Canada’s image has changed on the international stage, and not for the better, believes former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
At a conference at Concordia University, Chrétien deplored the climate of fear fed by the Conservative government, who wants to pass its anti-terrorism bill as soon as possible.
He co-signed an open letter with other former first Canadian and former judges of the Supreme Court ministers to denounce C-51, which could undermine public protection and human rights. “It’s a slippery slope. And it’s easy to use the emotions and fear of the people to remove certain freedoms, that are sometimes difficult to regain,” he commented during a news briefing.
“When I travel, I am always asked, ‘What happened in Canada?’. We lost our image. We were an example to the world,” laments the former prime minister.
Chrétien recalled that he had refused to commit Canada to war in Iraq in 2003, when the fear of a terrorist attack after September 11 was indeed real. But the country is already at war against the Islamic state, he had said in an interview on CBC. “We were the guardians of peace, now we are the target!” he said Wednesday.
“We developed an image of Canada. We became a member of the G7. When we wanted a seat on the UN Security Council, there was no problem.” In 2010, Canada had to concede victory to Portugal to obtain a seat on the Security Council, which was a hard setback for the country on the international stage.
Chrétien has repeatedly touted the country’s ability to deliver equality for all, since Canada is an “example of diversity and unity.”
“Immigration has changed. We had a lot of immigrants from Europe, especially, and at one point, we had people from Asia, South America … Here is what Canada was and what he is today.”
“Avoid giving in to fear”, he said, “since the population is more likely to be struck by lightning than to die in a terrorist attack. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. There are 1.3 billion Muslims on the planet. They are not all terrorists!”
