Sign up for email updates

Bob's networks

   

Bob's recent videos

Click for other recent videos.

Connexion des utilisateurs

What you can do

What's New

Governing by Theory is a Bad Idea

Publication: 
Embassy Magazine

Our foreign policy should reflect both our interests and our values. We are part of the world and the world is a part of us. Our engagement with the Americas is part and parcel of our overall commitment to expand world markets, promote human rights and engage in a principled and effective approach to the world.

We are just over thirty million people, an advanced economy with sovereignty over vast lands on the northern half of North America. With well over half our national income dependent on trade outside our borders, we are always looking for new ways to expand our marketplace.

Global Currents - Volume III, Spring 2009

I would like to invite you to read the latest volume of Global Currents - a Liberal newsletter on Foreign Policy. You can read this, and other editions of Global Currents, by visiting the foreign affairs section of my website or download the newsletter by clicking here.

Working on Peace Can Mean Getting Attacked by Hardliners on Both Sides

Publication: 
Clap on Two

Bob Rae's expulsion from Sri Lanka is a reminder of how a peace process that seemed so promising when it started seven years ago, went so wrong.

In 2002 the Sri Lankan government lifted the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as part of a comprehensive peace process. Violence, for the most part, ceased. Trade and commerce between the predominantly Tamil North and East and the rest of Sri Lanka could resume and security restrictions imposed on all Sri Lankans were relaxed.

Deportation of Bob Rae: Some Fundamental Questions for the future of Minorities and and the Erasure of Democracy

Publication: 
Statement by the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), Sri Lanka

The recent denial of entry to the Canadian Parliamentarian Bob Rae, a long time champion of democracy, requires particular attention by those who care about the future of Lanka. His deportation reflects the paradox of continuing internal repression and unhealthy xenophobia despite the end of the war. It reflects a mindset that bodes ill for the minorities and the democratic rights of Sinhalese. It is a government that wants everyone else to conform to its own agenda and is hostile to discussion of any kind based on rights.

Pro-Israel, pro-Arab and pro-peace

Publication: 
Toronto Star

March 29, 2009

There is a story about two Israelis meeting in the street. "How are things?"

"In a word, 'good.' In two words, 'not good.' "

I have just spent 10 days travelling in the Middle East, meeting with leaders in Cairo, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Amman, Damascus and Beirut.

Recent Blog Posts

Chinese "hello" should be a wake up call

12/3/2009

The Chinese Premier's comment about Prime Minister Harper's absence from China for four years is indeed unprecedented and deliberate, but then so was Harper's truly ignorant behaviour. Mr Harper's provocative refusal to engage with China for four years comes with a price, which Canada is paying for, and which this incident reflects.

Every PM since Diefenbaker has nurtured this relationship, and the immaturity and clumsiness of Harper's approach has set the relationship back years. We have been warning the government about this publicly and privately, and have been

Liberal MPs pass motion to mark August 23rd as Black Ribbon Day

12/1/2009

OTTAWA - Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic, the Hon. Bob Rae, passed a unanimous Resolution in Parliament today to commemorate the victims of Europe's totalitarian regimes.

Rae Deplores Arson at Buddhist Temple in Scarborough

12/1/2009

The second fire in a few months at a Sinhalese Buddhist Temple in Scarborough is a deplorable act. Police are describing it as a hate motivated crime, which is deeply worrying.

"We hope the police can catch the perpetrators, and steps must be taken to protect religious and community institutions that are subject to threats and attacks.

More blog posts.