TORONTO
Columnist for Canadian newspaper Toronto Star Thomas Walkom wrote that the Canadian government remained silent over the Egyptian military coup which ousted a democratically elected president.
In his column published on Thursday, Walkom said, "the Canadian government has been in a deafening silence since the start of the bloody military coup."
"It has had no comment on the arrest of democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi and no comment on the Egyptian coup-masters’ decision to imprison their political opponents. Prime Minister Stephen Harper did have the grace to say he is “extremely concerned” about the fate of two Canadians arrested in Egypt in the coup’s aftermath," wrote the columnist.
Walkom also added:
"On the coup itself, the prime minister has maintained radio silence. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has done little better, occasionally noting Canada’s “deep concern” over unspecified violence and calling for “meaningful political dialogue". Baird did condemn attacks on Christian churches in Egypt. Andrew Bennett, Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom, also condemned the shooting death of a Coptic Christian priest. Yet no one in Canada’s government has gone to bat for the religious freedom of those tens of thousands of Egyptian Muslims who elected Morsi, nor for the hundreds who lost their lives to protect that choice. None of this is to suggest that a stronger expression of disapproval could, on its own, alter events. Canada doesn’t have that kind of clout."
englishnews@aa.com.tr
