VoiceofCroatia.net

TORONTO -- Pope Benedict sparked a debate about the place of religious beliefs in Canadian politics Friday, telling Ontario bishops Canada has excluded “God from the public sphere” with laws supporting same-sex marriage and abortion.

The pontiff told a group of seven visiting bishops in Vatican City that Canadian Catholic politicians are ignoring the values of their religion, yielding to “ephemeral social trends and the spurious demands of opinion polls.”

“In the name of tolerance your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of freedom of choice it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children,” the Pope said.

A representative with the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops who was travelling with the bishops in Italy said the group was busy with engagements and unable to comment immediately on the Pope’s message.

Alfonse Ainsworth, general secretary of the organization, said he expects the bishops will take the Pope’s words into consideration when planning their strategy for the next provincial and federal election.

“I’m sure they’ll be studying the comments and the context and making sure they follow through,” he said.

The meeting was a routine one the Pope has with regional bishops every five years. The Pope met with bishops from Atlantic Canada in May, telling them Canada was “suffering from the pervasive effects of secularism” and pointed to “the plummeting birth rate” as proof.

But the pontiff’s strong criticism Friday re-ignited a debate about the separation of church and state in Canada. Gilles Marchildon, executive director of gay-rights advocates Egale Canada, said politicians represent all Canadians of various faiths and should keep their personal beliefs out of the House of Commons.

“Because of that, politicians have a responsibility to not be proponents of a particular faith when making decisions that affect everyone,” said Marchildon.

“We don’t have a state religion in Canada.”

Just as government doesn’t instruct the Catholic Church how to celebrate communion, the church shouldn’t instruct politicians on who can get married, he added.

“I’m surprised the Pope doesn’t realize that gate can swing both ways.”

But Joanne McGarry, executive director of the Catholic Civil Rights League, said the Pope has every right to instruct Catholics on how to live their lives.

“That’s what popes have always done,” she said.

Pat O’Brien, the former Liberal London-area MP who resigned over his party’s stand on same-sex marriage, told CBC Newsworld there is no such thing as a separation between church and state.

“A morality of convenience is not much of a morality and if you’re going to leave behind your Catholic Christian beliefs and principles because you walk into a legislative chamber, to me that would be a morality of convenience,” said O’Brien, who is now part of Vote Marriage Canada.

“Politicians who say they are practicing Catholics and practicing Christians will hopefully very carefully consider the words of the Holy Father.”

Moira McQueen, professor of theology at the University of Toronto, said the Pope’s comments were justified. Many outside the Catholic community feel the same-sex marriage debate was rushed through, McQueen said, and was driven more by political pressure than conscience.

“It was more a political push rather than a real need for the bulk of the population,” said McQueen, who is also director of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute. “Any Catholic politician who was moving along the lines of same-sex marriage and totally ignoring what Pope Benedict was saying, isn’t really following their conscience from a Catholic perspective.”

The Pope’s message won’t go unnoticed by the Catholic community, McQueen said, especially come election time.

“I think he’ll have a fair amount of influence,” she said.

Benedict has made the defence of traditional family values a major goal of his papacy, speaking out often on the issue. During a trip to Spain in July, he challenged that country’s Socialist government for instituting liberal reforms such as gay marriage and fast-track divorce.

Same-sex marriage was recognized by Canada’s Parliament last year, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said there will be a vote in the House of Commons this fall to determine whether the issue should be revisited.

CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL POLICY, MARCH 10, 2005

Summary of eDiscussion on Security
March 10, 2005
Policy Research Division, Foreign Affairs Canada

The role of multilateral institutions in security

Most respondents felt that multilateralism should be a key component of Canada's approach to security. The eDiscussion gave rise to several proposals on how the multilateral system might be reformed to best address security issues:

One recommendation suggested integrating NATO forces into the UN, affording the latter the military tools it requires to address threats to global security.

Another participant advocated EU representation on the UNSC to reflect deepening EU integration. This would involve removing the current European veto-holding members and replacing them with an EU member to avoid the overrepresentation of EU states in a reformed Security Council. Averting such an imbalance was deemed fundamental to the legitimacy of the any Canadian policy of multilateralism in the area of security. (more)

THE WASHINGTON TIMES, MAY 8, 2003

Toward a new Canada

Jeffrey T. Kuhner

If Mr. Charest can secure a new constitutional arrangement for Quebec, he will ensure that Canada remains a unified and viable country for the 21st century. He will also be paving the way for a potential national conservative majority, an alliance of French Quebec, the West and Ontario Tories. This new conservative coalition will be based on lower taxes, small government and a decentralized federation that recognizes the country's regional differences.
Mr. Charest hopes to one day become prime minister. If he can slay the Quebec separatist dragon and propose a bold new national vision, it is only a matter of time before he emerges as Canada's next great leader. (more)

The Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development 11/03/2003

His Excellency John Ralston Saul's Speech on Today's Canadian Foreign Policy

My feeling is that, with this year, we have finished a very bad period for your profession, not simply in Canada but more or less throughout the democracies. It has been a period when, because of a general belief in the existence of enormous inevitable and irreversible international forces, it has often seemed on the surface as if there was little for you to do. There has been a general belief that something called globalisation, or mondialisation, meant the slow death of the nation-state, and therefore of foreign policy. To the public, it has seemed as if there was little for the nation-state to do at the international level because if anything was to be done, people in other professions, principally in the private sector, would do it. I realize that all of this is maddeningly general and what could be called a simplistic cliché. Nevertheless, you have had to work against these clichés, knowing full well that this was the undercurrent of the last few decades. I would add to this rather superficial description the widespread belief that the technology of communication meant that important matters could be discussed at the international level between leaders, quickly and efficiently. Again, the implication was that diplomats in embassies had lost their historic function. Of course, they still have the role of collecting information and dealing with exchanges and small issues. But the essential things in the history of diplomacy, in the tradition of diplomacy, have been repeatedly described as being passé. We could summarize all of this as the argument of the global village. What I want to say as a kind of after lunch wake-up call is that that period is over. That bad period for diplomacy is finished. It is finished because globalisation is dead. Now, that is the sort of nice, short sentence which produces a certain kind of silence. (more)

A Dialogue on Foreign Policy

A Message from the Honourable Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs

The Government believes that in the years to come, Canadians want their foreign policy to continue to reflect their national identity, values and experience, and to promote security and prosperity at home and abroad. Much has changed since the last review of Canada’s foreign policy. Debates over globalization and its impacts, over the global menace of terrorism, over our role in North America, over the intensified dialogue of cultures, and over the capacity of international institutions to respond effectively—all of these now require fresh reflection and a focus on the priorities that will shape our future choices. (more)

TORONTO STAR, JANUARY 24, 2003

Editorial

Canada must seek active global role

How can we protect Canada's interests, in a world dominated by the United States, haunted by terror, plagued by conflict, poverty and disease? (....) Canadians will have to be sovereignty-conscious and assertive, if we hope to preserve the ability to do things our way in an America-centric, globalized world. We must be able to adopt an independent approach to peace and war, and domestic security. (more)

Presse Canadienne, Le samedi 01 septembre 2007

Le Canada demeure un refuge pour criminels de guerre

Jonathan Montpetit, Presse Canadienne, Montréal

Le système judiciaire canadien, lourd et inefficace, permet à des criminels de guerre de fuir la justice internationale, a affirmé un ancien analyste du renseignement à l'unité des crimes de guerre contemporains de la GRC.

"Si j'étais consultant pour des criminels de guerre, ce que je leur dirais, c'est que le Canada est probablement le meilleur endroit pour éviter d'être poursuivis ou d'être déportés", a déclaré à la Presse Canadienne Tom Quigin, qui a aussi travaillé pour le ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l'Immigration.

Le Canada a été une destination populaire pour ceux qui ont récemment fui les conflits dans les Balkans et au Rwanda.

Les autorités rwandaises soutiennent que cinq organisateurs du génocide dans leur pays se retrouvent en liberté au Canada. Elles ont transmis au Canada des demandes d'extradition et des mandats d'arrêts à leur endroit. Un d'eux, Leon Mugesera, est visé par une ordonnance d'expulsion.

Selon M. Quiggin, qui a aussi été analyste du renseignement pou le Tribunal international pour la répression des crimes de guerre commis dans l'ex Yougoslavie, le Canada abrite des milliers de criminels de guerre contemporaines.

Un rapport du gouvernement publié plus tôt cette année fait état de 57 dossiers de crimes de guerre contemporains traités par la GRC et le ministère de la Justice au 31 mars 2006.

"Le point du système d'immigration canadien est de permettre aux gens d'entrer au pays, a eqpliqué M. Quiggin. Il y a très peu d'attention portée sur la façon de faire sortir les gens du pays quand nous découvrons subitement qu'il y a quelques pommes pourries dans le lot."

Dans les dernières semaines, la GRC a été accusée de mener de façon insidieuse ses enquêtes sur les présumés criminels de guerres.

Le 17 août, la Commission de l'immigration et du statut de réfugié du Canada a mis un frein aux tentatives de déportation d'un réfugié rwandais devenu avocat pour le gouvernement.

La GRC accusait l'homme de 34 ans, dont le nom ne peut être divulgué en raison d'un ordre de la cour, d'avoir menti à propos de son rôle dans le massacre de Tutsis lors du génocide au Rwanda, en 1994.

L'avocat de la défense, Lorne Waldman, soutenait que la GRC avait interviewé 15 témoins au Rwanda en 2002 ü dont certains blanchissaient son client ü, mais qu'elle n'avait présenté que le résumé de trois entrevues incriminantes devant la commission.

