OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper won't back away from tough talk over Ukraine and the terrorist activities of the so-called Islamic State.
Nor will he back away from his outspoken support of Israel.
In a kind of political pep rally Monday to mark the return of MPs to Parliament Hill, Harper told his caucus that now is not the time to change course.
"We live in an uncertain world, indeed, a dangerous world," said Harper, his Conservative caucus assembled behind him before a giant Canadian flag.
"But the measure of good government, the true test of leadership, lies not in achieving success in times of stability and peace but in doing so during times of risk and danger."
Harper said he won't cut Russian President Vladimir Putin any slack over the crisis in Ukraine, and that Canada intends to stand with its allies in fighting terrorism in the Middle East.
"We will not rest until the people of Ukraine are free to choose their own destiny," he said. "Free from Russian boots on their soil, free from intimidation."
Harper dismissed suggestions that the brutal ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, is due to social exclusion or any other root cause.
"It is evil, vile and must be unambiguously opposed."
On Israel, he said the Jewish state must be supported.
"Israel is the front line," he said. "And anyone among the free and democratic nations that turns their back on Israel, or turns a blind eye to the nature of Israel's enemies does so, in the long run, at their own peril."
He ran through a list of what he called his government's achievements, including lower taxes and get-tough policies on crime.
And he said the coming budget surplus will be used to lower taxes, not for giveaways to any special interest group.
