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Bush cancels Ottawa visit over war
U.S. president unhappy with anti-American comments by Liberal MPs
Robert Fife
CanWest News Service
Saturday, April 12, 2003
U.S. President George W. Bush has cancelled a planned visit to Canada on May 5 because of unhappiness over the federal government‘s stance on the war in Iraq and anti-American comments by members of the Chrétien government, sources say.
The Prime Minister‘s Office has been informed by Condoleezza Rice, the president‘s national security adviser, that Mr. Bush will postpone his first official visit to Ottawa. Mr. Bush was to address Parliament and hold high-level meetings on several issues, including energy policy.
One source said the final straw for the White House was the prime minister‘s order to the Canadian commander in charge of a multilateral naval task force in the Persian Gulf that fugitive members of the Iraqi regime must not be turned over to U.S. forces.
"People of good faith can disagree on this (war) but the (Chrétien) government tries to split it so well that the (Americans) see them as just muddling along. Why have an interdiction force in the Persian Gulf if Canada is not going to pick up people? What‘s the point of being there?" the source said. "They are just trying to please everybody."
Mr. Chrétien raised the possibility on Thursday that the president‘s visit might be postponed because of Mr. Bush‘s busy agenda.
"I don‘t know what will happen ... So far it is on, but it is coming at an awkward time perhaps for him. He is still invited but if he were not able to come, I will invite him to come later," Mr. Chrétien told reporters.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman said there has been no announcement that the visit has been postponed due to the president‘s schedule.
In Washington, Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, was guarded whether Mr. Chrétien‘s refusal to join the war and the spate of anti-American remarks by Liberal MPs would affect the president‘s visit.
"Well, the president visits countries and has relations with countries not depending on just their reactions involving Iraq," Mr. Fleischer said. "We have many broader relationships and broader issues that also unite us, and common values and common friendship. And that‘s the context of any visits the president would take to any nation, whether they are with us or not."
However, a senior source said Claude Laverdure, the prime minister‘s foreign policy adviser, has spoken with Ms. Rice several times "trying to work out a joint announcement (on postponing the visit) and they haven‘t worked it out yet."
Although relations between the president and Mr. Chrétien were never close, the source said they are now "very strained." The two leaders have not spoken since February and Mr. Chrétien did not phone Mr. Bush to inform him that Canada would not support the U.S.-led war.
It is not known whether the president will wait until after Mr. Chrétien leaves office in February to come to Canada. The Bush administration has indicated it is looking forward to improved relations if either Paul Martin, the former finance minister, or John Manley, the current finance minister, succeeds Mr. Chrétien.
Heritage Minister Sheila Copps is also running for the Liberal leadership but on a strongly Canadian nationalist platform.
The strains in Canada-U.S. relations broke into the open after the United States invaded Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci rebuked the Chrétien government for not supporting the invasion and for failing to denounce MPs who had made anti-American remarks. They include Carolyn Parrish, the Liberal backbencher who said she hated American "*******s," and Herb Dhaliwal, the natural resources minister, who said Mr. Bush had failed as an international statesman.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cellucci again criticized Canada‘s position, calling Mr. Chrétien‘s refusal to turn over fugitive Iraqis to American forces "incomprehensible."
On Friday, the prime minister said Canada is willing to help in the reconstruction of Iraq and is prepared to send RCMP officers to help keep the peace, as it did in Haiti and Kosovo.
"We‘ve sent RCMP officers to Haiti and elsewhere," he said. "If it is a contribution that we can make, we will do it. If they want us to do something else, we will do something else ... We are certainly prepared to help out as soon as possible."
A U.S. embassy official said the administration was waiting for a concrete Canadian proposal on reconstruction.
Jason Kenney, a Canadian Alliance MP, said the prime minister was trying to curry favour with the Americans after having wrongly chosen to stay out of the war.
"There is an awful lot of backpedalling in Ottawa. All of the naysayers were wrong. The United Nations Security Council failed miserably in this test and we hope the government has learned to contribute constructively to Iraq regardless of who is managing the reconstruction," Mr. Kenney said.
Defence Minister John McCallum admitted yesterday the federal cabinet had no policy for dealing with possible Iraqi prisoners when it deployed the latest contingent of Canadian warships for anti-terrorism enforcement and surveillance in the Gulf region.
In the wake of the controversy over the government‘s declaration that Canadian ships would not automatically hand over fleeing members of the Iraqi Baath party or Iraqi soldiers to U.S. forces, Mr. McCallum insisted the Canadian military would not let them go either.
"It certainly never was a question of letting Iraqis go, if they were part of the regime," Mr. McCallum said.
Mr. McCallum said Canada will not send peacekeeping troops to help restore order in Iraq, where looting and lawlessness are spreading.
