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Ontario Premier Slams PM For Abadoning US
The Star | March 27,. 2003 | The Star
OTTAWA—Premier Ernie Eves has written to U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci saying he and his cabinet are America's friends, even if Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is not.
Eves' letter, coming one day after Cellucci said Americans are upset and disappointed Canada is not helping the U.S. in the war in Iraq, is the latest shot in what has become an unprecedented diplomatic war on the home front.
His six-paragraph letter starts with "it was a pleasure to speak to you yesterday." After saying he had read the media reports of Cellucci's comments to a business group in Toronto, Eves wrote: "I want to reiterate that I share your expression of disappointment in the response of the Canadian government."
Eves ended his letter by stating the unanimous support of his cabinet. The last line is: "Please feel free to share our thoughts."
The letter is just the latest in a series of attacks on Chrétien over his decision not to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Since that moment 10 days ago, when a Liberal caucus rose as one in a show of sovereign fervour to back Chrétien's stand, the party has been on the defensive, even if a succession of national polls indicate they have the backing of the electorate.
Cellucci, Eves, Opposition Leader Stephen Harper, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, the right-wing media and even hockey analyst Don Cherry have fired away at the Liberals for abandoning a long-time ally.
They are having an effect. Large pro-U.S. rallies are set for Parliament Hill, Calgary and Nathan Phillips Square in the coming days and a planned May 5 visit to Ottawa by President George W. Bush — his first state visit to Canada — is in question.
It is all playing out against a backdrop of a perceived anti-American bias among Liberals, a perception that gained more credence after a Liberal senator was reported to have cried "Screw the Americans" during debate in the upper chamber.
Senator Laurier Lapierre denied it and an audiotape was inconclusive but his comment is in the official record of Senate debate.
There was also no mistaking the backlash among some Liberal MPs who lashed out at comments made Tuesday by the "unelected ambassador" Cellucci.
"We have an elected Parliament here to dictate foreign policy," Scarborough-Agincourt MP Jim Karygiannis said.
"My difficulty is with someone who is not elected telling the Canadian public as well as the Canadian government how and where we should be positioning ourselves. I am here to represent the views of my constituents and they back our action."
In his letter, Eves states: "We believe it is important to support our American neighbours to the South, as you have been our allies and our friends for many decades now.
"I want to reiterate that I share your expression of disappointment in the response of the Canadian government. Having grown up in a border community, I appreciate the close relations we in Ontario have with our American friends."
Eves suggested Ottawa's position is shoddy treatment of a country that has "been responsible for defending Canada in large part over those many decades." He said his government wished U.S. service personnel a short war. Cellucci told a Toronto business audience Tuesday the United States is "disappointed and upset that Canada is not fully supporting us now" and said if the shoe were on the other foot the U.S. would be there for Canada.
"I phoned Ambassador Cellucci yesterday afternoon after his remarks to make sure he understood ... that I felt and a lot of Canadians felt that we should be supporting our neighbours and friends who have been our friends and allies for a long period of time," Eves told reporters yesterday at a pre-budget news conference.
The Premier said he wrote the letter to the ambassador "because it is something I feel very strongly about."
He denied trying to use the war to divert attention from his political troubles at home over his government's decision to release its budget today outside the Legislature, which has been described as unconstitutional.
Earlier in the day, Ontario Security Minister Bob Runciman accused the federal Liberals of spitting in the eye of Americans by not supporting the U.S. in its war against Iraq.
Runciman said ill feelings towards Canadians are already started to show.
"I talked to a fellow the other night coming back from Florida (with) Ontario plates on his car and some people were yelling at him at a gas station with respect to Canadians not supporting them,'' he said.
"I just don't think it is (just) the Americans who are disappointed and sad. I think there are a great many Canadians who think we should be there and we should be supporting these folks."
Enterprise Minister Jim Flaherty said he heard first-hand the American disappointment while on ministry business in Michigan earlier this week.
"They were expecting us to act like friends in this time of crisis, that we would be there for them," he said. "There is more sadness and disappointment than there is a hostile feeling or anything like that."
Chrétien rose in the Commons yesterday to again try to calm the waters.
"The people of the United States know very well that on Sept. 11, in the first hour of their great difficulties, the Canadian people received in their homes 40,000 Americans who had no place to land," the Priime Minister said, a reference to the hospitality of the people of Gander, Nfld.
"The people of the United States and the government knew very well that when they asked us to fight terrorism we were the first ones to go there and we put troops in to fight terrorism in Afghanistan.
