.canadiancontent.net/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=166

 

[johnnyhangover]

huh?

 

[Cannuck]

DB's probably sipping tequila this afternoon.

 

[Machjo]

ednesday, June 10 at 13:24 by ssaffari

Don’t sew that flag on your backpack if you are heading down to Colombia


By: Mariam Ibrahim and Siavash Saffari


If you’ve ever travelled anywhere outside of Canada, chances are somewhere along the way you met some fellow Canadians with the country’s flag sewn on their backpacks. It’s almost as if the flag is meant to say to the rest of the world, “Don’t worry, I can be trusted. My country doesn’t have military bases all over the world. My country isn’t waging war indiscriminately. We’re just peacekeepers.”

According to Yves Engler, author of the recently-published The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, a vast majority of Canadians believe that Canada is a force of good in the world.


However, there appears to be a significant disconnect between what Canadians see as distinctly Canadian values and the Canadian government’s actual record in conducting its foreign policy.

The disconnect could partly be attributed to the Canadian government’s tendency to do the bidding of its U.S. counterparts on many fronts, despite a 2007 Angus Reid poll, in which 70 per cent of

http://forums.canadiancontent.net/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=166

Oh give me a break. I've lived abroad before and was quite surprised to see the kind of activities CIDA is involved in. It's essentially a front for cultural imperialism, at least to a certain degree. However, that's got nothing to do with Canada being some kind of US slave. It has to do rather with Canada trying to spread its own influence abroad. On the world stage, Canada and the US are competitors.

 

[Machjo]

And yes it's true that many abroad do perceive Canada as just a follower of the US. However, not all see it that way, and just like in Canada, there is a diversity of opinions.

 

[Polygong]

Every Western nation is viewed as a US toady by the rest of the world.

Western countries for the most part have similar values, so of course, for the most part, we are all going to walk in step with one another. The US just happens to be the largest and most influential of the group, so it appears that the rest of us are all doing their bidding. In reality it is mostly consensus, with the US giving in to pressures on occasion from others.

 

[darkbeaver]

Within the imperium coercion is best labled consensus as a necessary face saving device. It would be political and military suicide to lable it for what it is. If any satellite nation forgets this arrangment they have been and will be reminded of the real state of affairs. The list of remedies is ancient and every bit as effective as ever they were. Western countries for the most part have values imposed and maintained from the top down through the same old entrenched hierarchy. When something appears to be a duck it's probably a duck. If you want to believe that quacking thing in the corner is a pussy cat it's your business, you will be surprised when it lays an egg.