‘We’ve got to stand for what is right… We don’t worship at the altar of consensus’

Times of Israel ^

[nuconvert]

In characteristically straightforward terms, Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird explains why his country is so supportive of Israel, and why others aren’t.

(excerpt)

But Baird is not your average Western foreign minister. And when it comes to foreign affairs, the Canadian government of Stephen Harper in which he serves is not your average Western government.

The clearest recent expression of its atypical nature? While most every country on earth, including the supposedly responsible, relatively decent Western European nations, either supported Mahmoud Abbas or abstained in last November’s UN General Assembly vote upgrading the Palestinians to nonmember state, Canada stood alongside only the US, Panama, the Czech Republic and four tiny Pacific Islands in voting with Israel against Abbas’s bid to attain sovereign recognition without the discomfort of negotiating Palestine’s modalities with Israel.

“Maybe people try to be pragmatic or, in the conduct of international affairs, worship at the altar of compromise or consensus,” Baird offered The Times of Israel by way of explanation. “I am more of a conviction politician, like Stephen Harper.”

[Secret Agent Man]

Further, I don’t worship at the altars of personal convenience, incrementalism, pop culture morality, or political correctness.

[factoryrat]

When do you turn the other cheek, and when do decide to fight? Where is the line, and when do you know that it has been crossed? The Jews know, because they have been down that road before, even if the rest of us don’t realize it. It comes down to Us vs. them. I want us to win.

[TexasRedeye]

...why his country is so supportive of Israel,

Really? Why did the Quebec government rule earlier rule it is not permissable for kosher foods to be sold in Quebec because the foods did not have French equivalent labels?

[expat1000]

>>Really? Why did the Quebec government rule earlier rule it is not permissable for kosher foods to be sold in Quebec because the foods did not have French equivalent labels?

Leaving aside the ridiculousness of using a Provincial food labeling law to refute the Canadian government’s (federal) position on Israel on many different consequential issues, there is this:

French labels are not only required on ALL retail products, even internal documents - memo’s, etc., of anything but the smallest companies have to be in French in Quebec! These laws are enforced.

To the Quebecois, the food labeling issue is no different than say somebody marketing a product in the USA with nothing but Chinese on the labels.

BTW, I haven’t been there for a long time, but I cannot believe kosher products are not available in Quebec anymore. Imported products kosher or otherwise would have to be relabeled - possibly even repackaged, because Canada has different sized containers and serving sizes than the USA and that kind of thing is more strictly enforced there also.