By Hans Wilder | The Watertown Post
Mark Carney wanted Canadians to believe he was the big man on campus.
Last October, Carney was asked a remarkably straightforward question: Would Canada arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the International Criminal Court warrant if Netanyahu came to Canada?
Carney’s answer was equally straightforward: “Yes.”
No hesitation. No hemming and hawing. Canada supports the ICC. Canada respects international law. Canada would arrest Netanyahu.
Well, Netanyahu just came through Canadian sovereign airspace.
And absolutely nothing happened.
Netanyahu’s government aircraft flew through the airspace of Greece, Italy, France and Canada on September 24 on its way to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Canadian authorities had advance notice because foreign dignitaries must request Ottawa’s permission before flying through Canadian airspace. Canada let the aircraft through.
That is where the Watertown Post calls bullshit.
This isn’t about whether Ottawa’s lawyers can produce a clever legal memorandum explaining what constitutes Canadian territory for purposes of an ICC arrest warrant. Governments employ entire buildings full of lawyers to explain why yesterday’s absolute declaration has seventeen exceptions today.
This is about credibility.
Carney wanted the political benefit of declaring that Canada would arrest the democratically elected prime minister of Israel. When Netanyahu was thousands of miles away, Carney could puff out his chest and proclaim Canada’s commitment to the ICC.
Then Netanyahu’s airplane appeared on Canada’s radar.
Suddenly the chest wasn’t quite so puffed out.
Ottawa authorized the overflight and then Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s office explained that allowing Netanyahu’s aircraft through Canadian airspace should not be interpreted as endorsing his government’s policies.
Oh, please.
That’s the kind of bureaucratic word salad politicians serve when reality catches up with rhetoric.
If Carney believes Netanyahu is an international fugitive whom Canada has a duty to arrest, then explain why Canada knowingly authorized the aircraft carrying that supposedly wanted man to cross Canadian sovereign airspace.
If Canada doesn’t believe the warrant should interfere with Netanyahu traveling to the United States, fine. Say that.
But you don’t get to play Wyatt Earp when the cameras are rolling and then become an air-traffic controller when Netanyahu actually comes flying across your country.
And this matters beyond Netanyahu.
How much weight should Canadians, Americans or anybody else put behind Carney’s next grand declaration?
That’s the question.
When Carney talks tough about President Donald Trump, the United States, trade, Canadian sovereignty or Canada’s supposed determination to stand up to Washington, Americans ought to remember this episode. Words are cheap. Governments demonstrate their positions through actions.
The United States, meanwhile, isn’t pretending. America is not a party to the Rome Statute, and Washington does not recognize the ICC’s authority over Americans or officials of other nonmember states on the terms asserted by the court. Israel likewise isn’t an ICC member and disputes the court’s jurisdiction.
You can agree or disagree with that position.
But at least you know what the American position is.
That’s increasingly the problem with Carney. The rhetoric sounds wonderfully muscular until somebody has to do something.
From our perch here in Northern New York, directly across the border from Canada, we’re hearing increasingly dramatic pronouncements coming out of Ottawa. Canadians are being told their government is standing tall, defending sovereignty and fearlessly confronting powerful countries and leaders.
Then Netanyahu’s airplane cruises overhead.
Nothing.
Big Man on Campus suddenly had somewhere else to be.
For the Watertown Post, the lesson isn’t complicated: don’t judge Mark Carney by what Mark Carney says. Judge his government by what it actually does.
Yesterday Canada had an opportunity to demonstrate just how seriously Carney meant his unequivocal promise concerning Netanyahu.
Instead, Netanyahu flew right over Canada and onward to New York.
Welcome to the Golden Age.
The bullshit detector is working just fine.
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