Harper staffer's comment panned

OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday praised the work done by Canadian officials to help evacuate Canadians from Lebanon — but some of his staff has blamed the Canadian ambassador in Beirut for the confusion, saying he was a Liberal appointment.

The Prime Minister acknowledged there had been some complaints.

"This is not a political appointment. This is a career foreign service professional in extremely difficult circumstances, working in the public interest," a senior official said. "He enjoys the full confidence of the department and this government in carrying out his very difficult duties."

Liberal consular affairs critic Dan McTeague said the comment was uncalled for. "In a time of disaster, the minister has been very clear he didn't want to be criticized on partisan reasons," he told the Star.

He said the problem was Harper and MacKay did not get involved until four days into the crisis. "And in those critical four days, the department was doing yeoman's work, but it had no direction," he said.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1153518610223&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

BEIRUT—As the Akgünler III blasted its horns on the ship's way out of Beirut port, Louis de Lorimier cracked a rare smile.

"That's a very good sound," he said, looking withered, as he stood at the dockside in rumpled pinstripes.

For Canada's ambassador to Lebanon, it was not simply the third boatload of Canadians to flee the battle zone. It also carried his two young sons, Frederic and Felix-Antoine, to safety, bound for Mersin, a Turkish Mediterranean port.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1153433434897&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724



Louis de Lorimier, Canada’s ambassador to Lebanon, reflects a moment after seeing off sons Frederic, 9, and Felix-Antoine, 11, on the Akgünler III, shown behind him. It was one of four ships taking some 1,375 Canadians away from fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.