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[Pligganease]

Anti-Americanism Dragging Canada Down Conservative Leader Warns Prime Minister

HALIFAX, September 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The venomous attacks against the United States leadership and its citizens by brazen Liberal politicians using any excuse (Iraq, missile defence, mad-cow, softwood lumber) to assuage their seething hatred of American pro-life and pro-family policies by Bush-bashing, is beginning to have palpable effects.

The President of the United States seems to have less and less time and priority for Prime Minister Paul Martin, and given the strained relations, it's no surprise suggests Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

In an address to the Conservative Caucus Wednesday, Harper noted poignantly that "This government's lack of competence and vision in the Canada-U.S. relationship has led Canada to lose influence and relevance with our most important trading partner. Now, we are threatened with having to have a passport to cross the border by 2008."

Harper pointed out that the trade relationship between Canada and the US is essential for both countries. "There is simply no economic relationship in the world - or in the history of the world - that is as large and important as the Canada-U.S. trading relationship," he said. "In 2003, two way trade between our two countries amounted to 645 billion Canadian dollars - over 1.2 million dollars per minute in trade."

The Prime Minister, who has been woefully slow to react to the US Katrina disaster, was reminded that "A relationship as important and integrated as ours is with the United States cannot be based on treaties and laws alone. A mature and secure relationship is based on commitment, trust and clear communications. Treaties and laws are no substitute for good relationships."

"Sadly," continued Harper, "these elements have been allowed to deteriorate under the current Liberal government."

Harper suggested that Martin's lack of cordiality goes beyond sloppiness. "On ordinary matters of simple good relations this Liberal government has been oddly - and I must assume deliberately - distant with the Americans. Whether it's 9-11, the BSE crisis or hurricane Katrina, they are always reluctant to simply pick up the phone (though never unwilling to stage the grand photo-op)."

Martin stressed that friendliness did not entail bowing to all requests. "Let me be clear here - the ways these decisions have been taken are far more damaging than the decisions themselves," he said. But he accused Martin of saying '"no" in ways that foster the worst possible feelings in our relationship." In fact on the softwood lumber issue Harper said he would be firm in insisting that unfair trade duties be repaid.

Harper gave several examples of previous Canadian Prime Ministers who, as he put it, "have been capable of disagreeing with the Americans, for clear and honourable reasons, without their offices or caucuses exploding in anti-American ranting."

Bottom line, said Harper, "This kind of bungling is unacceptable. When we face a crisis . . . we must have a Prime Minister who can call the President and get that call returned in less than three weeks."

See the full speech:
http://www.conservative.ca/EN/1004/22692

[On the other hand]

Okay, as most of you know, I'm no fan of anti-Americanism. However, it should be pointed out that had Harper been PM when the current Iraq war started, we'd almost certainly have sent troops into the fiasco.

[Octavius Hite]

1. Iraq- A Vietnam style mess (exactly as all of us left wing tree huggers predicted) that Canadians wanted no part of. And remember we have had soldiers in Afghanistan since 2001 and we have taken casulties (the first time since the Korean War).

2. Missle Defence- a hair brained scheme designed to enrich Lockheed Martin, drain the US coffers and in not a single way protects against any asymetrical threat (terrorism).

3. Madcow- America was right to close the border but now the problem has been dealt with to satisfaction of the federal US gov't but a few protectionist judges and farmers don't want to reopen the border.

4. Softwood lumber-the NAFTA body has ruled repeatidly that the tariffs against Canadian lumber is illegal and the US is in the wrong.

5. Bushes pro-life agenda- Canadians have no beef with the US's social policies, our problem lies in the fact that when we were having our debate on same sex marriage US based evangelical groups spread hundreds of thousands of dollars around to try and defeat the legislation. American's can do whatever they like in their own country, just stay the hell out of ours.


Stephen Harper is, as usual, completely off in gauging the Canadian publics mood on all of this because most canadians agree with being pi**ed off about this stuff. Our wood and beef is not acceptable but surprisingly enough our oil and electricity are. Shocking! Duh, of course people are angry.

[Gopher]

This article treats Canadian politics more than Canadian antiAmericanism per se.

That being said, I agree that Canada's particular brand of self-righteous morally superior antiAmericanism contributes nothing good to Canada or Canadian affairs. They are only preaching to the converted and they are not winning any new friends either.

What I've seen on this board, apart from utter ignorance, is a tendency for Canadians to use any pretext or reason to justify their antiAmericanism (I don't believe for a minute that it's about their disagreement with Bush's foreign policy). Along the way, they distort, oversimplify, and just plain mischaracterize U.S. history, particularly U.S. diplomatic history, claiming such nonsense as "Manifest Destiny" or the Monroe Doctrine were aimed against Canada, even in part, or that the War of 1812 was not between the U.S. and Britain (and mostly over Britain's economic blockade of the continent that the U.S. was not respecting) but rather the U.S. and Canada (and mostly over Washington's imperial designs concerning Canadian territory). And this, of course, is ridiculous and outrageous -- unless you're a Canadian or a coreligionist of another nationality.

With few exceptions (and the exceptions on this board are clearly truly exceptional people), they're simply ignorant and resentful.

[Pligganease]

[Tiger Beer]

[Pligganease]

I'll take #2...

Why do Canadians feel the need to try and tell Americans how to spend their money? If it enriches LM, so what? If its a waste of money, so what? How does this, in any way except by providing Canada with a free missile defense system, affect Canadians?

Not only do you have an opinion about it, but it is negative with no reasonable basis for the negativity.