More Mixed Messaging from Conservatives on Human Rights

Earlier this year, I posted a bit of a rant regarding the Conservative’s contempt for the Divers-Cite LGBT festival in Montreal (see: Conservative Party Has No Respect for Diversity, July 22 2009) by refusing to spend stimulus funding on it. This after Tony Clement was transferred funding powers when a picture of a Conservative Minister handing an oversized cheque to a drag queen in Toronto for its Pride Festival caught the eye of ultra-right-wing Conservative MP Brad Trost.

While I continue to believe that the Conservative Party harbours those whose mindsets are clearly anti-gay, and will continue to appeal to that retrograde constituency, there was some positive news being reported by the Globe & Mail today ("Uganda’s anti-gay bill causes Commonwealth uproar") regarding the government’s condemnation of a nasty piece of legislation being brought forward in the Commonwealth nation of Uganda. Looks like Dimitri Soudas hit all the right notes in condemning this disgusting and intolerant move by the Ugandan government.

However, the Globe & Mail is also reporting that it likely didn’t take a lot of effort for Soudas’ handlers to come up with an appropriate statement of condemnation, given that Conservative writers appear to have lifted the statement word for word from an earlier statement issued by the United States on the same subject ("Of loyalty and pmo plagiarism").

While I am very happy that our government has finally weighed in on this matter in advance of the upcoming Commonwealth summit, I have to say that I’m less then impressed with the level of original thought and concern which went into Soudas’ statement. Perhaps the Conservatives really just don't know what to say to the public on issues like this. It’s nonsense like this which leads people to question whether human rights are really a priority of the Conservative government.

I think that question if likely on the minds of a lot of people recently.

I mean, come on. If you're going to pretend that you give a damn, say something original. Put a little effort into it. The hollow ring of this statement speaks volumes about the Cons concern (or more correctly, lack thereof) for rights.