Sent to Stephen Harper, PM of Canada
Reader comment on item: Canada's Muslims Provide "Strategic Advice on Relations with the Muslim World"

Submitted by Katherine Mclean (United States), Apr 17, 2006 at 21:04

The expansion of the role of DFAIT in the form of FMCG is most troubling. This unit , obviously unelected , presumes to inform even the Prime Minister and certainly the Minister of Foreign Affairs "providing timely, strategic advice on relations with the Muslim world, and the lead in creating a policy framework for our overall approach to this subject.

As such, the FMCG should be consulted at headquarters and by posts on the broad range of issues affecting Canada's relations with Muslim communities, including public diplomacy efforts, and will take the lead in coordinating the Department's response to many of them". These were the folks who told you to condemn those newspapers brave enough to publish a caricature weren't they? Bad advice in a country that believes in free speech.

Most troubling is the appointment of one Crystal Procyshen as "both a policy and operations officer" Ms. Procyshen has made her anti-Semitic views abundantly clear www.al-bushra.org/Truth/procyshen.htm - In this childishly emotional account of a trip to the Palestinian Territories she not only had an abundance of "facts" incredibly wrong, she sounded unprofessional and down right sappy. Is this what is to inform our foreign policy? . Given that she does have a MA in Middle East studies it can safely be assumed that her "mistakes" leaned more to the side of sheer propaganda of the type that hopes that if a "fact" is repeated often enough and by someone with, oh I don't know, say a MA in Middle East Studies we are going to believe it. The only thing left out of this ridiculous piece of writing was the camp fire and a few rounds of something and I don't mean Kumbya. She is PROFESSIONALLY anti-emetic and has an anti-Israeli, ANTI- SEMITIC agenda. Plain and simple.

.Ms. Procyshen may have the credibility to lead yet another "peace" march someplace but as for providing our ELECTED officials with strategy and advice she most definitely does not. Each time an anti-Israeli statement is issued by the Canadians…will we trace it back to FMCG and the redoubtable Ms Proyshen and of course David Mulroney? Are our elected officials to be the mouthpieces for these extreme views of a far left-over liberal? Will Prime Minister Harper appoint David Mulroney, the man who thinks of her as "able", to the position of advisor on foreign policy? Is Canada still being run by a bunch of Liberal bureaucrats?

IS CANADIAN POLICY TO BE DECIDED BY A SPECIAL GROUP WHO ARE MOTIVATED BY EXTREME VIEWS AND A SELF PROMOTING AGENDA namely the FMCG. Why should any group, culture, or religion have a special route to the ear of the Prime Minister and be able to order the Canadian bureaucracy to produce their views as official Canadian foreign policy. . Sir. You are putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop.

Katherine McLean

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