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The subtext is: if the Liberals cant manage the foreign affairs file, how can we trust them to manage anything?

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I want to take this opportunity to speak with our brothers, the Taliban. We call on you to ensure the safe and secure passage of any individual in Afghanistan out of the country. We call on you to immediately stop the violence, the genocide, the femicide, the destruction of infrastructure, including heritage buildings.

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Those words were spoken Wednesday by Maryam Monsef, Canadas minister for women and gender equality. Unsurprisingly, her use of the term brothers generated a firestorm. The language used by the Trudeau government is completely unacceptable, Conservative leader Erin OToole riposted. I think of the women and girls in Afghanistan who are at risk with the Taliban regime once again coming into place. Canadians deserve a government that will always stand up for our values.

Monsef, who was born in Iran to Afghan refugee parents, defended her remarks as a cultural reference, but was called out on social media, including by Muslim journalist Fatima Syed who tweeted FACT: brothers is a term of respect FALSE: Muslims call the Taliban brothers OPINION: this was dumb SOLUTION: Move on; theres lives on the line.

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But the opposition has not moved on. Thats because, while foreign policy is traditionally not a ballot question, when a gaffe like this feeds a larger narrative, it can shift the course of a campaign.

Thats what happened almost exactly six years ago. A photograph of three-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, lying drowned on a Turkish beach, went viral one month into the 2015 federal election campaign. Alan, his mother and brother died trying to reach Europe in a rubber raft; their father claimed the family had applied for asylum in Canada but their application had been rejected as incomplete. NDP MP Fin Donnelly then reported that he had hand-delivered the familys file to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, already on the hot seat for the slow pace of refugee approvals from Syria, who rejected it for the same reason.

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This incident had a profound impact on the election, because it fed into a larger political narrative: that the Conservatives were uncaring, anti-refugee, and racist. Further announcements by the Tories compounded the problem: less than a month later, the Tories pledged to appeal a Supreme Court ruling in favour of Sunera Ishaq, a woman who had refused to remove her veil to take the citizenship oath; a week after that, Alexander and fellow Tory candidate Kellie Leitch announced the Tories would set up a tip line to report barbaric cultural practices such as female circumcision and forced marriage. In Alexanders view, that was the nail in the coffin; after nearly 10 years in government, the Tories were turfed, and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised to usher in a new era of compassionate foreign policy.

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In 2021, the roles are reversed. It is the Liberals who are in government, asking for a third mandate, defending a foreign policy record that can only be described as a series of fails. These include the PMs disastrous trip to India in 2018, Canadas dilettante attempt at obtaining a seat on the UN security council in 2020, and China detaining two Canadian citizens for the past two years while openly mocking Trudeau as a boy who has turned Canada into a running dog of the U.S. Add to that Trudeaus incredulous statement this week, that he is concerned about revelations that his government contracted to build a $100 million Canadian ferry in China (the Tories immediately pledged to terminate the deal), and it is clear that when it comes to international relations, the emperor not only has no clothes, he has no clue.

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Monsefs comments shone the spotlight on a larger narrative: competency. Not only is this government nave and undiplomatic, but it is ineffective: Canadas efforts to evacuate Afghans who assisted Canadas war efforts have been described as a catastrophe. The subtext is: if the Liberals cant manage the foreign affairs file, how can we trust them to manage anything? And if thats the story that sticks, they are in serious trouble.

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The rest is here:
Tasha Kheiriddin: Trudeau Liberals have no clue on foreign policy 'our brothers' gaffe just the latest fail - National Post