Burma cyclone: Canada gets angry

Canada is pushing the United Nations Security Council to press Burma's military dictators to permit international aid to reach cyclone victims, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said yesterday.

The move comes as the Conservative government faces mounting pressure to back the UN's "responsibility to protect" doctrine -- one that Canada pushed the world body to adopt -- which calls on the international community to essentially invade the sovereign territory of a country if its government is not protecting its people.

"We've asked our ambassador in New York to transmit this message to the Security Council of the UN. There is going to be a discussion, we hope, on this issue so that aid can get to the Burmese people," Mr. Bernier told the House of Commons. (National Post)

Three cheers for Canada! According to the article France has persuaded Britain and Germany to discuss "responsibility to protect." Spain is talking about "crimes against humanity." But the EU seems content to just issue another weak statement.