I am not a part of the Paul Martin fan club but considering that the Liberals are not my party of choice, I am damn proud. Imagine respecting the leader of the opposing party! At least he's sane and has the courage to speak up with eloquence.
In an address to the U.N.
"Clearly, we need expanded guidelines for Security Council action to make clear our responsibility to act decisively to prevent humanity's attack on humanity. The "Responsibility to Protect" is one such guideline. It seeks rules to protect the innocent against appalling assaults on their life and dignity. It does not bless unilateral action.
To the contrary, it stands for clear, multilaterally-agreed criteria on what the international community should do when civilians are at risk.
It is a powerful norm of international behaviour. And this week, we have taken a very important step to that end. We are proud that R2P has Canadian lineage, that it is now a principle for all the world. That being said, our collective responsibility does not end there. I would have hoped that we could have agreed now to make the new peace building commission operational. Building the peace is a huge undertaking and, to do it well, we need to bring order out of chaos."
...and in a speech outlining govt. action at home and relations with the U.S."
"NAFTA is not something to be ignored when it suits narrow domestic interests," Martin said, referring to the Bush government decision to ignore a recent NAFTA ruling that there is no basis to impose tariffs on Canadian softwood.
"Free and fair trade depends on a dispute settlement procedure that is respected by all parties." He said U.S. intransigence "mocks that basic principle."
Martin warned that, in light of continuing trade disputes with the U.S., Canada intends to focus more on trading opportunities in the burgeoning Asian market, specifically India and China."
So tell Bush to pay up or there won't be anymore Canadian wood or energy or water arriving in America anytime soon.