Stephen Harper has drawn few accolades and many brickbats for his government’s performance over the past 18 months, and rightly so. But on the Ukraine file, since Russia’s illegal, duplicitous and reckless invasion of Crimea, the Prime Minister has been at his best. Both he and Foreign Minister John Baird deserve credit for the clear, principled and authoritative position they have taken, up to and including championing Russia’s indefinite suspension from the G8, now again the G7.
Some will say all Harper’s moves thus far have been obvious: What else could he have said? What else could he have done? But that would be neither fair, nor true.