The Globe & Mail online edition has an in depth look at the evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon which I can only imagine will be on the front page of their paper tomorrow. In it, they paint a picture of ineptitude, disarray, and confusion. In fairness, not all of the problems can be traced back to the Canadian government, but this passage is far from flattering towards the Prime Minister:

Aside from shortage of staff, the Canadians involved in the operation say they were hampered by another difficulty: the Prime Minister’s centralized command and communications policies – frustrations that were expressed both in the Middle East and in Ottawa.

All decisions had to be made and approved by Ottawa. And, with six time zones between the locations, decisions were often painfully slow.

While other countries were already marshalling large cruise ships on Sunday, Canada spent two days in long-distance discussions before any calls were made.

“It was only 24 to 36 hours ago that we first got in contact with the owners of the ships,” one senior official in Cyprus said Wednesday.