UPDATE 2-U.S., Russia ignoring Canada, PM Harper to blame -opposition

(Updates with remarks about Obama and Putin, and Harper's
defense)
By Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Opposition leaders said that
neither Russia nor the United States listened to Canada because
of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's approach to
foreign policy and what they said was an abandonment of
multilateralism.
Justin Trudeau of the Liberals and Thomas Mulcair of the New
Democrats said on Monday during a televised debate that Harper
had marginalized Canada's influence abroad. They face an
election on Oct. 19.
Harper responded that he would press Canada's interests in
international trade negotiations and in discussions with the
United States, and he also stressed the importance of standing
up to terrorism and Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.
Both opponents accused Harper of souring relations with U.S.
President Barack Obama by predicting Washington would eventually
end up approving TransCanada Corp 's TRP.TO Keystone XL oil
pipeline to the United States.
"It's very difficult to see how Canada's superior interests
were being served when Prime Minister Harper said to President
Obama that it was a complete no-brainer, that the Americans had
to approve Keystone XL," Mulcair said.
Trudeau belittled Harper's confrontation with Vladimir Putin
at last November's G20 summit when he told the Russian president
to leave Ukraine.
"Canada has such a diminished voice on the world stage that
Mr. Harper hasn't noticed that Vladimir Putin didn't listen to
him when he told him to get out of Ukraine," he said.
The Conservatives say they have taken the moral high ground
in their nine years in power, shunning messy diplomatic
compromises while resolutely backing allies such as Israel and
Ukraine.
But many diplomats and Canadian experts say Ottawa has
isolated itself through a combination of extreme positions and
miscalculations.
Defending his party's record, Harper said Canada has a good
relationship with the United States.
"We work productively overall, but at the same time the
responsibility of the prime minister of Canada is to stand up
for Canadian interests," he said.
The three parties have for much of the campaign been locked
in a virtual tie, though in the last few days Mulcair's New
Democratic Party (NDP) fell several points behind.
Despite a few zingers from Mulcair, pollster John Wright
said the NDP leader was overshadowed by Trudeau and Harper.
"Mr. Mulcair faded from the evening spotlight just as he and
his party are fading from the national lead they once held," he
said.
One of the sharpest exchanges came during a session on the
threat that groups such as Islamic State pose to Canada. Mr.
Trudeau said the Conservative government's new policy of
stripping Canadian citizenship from those convicted of terrorism
was a slippery slope.
"Are you seriously saying, Mr. Trudeau, we would never be
able to revoke citizenship from somebody? Is that your position?
Because we revoke the citizenship already of war criminals. And
why would we not revoke the citizenship of people convicted of
terrorist offenses against this country?" Harper asked.
Trudeau shot back: "A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,
and you devalue, you devalue the citizenship of every Canadian
in this place and in this country, when you break down and make
it conditional for anybody."