Commonwealth

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Tuesday, October 8, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Stephen Harper to boycott Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka

The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, has said he will not attend a November summit of the Commonwealth in Sri Lanka because of what he called human rights abuses on the island.

“We remain disturbed by ongoing reports of intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra-judicial killings,” he said in a statement on Monday.

The UN’s human rights chief said last month Sri Lanka could be sliding toward an authoritarian system as the country’s president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, gathered power around him.

Harper is the only leader from the Commonwealth, which groups Britain and many former colonies, to announce he will boycott the November summit. Britain also has criticised human rights in Sri Lanka.

Harper said it was unacceptable that Sri Lanka had yet to investigate allegations of atrocities during and after a long civil war with Tamil rebels, which ended in 2009. Sri Lanka has denied allegations its troops committed major crimes.

“It is clear that the Sri Lankan government has failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values, which are cherished by Canadians … I will not attend the 2013 Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Colombo,” said Harper.

Canada will be represented by Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to the foreign minister, John Baird. (Source: The Guardian)

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Monday June 4, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday June 4, 2012

Jubilee pageant: Rain fails to dampen

It aimed to evoke the extravagant “water triumphs” of yore, a spectacle on the Thames to rival a Canaletto painting.

There was certainly water, too much, in fact, as driving rain drenched the diamond jubilee river pageant, the grandest procession the Thames has borne.

But to the estimated 1 million people crammed along the river’s banks, the 1,000-boat flotilla, with the Queen at its heart, was an undoubted triumph.

The armada was accompanied along the Thames by cheers from damp spectators, swaddled in rainwear and bunched under thickets of umbrellas. It was a very British occasion in all respects.

The 20,000 participants battled wind-whipped waters. Especially valiant were the rowers and kayakers following the Gloriana barge at the head of the £12m flotilla, and the soaked choir who managed a rousing rendition of Rule Britannia at the pageant’s end. The flypast of Royal Navy helicopters in diamond formation, which was supposed to provide a finale, was cancelled.

Aboard the royal barge, the lavishly decorated river cruiser Spirit of Chartwell, the Queen, with a pashmina wrapped around her shoulders and discreet rug to hand, waved at the crowds for an hour and a quarter. She shunned the specially constructed mini-thrones and opted to stand for most of the time.

Her highlight, judging from the beaming smile, was when Joey, the War Horse puppet, reared on the roof of the National theatre as the royals passed.

The Queen disembarked, no doubt with some relief, by Tower Bridge, where, back on terra firma and under a rain canopy, she watched the rest of the flotilla pass by. (Source: The Guardian)