bout de papier, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1987) — Summer 1987 // Été 1987, p. 44
Being snippets from the press that you are unlikely to see in the revue de presse.
The roving eyes of American marines coupled with the sultry Soviet support staff have created severe security problems for the US. Canadian lads will have to be on their guard lest they fall prey to the wiles of the voluptuous Violettas.
Some of the female members of the Soviet staff might well fit the “attractive” category used to describe the Soviet women who allegedly lured marines at the US Embassy into compromising positions. As a rule, embassy employees are not prohibited from fraternizing with Soviets of the opposite sex, but caution is an abiding principle. In the cheaply appointed downstairs rooms of the Embassy is the Canadian Club, where a hamburger-and-beer session is held Friday night, but the Soviet employees do not appear.
So much for Friday nooners, Mr.
Laurence Martin in the Globe and Mail
The Herbert Norman Affair continues to draw ink.
Silence merely reinforces suspicion that the government is concealing pertinent information on the Norman case. A Toronto newspaper’s attempts to obtain the full Norman files under the freedom-of-information legislation last fall revealed that presumably sensitive material had been effaced. The Norman issue is a legitimate subject of public discussion and concern, touching on questions relevant to government’s handling of Canada’s security interests. It’s time the government told Canada everything it knows.
Norman Case no longer cause for secrecy in The London Free Press
And some current wisedom from assorted jackasses.
It is interesting to watch Brian Mulroney twisting in the grip of a left-leaning external affairs department inherited from Pierre Trudeau. Mulroney’s crime is that he has done nothing since winning power in 1984 to clean out the department or change its thrust.
In fact, he made it even more leftist by appointing failed Ontario NDP leader Stephen Lewis as his UN ambassador and NDP-supporting labor boss Dennis McDermott as ambassador to Ireland. But what can you expect when you see a guy with chronically poor judgement such as Joe Clark appointed as external affairs minister… Canada’s voter had every right to believe that a Conservative government with a record mandate would clean out external and implement a less-leftist line. Unfortunately, Mulroney and Clark didn’t do it; instead they fell for the so-called “efficiency” and “helpfulness” of external types…
Trudeau influence is still felt, Mr.
MacDonald in the Toronto Sun
If External Affairs Minister Joe Clark did himself the favor of seeking outside views on policy options before making decisions, he would probably avoid some of the potholes into which he stumbles…He might not make such gaffes as ordering closure of the Canadian embassy in Finland. That particular decision suggested that his moneysaving advice was coming from officials out of tune with their fellow citizens, perhaps seeing Canada as little more than an Ottawa pit-stop between postings abroad in really interesting countries…They have done it before, notably in the advice to make one of their own number Canada’s nominee for a slot on the International Law Commission, without even a pretence of consulting Canada’s legal community. They did it when they wrote for him a harsh speech attacking the United Nations last fall….He (Mr. Clark) could avoid some of his more unfortunate decisions by listening to more people outside his department and outside Ottawa.
Mr. Clark’s remote advisors, Editorial in the Winnipeg Free Press
Michele Landsberg is an excellent critic of children’s literature and her recent volume is highly recommended. It is a craft which too few practise. To be a learned commentator on the world scene, on the other hand, apparently requires only a passport, a susceptible mind, and a penchant for offensiveness.
The contras are terrorists – bumbling, corrupt but crudely vicious. They rob, rape and murder the Nicaraguan peasants. Their Washington sponsors seem like lunatics or worse. I turned off the television and went to bed. What has Canada said publicly to the United States about this crazy war? The answer came at me in the dark. Canada has maintained a cowardly public silence. Canada has said nothing. Canada is complicit.
Saluting One Man’s calm spirit in the depths of a crazy war in the Globe and Mail
A little ignorance can be a dangerous thing. The press office might wish to forward some of our Ministry’s statements on the Central American situation c/o Residence of the Canadian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
In this tract on what must have been a very slow newsday intrepid reporter Mr. Tain Hunter demonstrates why good journalists look at both sides of the story.
Canadian diplomats and their families are still cavorting in the 25-metre pool at the exclusive Aberdeen Marina Club in Hong Kong… The diplomats and their families are still soaking in the hot tubs, playing Mahjongg and watching the yachts in the club’s 300 berth marina…The club — one of External’s most embarrassing secrets — was disclosed by Auditor General Ken Dye in his 1985 report to Parliament.
Diplomats still using club ruled off limits by Clark in The Ottawa Citizen
And amid acres of deathless prose some wise words from Canada’s National Newspaper in the context of Mr. Whitney Seymour’s decision to subpeona Ambassador Allan Gotlieb and Mrs. Gotlieb in his zealous pursuit of Mr. Michael Deaver.
Diplomatic immunity, while it may be seen by some as little more than a device to shield diplomats and their staffs from parking tickets, has been recognized for centuries as an essential element in relations between countries. Without the inviolability of the embassy, freedom of communication and exemption from local jurisdiction, the conduct of international relations would be next to impossible.
Editorial A diplomatic No in the Globe and Mail
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1987) — Summer 1987 // Été 1987, p. 44. Read the rest of this issue →
