Honorary citizenship not a tool to be wielded

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/06/2023 (999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CANADIANS often harken back to the “glory days of Canadian diplomacy” — when Canada had a reputation as an “honest broker” in world affairs.

This notion was valid in the ‘60s, when our prime minister was a Nobel Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recognized in 1957 for his efforts in creating the first United Nations peacekeeping force and in defusing the Suez Crisis. For decades afterwards, this perception had been a point of pride for us.

Other Canadians were able to bolster this notion by their actions. Brian Mulroney was respected for his clarion call to free Nelson Mandela and his use of economic sanctions to call out South Africa’s apartheid regime at a time when Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were opposed to them. This stance reflected well on Canadians and has stood the test of time.

How times change. Canada’s leadership has since squandered our perceived international reputation. We see it now most starkly, and embarrassingly, in Senator Ratna Omidvar’s June 1 news conference where she is serving up the notion that the people of Canada — through her, as well as the other senators and all our MPs — can use honorary Canadian citizenship as a “tool” to try to boost our influence on the global stage.

In October 2018, I was with my daughter at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.

When we approached the display of the six recipients of Honourary Canadian Citizenship we were stunned. I thought, at first, that we were witnessing a mere technical failure; the full-body photographs and accompanying text of the recipients were lit up as usual in a handsome and impressive display — but for that of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, figurehead leader of the military-run state Myanmar. Paired with her display was another of the six honorary Canadian citizens, the Aga Khan, oft-described as billionaire philanthropist, playboy, racehorse breeder, in addition to hereditary Imam of the Ismaili sect of Muslim worshippers. And friend of at least one Canadian prime minister (the Aga Khan was bestowed honorary Canadian citizenship during Stephen Harper’s tenure as PM).

I got out my smartphone and took photographs of the bewildering juxtaposition. I remember turning to the bright-lit images of Raoul Wallenburg, Malala Yousefzai, Nelson Mandela, and the Dalai Lama.

On reflection, I believe I was seeking from their memory some reassurance and a sense of stability. And I think I had momentarily found it. I soon learned this was no technical malfunction; the museum’s dimming of the Aung San Suu Kyi’s ‘display’ was in response to the unanimous decision of our senators and MPs to rescind the honorary Canadian citizenship they had given her in 2007. I felt embarrassed and ashamed on their behalf.

Unanimous? It made no sense to me and I instinctively knew this was another example of politicians acting like sheeple/pandering to a “squeaky wheel”/following personal agendas. Just another sideshow.

Time will tell… and it has. When it comes to Myanmar, not only have our leaders squandered any influence Canadians, collectively, may have had, but they made matters worse. And as astute Canadians were conjecturing from the outset at this shameful “clawback” of a now-diminished honour, Aung San Suu Kyi may have cared more about ‘a half-spilled glass of beer’ than losing this status. The Nobel Committee never followed Canada’s ‘lead’ — to our senators’ and MPs’ secret disappointment I’m sure. U.N. envoy Bob Rae doesn’t want to talk about it, either.

Now Senator Omidvar is spurring her colleagues and telling us all we should use our “tool” by awarding Vladimir Kara-Murza honorary citizenship. She says “Canada would honour his bravery and pursuit of global justice, which serve as an inspiration to all Canadians and the world… Canadians from across the country have joined in solidarity with Mr. Kara-Murza and are calling for the government to grant him honorary citizenship.”

If only that were true. But if Canadian leadership’s disrespectful act of using honorary Canadian citizenship as a tool becomes a habit, the people of Canada will lose whatever global influence we have ever been able to muster. Canadian leadership needs to be brave, do the hard thing, be prepared to accept the consequences, to make a difference. In other words, we must sacrifice — like all of Canada’s honorary citizens that are, or used to be, on bright display in Winnipeg. I’m referring to those shot, imprisoned, or executed for their beliefs.

The people of Canada cannot afford to let our leaders repeat the mistake — both for our benefit, and to avoid further suffering abroad. Our leadership has “tools” for sure.

For one thing, they can determine if we are prepared to engage in economic sanctions; Canadians have already shown our commitment to Ukraine in many ways, economic and otherwise.

Canada’s leaders must resist self-aggrandizement and the cheapening of something all Canadians hold dear.

Formerly an East Asia-based expat, Karmel Schreyer writes educational materials and children’s literature, and is the founder of the End Ambulance Fees initiative, Manitoba Chapter.