Seize the Day
| Author | Andrew Cohen |
| Published date | 01 March 2003 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200305800107 |
| Date | 01 March 2003 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ANDREW
COHEN
Seize
the
day
A
FEW
WEEKS
AFTER
THE
CALAMITOUS
EVENTS
of
11
September
2001,
John
Manley,
then
Canada's
minister
of
foreign
affairs,
mused
about Canada
and
its place
in
the world.
More
lawyer
than
diplomat,
Manley
was
artlessly
and
unusually frank
in
conversation
with
jour-
nalists. 'We
are
still
trading on our reputation
that
was
built
two
gen-
erations
and
more
ago,'
he
complained,
'but
that
we haven't
continued
to
live
up
to.
You
can't
just
sit
at
the
G-8
table
and
then, when the
bill
comes,
go
to
the
washroom.
If
you
want
to
play
a
role
in
the world,
even
as
a
small
member
of
the
G-8,
there's
a
cost
to
doing
that.'
He
cited
'the
glaring inadequacy'
of
Canada's
capacity in
areas
of
foreign
and
defence
policy
and
how
that
weakness
was
compromising
its abil-
ity
to
honour
its
traditional
commitments
overseas.
Manley
did
not
withdraw
his
comments when
he
was
received
cool-
ly in
cabinet. Indeed,
the
next
day
he
reiterated
that
'a
lot
of
things
have
changed
since
11
September.
And
one
of
those
is
that
the
burden
that
we
are
going
to
have
to
be
asked
to
bear
internationally
is
going
to
become
greater.
And
we're
not
going
to
have
an
option,
if we
intend
to
play
the
influential
role
we have
in
the
past
...
without
shouldering the
burden.'
Manley,
who
has
almost ten
years
experience
as
minister,
has
a
pen-
chant
for
making
direct,
provocative remarks;
over
the
next
few
months,
after
he
was
appointed
finance
minister
and deputy prime
minister,
he
would
cause a
tempest
when
he
questioned the meaning
of
the monarchy
in
Canada
during
a
visit
to
the
country
by
Queen
Elizabeth.
Amid the
pur&
of
platitudes
that
passes
for
truth
in
Ottawa
Andrew
Cohen,
who
has covered
international
affairs
at
home
and
abroad
as
ajournalistfor
25
years,
is
Associate
Professor
at
the
School
ofJournalism
and
Communication
and
the
Norman
Paterson
School ofInternationalAffairs
at
Carleton
University
in
Ottawa.
The
themes
of
this
article
are
exploredffurther
in
While
Canada
Slept: How
We
Lost
our Place
in
the
World,
to
he
published
by
McClelland
&
Stewart
in May 2003.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter
2002-2003
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