Canada has walked away from one of the most farcical UN conferences, calling it a "gong show".

Canada has withdrawn its support for a UN anti-racism conference slated to take place in South Africa next year, the federal government announced Wednesday.

The so-called Durban II conference "has gone completely off the rails" and Canada wants no part of it, said Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity.

"Canada is interested in combatting racism, not promoting it," Mr. Kenney told The Canadian Press. "We'll attend any conference that is opposed to racism and intolerance, not those that actually promote racism and intolerance.

"Our considered judgment, having participated in the preparatory meetings, was that we were set for a replay of Durban I. And Canada has no intention of lending its good name and resources to such a systematic promotion of hatred and bigotry."

The 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban turned into "a circus of intolerance," Mr. Kenney said.

One government official on Wednesday called the conference "a gong show."

I'm proud of Canada. Durban I in 2001 was a Cinco de Mayo with Israel as the pinata. All the Muslim countries got together to blame the Jooooos for all the world's ills. To have our current Conservative government stand up and tell the UN to shove their conference is something that I applaud.

Now if they would just turn their attention to the Human Rights Commissions...

Labels: Anti-Semitism, Canadiana, Israel, Race, UN