panda diplomacy

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Er Shun and Da Mao arrive in Toronto for start of 10-year stay in Canada

Prime Minister Stephen Harper greeted a pair of giant pandas at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport today, marking the start of their much-anticipated 10-year stay in Canada.

Er Shun, a five-year-old female and Da Mao, a four-year-old male, arrived in Toronto from China aboard a FedEx flight that landed Monday morning.

For the next five years, the pandas will be at the Toronto Zoo, where it is hoped that Er Shun and Da Mao will be able to reproduce. They will spend the final half of their Canadian visit in Calgary.

2011-2015

2011-2015

The Toronto Zoo has not hosted giant pandas in almost three decades, the only prior occasion taking place over a few months in 1985.

Police helped control traffic as the furry visitors made their way to the zoo. And when the small convoy of four vehicles rolled into the zoo with Er Shun and Da Mao, staff and volunteers cheered their arrival.

The CBC’s Aaron Saltzman reported that Er Shun and Da Mao will undergo a 30-day quarantine and will then spend a few weeks out of the public eye before their exhibit opens.

Saltzman said the zoo has high hopes for the panda exhibit, which is expected to formally open in May.

“Zoo officials are telling us that they expect the pandas to bring in an additional 300,000 to 500,000 visitors,” Saltzman reported. (Source: CBC News)

November 18, 2006

Well good for Stephen Harper for bringing up human rights with the President of China. While the brief meeting sounds like it might’ve taken place as the two were standing next to each other in the line-up at the APEC conference buffet table, it seems the Chinese are none too pleased with the new style of diplomacy from the Canadians. After 13 years of sycophantic Liberal Prime Ministers prioritizing trade with China way above demanding action to improve human rights there’s finally a government in Ottawa which is serious about highlighting China’s brutal record with its own people.

Last year I reflected on the ongoing custom of Liberal Prime Ministers going through the old song and dance of making the same old feeble demands for human rights as trade grows exponentially between the two countries:

It’s kind of refreshing to know, much to the dismay of the travelling Canadian media, that no cheesy photo-ops between Harper and Hu ever materialized. Canada and China are officially at odds with each other over a noble cause: human rights.

Still, many are berating Harper for threating to damage valuable trade links, and having the gall to criticize other countries for poor human rights when (yeah, you’ve heard it before) we Canadians have our own embarassing record of mistreating our aboriginal people.

Well I suppose Stephen Harper will get criticized for whatever he does. Knowing China has imprisoned Husyin Celil, a Chinese-Canadian citizen, on terrorism charges, and won’t acknowledge his Canadian citizenship, Harper would be stupid not to bring up human rights with China.