Won’t you give a warm welcome to Wajid Khan, currently not over-burdened with official work, but whom Prime Minister Harper named as his Special Advisor on South Asia and the Middle East two and a half years ago. This makes Khan the Canadian equivalent to two of Barack Obama’s special envoys — Richard Holbrooke and George Mitchell — and more valuable than both of them put together because his appointment came so far ahead of the curve!
“Canada has an increasing number of interests in both South Asia and the Middle East,” Harper announced when he named Khan. And this appointment shows precisely how seriously Harper took those challenges. And I do mean precisely. As Obama’s advance team scrambles to prepare him for his first foreign trip, they can use the whole Wajid Khan affair as their best gauge of Canada’s ability to be a serious, reliable partner for the United States on the world stage.
Khan wrote a report for the Prime Minister after his travels in the region, and unfortunately, it was just so good that Harper didn’t dare make it public. I have every confidence, however, that the Prime Minister will have a copy ready to hand over to President Obama on Thursday. Because when it comes to our American friends, we care enough to send the very best.