Premiers shy to confront dictators

Toronto – The most bloodthirsty dictator of recent decades has died and some former Ontario premiers must be remembering the happier times they had together.

Premiers lent a veneer of respectability not once, but twice to former President Suharto of Indonesia, who was estimated to have caused the deaths of 1 million political opponents or suspects, or just people who appeared to stand in his way, in that fifth most populous country in the world.

The first time was when Suharto visited in 1975 looking for trade and investment and his regime already had slaughtered several hundred thousand people and banned free speech and open elections, and this was known to any who cared to listen.

Suharto was an ally of the United States against those it labeled Communists, but often merely wanted to free their homelands from foreign domination, and Progressive Conservative Premier William Davis’s only known foreign policy was doing what the U.S. did.

The premier treated Suharto to an official welcome at the airport and black-tie dinner at the relatively new showplace, the Ontario Science Centre. Members of the Royal Family are not always that much fussed over.

Suharto explained he was trying to bring his country democracy and spiritual well-being and the province’s elite applauded these worthy goals. His speech sounded much like one Davis would have made, except the premier always mentioned his hometown Brampton.

Suharto also brought his wife, whom the government took sightseeing to Niagara Falls, showing he is a family man like Davis. Davis liked to talk about his wife and five children, particularly in elections, and the two may have chatted about their kids.

One big difference, although Suharto may not have mentioned it, is he and his children diverted $35 billion (U.S) of taxpayers’ money to their personal bank accounts and his children own half the major businesses in that impoverished country.  But the visit presented a picture of a family man devoted to his people and the province helped give a vicious, greedy dictator an appearance of benevolence he did not deserve.

Another Conservative premier, Mike Harris, similarly helped Suharto cover up his real identity when he visited Indonesia on a trade mission in 1996.

Harris in opposition had lashed New Democrat premier Bob Rae for visiting China to further trade and failing to speak up against its abuse of rights, particularly in killing student protesters. But when Harris went to Indonesia, he also lost his zeal for protesting against abuse of rights and expressed only gratitude that Ontario companies could win business deals there.

Davis welcomed other tyrants, including Ahmed Seko Toure of Guinea in west Africa, who murdered and tortured opponents and drove one-quarter of its population into exile in nearby countries.

Davis had Toure given an official welcome at the airport and gave him a state dinner at the legislature and Toure responded unkindly by ordering an Amnesty International lawyer sent to observe one political trial jailed for life.

But Davis refused to put out the welcome mat for some visitors. When the NDP tried to get five Russian members of a so-called peace and disarmament committee introduced in the legislature in 1980, the premier objected, saying he wanted to make it clear they were not guests of his government. Davis was continuing his line of supporting the U.S. and keen to win votes of the many Ontarians who fled from Soviet-dominated countries.

Rae, Harris and Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty also should feel some shame, because they visited China, the biggest violator, seeking trade, but failed to protest against its abuse of rights. Premiers do not have a good record of sticking up for the less fortunate in other countries.

Eric Dowd is a veteran member of the Queen's Park press gallery.