OTTAWA - The Tories have blundered on the international stage once again with a Calgary MP's comments comparing the Beijing Olympics to the infamous Nazi Games of 1936, Liberal Bob Rae said Friday.
Rae, his party's foreign affairs critic, said the comparison by Ron Anders, along with his description of China as the worst human-rights abuser in the world, sends the wrong message and will damage already-strained relations with China.
"This government's gaffes keep growing by the hour,'' said Rae. "The Conservatives seem determined to not only diminish Canada's reputation in the eyes of the world but also to do serious damage to some of our key international relationships.''
Rae said Prime Minister Stephen Harper must start holding his MPs to account for their remarks.
"If we want to make real progress regarding human rights, we must engage China, not insult it.
"This government's penchant for engaging foreign governments through the media shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the basics of international diplomacy.''
In the Commons, the government said Anders was expressing his own opinion.
"The comments made by the member for Calgary West are his own views and do not reflect the views of the government of Canada,'' said Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary to Maxime Bernier, the minister of Foreign Affairs.
"Canada has serious concerns for human rights and we will continue with dialogue with China on that issue.''
Anders, a veteran MP with a penchant for inflammatory remarks -- he once described Nelson Mandela as a terrorist -- made his China comments in separate TV and radio interviews on Thursday.
"You know, I think this regime has one of the worst human-rights records on the face of the planet, and we should be careful that we are not used to try to whitewash that or give it credibility,'' Anders said on CTV's Newsnet.
Rae said this is another blunder following Bernier's widely condemned public comments about the need to oust a local governor in Afghanistan.
"Now we have a senior government MP and chair of the Veterans Affairs committee further damaging our already-strained relationship with China by comparing its government to Nazis,'' Rae said. "Such a comparison trivializes one of the most horrific regimes mankind has known.''
