It may be a pleasure cruiser, but this ain't no pleasure cruise

Far be it for me to defend the Harper government on anything at all, but I do think they do not deserve the flak they are receiving from the media and the evacuees over the eveacuation of some 40,000 Canadians from Lebanon.

First off...40,000! Consider that Canada, a country with a population of just over 30 million, is in the process of evacuating 40,000 people while the U.S., with a population of 295 million, is evacuating 25,000. It is the largest evacuation ever in Canadian history.

So yes, it takes a while to get organized. We are not a country with a huge military presence in the Middle East so it is not as though military ships were standing by waiting for a disaster or war to happen, just on the off chance there might be a few thousand Canadians to shuttle back to Canada.

But a pleasure cruiser was borrowed from somewhere and 261 Canadians were taken to Cyprus. And what exactly were some of these people expecting? Apparently they were expecting a wee cruise, a bit of a good time. The ship was holding more than double its capacity and they expected a place to sleep. "Treated like animals" some of them claim. Well, unfortuantely when you are trying to save the lives of as many people as possible I guess it is not always possible to provide fun and games, and, yes, perhaps not even water or food. And while I am sure that grocery stores have not been well stocked this past week, if in fact the local shop is still standing, even someone like myself (slow on the uptake quite often) would have had the sense to grab a bit of food from the cupboard; if my house were still standing that is. I don't think we can entirely blame the Canadian government for a lack of food.

And I don't believe this government has provided the worst service of all the countries involved. They aren't being charged after all, as Americans are rumoured to be. And even those nationals who haven't lived in Canada for years will be taken care of. Stop your whinging I say, and be grateful you are still alive.

It's a good thing the Brits didn't complain like these folks have when they were evacuated from Dunkirk, with attitudes like that surely they would have lost the war very quickly.

Of course, it took until this evening for me to hear that some people actually did thank the Canadian government. It is always more enjoyable for the media to make everyone appear to be total arseholes.

Just in case you think I am actually starting to like Stephen Harper, you are so very wrong. I think he's a fucking eejit and I wish he would keep his mouth shut in regards to Israel and Lebanon, especially when there are 8 dead Canadians because of a country whose military offensive he is staunchly supporting.

There are two boys from Liam's soccer team currently in Lebanon with their families. I hope they make it home safely.