Throughout history, human conflict has helped to create leaders. Those in power during times of war have, in most cases, experienced a surge in popularity as citizens rally behind their leader in troubled times.
In Canada, this has not been a common occurance however, as our role in most conflicts has been that of peacekeeper - if we participated at all.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper - following a very secret trip to Afghanistan, spent a full day in the war torn country - rallying our troops. Talking about Canada assuming a leadership role in the world.
For many countries, participation in war defines who they are. For Canada, our role has typically been one of peace.
From a communications perspective, the Prime Minister received great advice. His trip showed a leader praising our amazing men and women in extraordinary circumstances. I predict that the PM's popularity numbers will soar as Canadians feel the pride of their leader.
For some however the trip might appear a little too American.
Don't get me wrong. I am proud of our men and women and the work they are doing in the war torn country and the Prime Minister's presence increases the visibility of the work they are doing - which is good.. But this very Bush like trip feels foreign.
The PM will not get flack over the trip. As I said his numbers will rise. I just hope that taking leads from American political leaders won't translate into other areas like domestic policy.
The National Post said that the PM's visit showed he is a prime minister we can finally be proud of. I still thinlk time will tell. With the start this Conservative government has had it will take more than a PR trip to create long-lasting legacy.
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1 comment:
I think Mr. Harpers communications people are doing a spin job on us, which I suspect is what any government would do in a similar situation. He went to Afghanistan, got on the news and stated, in so many words, that Canadians support our troops, and that was the end of the debate as far as he's concerned. Duh???? Of course we support our troops! That was never in question, and we definately didn't need him to state it for us. But perhaps we don't much like the idea of supporting the political policies that allow our sons and daughters to be sent into harms way just to support an ill-planned American offensive. All the talk about bringing "democracy" to the Afghan people is just so much babble. I doubt we'll ever see that in our lifetime, given the nature of what goes on over there and all the religious fanaticism interwoven with unworkable political alliances. That sort of "democracy" talk is straight out of the mouth of George Bush, and I have no hesitation in believing that, in the near future, we'll be seeing a great deal of "co-operation" betweeen Canada and the USA on what have been, so far, policies and issues we could not honestly support as Canadians.
I think Harpers little foray into the battle zone was good PR and good for his image at home, undertaken primarily to get the poll count up in his favor, but that doesn't preclude that the effort is one which ends up treating us collectively like we're a bunch of dummies who can't think for ourselves. If we allow oursleves to be fooled into thinking this is a sign of good leadership, we're all going to pay a bigger price than we bargained for.
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