"I don‘t think I see a military role but I certainly see a role for Canada in other areas where we have traditionally done very well: humanitarian training, police and governance," he said.
http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=3BC9416C-8AB1-496B-BA77-3AAA7F28319B
U.S. president unhappy with anti-American comments by Liberal MPs
Robert Fife
CanWest News Service
Saturday, April 12, 2003
U.S. President George W. Bush has cancelled a planned visit to Canada on May 5 because of unhappiness over the federal government‘s stance on the war in Iraq and anti-American comments by members of the Chrétien government, sources say.
The Prime Minister‘s Office has been informed by Condoleezza Rice, the president‘s national security adviser, that Mr. Bush will postpone his first official visit to Ottawa. Mr. Bush was to address Parliament and hold high-level meetings on several issues, including energy policy.
One source said the final straw for the White House was the prime minister‘s order to the Canadian commander in charge of a multilateral naval task force in the Persian Gulf that fugitive members of the Iraqi regime must not be turned over to U.S. forces.
"People of good faith can disagree on this (war) but the (Chrétien) government tries to split it so well that the (Americans) see them as just muddling along. Why have an interdiction force in the Persian Gulf if Canada is not going to pick up people? What‘s the point of being there?" the source said. "They are just trying to please everybody."
Mr. Chrétien raised the possibility on Thursday that the president‘s visit might be postponed because of Mr. Bush‘s busy agenda.
"I don‘t know what will happen ... So far it is on, but it is coming at an awkward time perhaps for him. He is still invited but if he were not able to come, I will invite him to come later," Mr. Chrétien told reporters.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman said there has been no announcement that the visit has been postponed due to the president‘s schedule.
In Washington, Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, was guarded whether Mr. Chrétien‘s refusal to join the war and the spate of anti-American remarks by Liberal MPs would affect the president‘s visit.
"Well, the president visits countries and has relations with countries not depending on just their reactions involving Iraq," Mr. Fleischer said. "We have many broader relationships and broader issues that also unite us, and common values and common friendship. And that‘s the context of any visits the president would take to any nation, whether they are with us or not."
However, a senior source said Claude Laverdure, the prime minister‘s foreign policy adviser, has spoken with Ms. Rice several times "trying to work out a joint announcement (on postponing the visit) and they haven‘t worked it out yet."
Although relations between the president and Mr. Chrétien were never close, the source said they are now "very strained." The two leaders have not spoken since February and Mr. Chrétien did not phone Mr. Bush to inform him that Canada would not support the U.S.-led war.
It is not known whether the president will wait until after Mr. Chrétien leaves office in February to come to Canada. The Bush administration has indicated it is looking forward to improved relations if either Paul Martin, the former finance minister, or John Manley, the current finance minister, succeeds Mr. Chrétien.
Heritage Minister Sheila Copps is also running for the Liberal leadership but on a strongly Canadian nationalist platform.
The strains in Canada-U.S. relations broke into the open after the United States invaded Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci rebuked the Chrétien government for not supporting the invasion and for failing to denounce MPs who had made anti-American remarks. They include Carolyn Parrish, the Liberal backbencher who said she hated American "*******s," and Herb Dhaliwal, the natural resources minister, who said Mr. Bush had failed as an international statesman.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cellucci again criticized Canada‘s position, calling Mr. Chrétien‘s refusal to turn over fugitive Iraqis to American forces "incomprehensible."
On Friday, the prime minister said Canada is willing to help in the reconstruction of Iraq and is prepared to send RCMP officers to help keep the peace, as it did in Haiti and Kosovo.
"We‘ve sent RCMP officers to Haiti and elsewhere," he said. "If it is a contribution that we can make, we will do it. If they want us to do something else, we will do something else ... We are certainly prepared to help out as soon as possible."
A U.S. embassy official said the administration was waiting for a concrete Canadian proposal on reconstruction.
Jason Kenney, a Canadian Alliance MP, said the prime minister was trying to curry favour with the Americans after having wrongly chosen to stay out of the war.
"There is an awful lot of backpedalling in Ottawa. All of the naysayers were wrong. The United Nations Security Council failed miserably in this test and we hope the government has learned to contribute constructively to Iraq regardless of who is managing the reconstruction," Mr. Kenney said.
Defence Minister John McCallum admitted yesterday the federal cabinet had no policy for dealing with possible Iraqi prisoners when it deployed the latest contingent of Canadian warships for anti-terrorism enforcement and surveillance in the Gulf region.
In the wake of the controversy over the government‘s declaration that Canadian ships would not automatically hand over fleeing members of the Iraqi Baath party or Iraqi soldiers to U.S. forces, Mr. McCallum insisted the Canadian military would not let them go either.
"It certainly never was a question of letting Iraqis go, if they were part of the regime," Mr. McCallum said.
Mr. McCallum said Canada will not send peacekeeping troops to help restore order in Iraq, where looting and lawlessness are spreading.
"I don‘t think I see a military role but I certainly see a role for Canada in other areas where we have traditionally done very well: humanitarian training, police and governance," he said.
http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=3BC9416C-8AB1-496B-BA77-3AAA7F28319B