«Après ce que j'ai vécu pendant le génocide, (la bataille pour blanchir mon nom) a été atroce, a déclaré le réfugié à la Presse Canadienne. Ce qui doit être examiné est la façon dont le renseignement sur les criminels de guerre est collecté, comment il est analysé à l'interne et comment il est utilisé devant les tribunaux.»

Depuis 1998, Ottawa cherche à changer la perception selon laquelle le pays est mou envers les criminels de guerre.

Le gouvernement avait alors investi 15,6 millions $ pour élargir le mandat du Programme canadien sur les crimes de guerre ü une force commune réunissant la GRC, le ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l'Immigration et le ministère de la Justice ü afin d'inclure les suspects des conflits contemporains.

Toutefois, le financement du programme n'a pas augmenté en une décennie et certains critiquent la volonté du gouvernement.

«Il semble que les ressources disponibles sont très limitées pour assurer que les criminels de guerre ne se retrouvent pas au Canada et pour les poursuivre si jamais ils sont au Canada», a affirmé Payam Akhavan, un professeur de droit à l'université McGill et ancien conseiller légal pour les tribunaux internationaux sur le Rwanda et l'ex-Yougoslavie.

M. Quiggin soutient que la GRC a trop peu d'enquêteurs assignés au programme alors que le ministère de la Justice a trop d'avocats pour un nombre relativement faible de dossiers.

«Il y a un sérieux décalage dans l'allocation des ressources, a-t-il dit. Le nombre d'enquêteurs est assez limité, le nombre de dossiers est important et chaque cas est assez complexe parce qu'il y a des centaines de témoins dispersés littéralement partout sur la planète.»

Un porte-parole de la GRC a indiqué qu'onze enquêteurs étaient affectés à l'unité des crimes de guerre en tout temps.

Les avocats du gouvernement qui cherchent à faire déporter des criminels de guerre présumés doivent aussi surmonter la difficulté de faire accepter par les tribunaux canadiens des preuves recueillis à l'étranger.

Les avocats de la défense dans le procès en cours du Rwandais Désiré Munyaneza, un demandeur de statut de réfugié débouté et la première personne accusé en vertu de la loi canadienne sur les crimes de guerre et les crimes contre l'humanité, ont plaidé que certaines des preuves de la Couronne ne répondaient pas aux normes judiciaires canadiennes.

Selon M. Quiggin, ces normes sont souvent trop exigeantes.

«Nos normes pour les preuves sont établies de telle sorte qu'on ne peut accepter de renseignement d'autres systèmes judiciaires ou d'autres systèmes d'enquête à travers le monde, a-t-il dit. Pourtant, la plupart des crimes sont survenus à l'étranger.»

M. Quiggin reconnaît toutefois certains mérites au programme sur les crimes de guerre, notamment d'avoir pu limiter le nombre de criminels de guerres qui ont essayé d'entrer au Canada après les conflits dans les Balkans dans les années 1990.

Selon le rapport annuel du programme, 3360 personnes se sont vues interdire de rester au Canada depuis 1998 en raison d'implication passée dans des crimes de guerre, des crimes contre l'humanité ou des génocides. Le document ajoute que 408 personnes ont été expulsées durant la même période.

CROATIANS IN CANADA

450 Years of Croatians in Canada

"The first mention of individual Croatians in Canada was by the Croatian Canadian author Nedo Paveskovic covering the expeditions of Jacques Cartier in 1543. Croatian Canadian author Anthony Rasporich also mentioned Croatian sailors with Cartier. The sailors were Giovanni Malogrudic from Senj and Marino Maslarda from Dubrovnik. Author Adam Eterovic mentions a Croatian sergeant of a company of marines who had migrated from French Canada to Lousiana in the 1700’s.

The Explorer Champlain in 1604 had a "Slavonian" (region in Croatia) miner in his expedition which was a native of Sclavonia and was called Master Jacques. (450 Years of Croatians in Canada, 47; Links: Croatia (Croatia to Canada; Croatians in Canada)

"In their struggle to preserve their identity and culture Croatians have cherished and passed on to new generations - both in Canada as well as in their homeland- their beliefs, religion, traditions, arts, and crafts, folkart, dances, music, games, stories, and priceless musical instruments." (Unknown Journey, 123)

MONTREAL GAZETTE, JULY 22, 2002

Bill Clinton - war criminal?: U.S. backed Croatian general`s offensive

by JEFFREY KUHNER, assistant national editor at The Washington Times.

Gotovina is not a war criminal, but a patriot who helped to secure Croatia`s territorial integrity from the clutches of Serbian revanchism. Even Serbian human-rights activists who have looked into Operation Storm believe that the indictment against the general is unjust. (more)

MONTREAL GAZETTE, JULY 26, 2002

Letters to the Editor

Integrating Global Security Factor: Croatian General Ante Gotovina

What Croatia`s Anica Kostelic means for the winter sports, and Goran Ivanisevic for the tennis, etc. - General Ante Gotovina could easily mean for the global security. Or, he already does? (more)