"The people of the United States are aware that we have ships that are there for months protecting navigation in that very difficult place so that we can help in the fight against terrorism. We disagree on one element."
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister, Steven Hogue, said there are no signals from Washington the Bush visit will be cancelled except if, as Cellucci pointed out, his country is still at war.
Another government official, however, said "the optics" may not be good for a visit that would likely draw large protests and where Bush could draw heckling.
Former defence minister Art Eggleton said it was time for both sides to "cool the rhetoric. They are our friends and they will get over it, but in the meantime we should be careful."
Former finance minister Paul Martin said there were "obviously some strains" in the relationship between Ottawa and Washington.
"But I think that we've really got to understand just how strong the friendship between Canada and the United States is. ... Canadians are not anti-American, this government is not anti-American," he said.
Toronto businessman Richard Diamond and two associates are planning a large pro-American rally April 4 at Nathan Phillips Square. Meanwhile, a group of Albertans is taking out an advertisement in USA Today to voice support for the U.S.-led war, Canadian Press reports.
Richard Wambeke and a dozen friends had planned to split the $30,000 cost of the ad, which is to run early next week. But they say they've been deluged with offers of financial support.
With files from Tonda MacCharles and Les Whittington
The Star | March 27,. 2003 | The Star
OTTAWA—Premier Ernie Eves has written to U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci saying he and his cabinet are America's friends, even if Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is not.
Eves' letter, coming one day after Cellucci said Americans are upset and disappointed Canada is not helping the U.S. in the war in Iraq, is the latest shot in what has become an unprecedented diplomatic war on the home front.
His six-paragraph letter starts with "it was a pleasure to speak to you yesterday." After saying he had read the media reports of Cellucci's comments to a business group in Toronto, Eves wrote: "I want to reiterate that I share your expression of disappointment in the response of the Canadian government."
Eves ended his letter by stating the unanimous support of his cabinet. The last line is: "Please feel free to share our thoughts."
The letter is just the latest in a series of attacks on Chrétien over his decision not to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Since that moment 10 days ago, when a Liberal caucus rose as one in a show of sovereign fervour to back Chrétien's stand, the party has been on the defensive, even if a succession of national polls indicate they have the backing of the electorate.
Cellucci, Eves, Opposition Leader Stephen Harper, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, the right-wing media and even hockey analyst Don Cherry have fired away at the Liberals for abandoning a long-time ally.
They are having an effect. Large pro-U.S. rallies are set for Parliament Hill, Calgary and Nathan Phillips Square in the coming days and a planned May 5 visit to Ottawa by President George W. Bush — his first state visit to Canada — is in question.
It is all playing out against a backdrop of a perceived anti-American bias among Liberals, a perception that gained more credence after a Liberal senator was reported to have cried "Screw the Americans" during debate in the upper chamber.
Senator Laurier Lapierre denied it and an audiotape was inconclusive but his comment is in the official record of Senate debate.
There was also no mistaking the backlash among some Liberal MPs who lashed out at comments made Tuesday by the "unelected ambassador" Cellucci.
"We have an elected Parliament here to dictate foreign policy," Scarborough-Agincourt MP Jim Karygiannis said.
"My difficulty is with someone who is not elected telling the Canadian public as well as the Canadian government how and where we should be positioning ourselves. I am here to represent the views of my constituents and they back our action."
In his letter, Eves states: "We believe it is important to support our American neighbours to the South, as you have been our allies and our friends for many decades now.
"I want to reiterate that I share your expression of disappointment in the response of the Canadian government. Having grown up in a border community, I appreciate the close relations we in Ontario have with our American friends."
Eves suggested Ottawa's position is shoddy treatment of a country that has "been responsible for defending Canada in large part over those many decades." He said his government wished U.S. service personnel a short war. Cellucci told a Toronto business audience Tuesday the United States is "disappointed and upset that Canada is not fully supporting us now" and said if the shoe were on the other foot the U.S. would be there for Canada.
"I phoned Ambassador Cellucci yesterday afternoon after his remarks to make sure he understood ... that I felt and a lot of Canadians felt that we should be supporting our neighbours and friends who have been our friends and allies for a long period of time," Eves told reporters yesterday at a pre-budget news conference.
The Premier said he wrote the letter to the ambassador "because it is something I feel very strongly about."
He denied trying to use the war to divert attention from his political troubles at home over his government's decision to release its budget today outside the Legislature, which has been described as unconstitutional.
Earlier in the day, Ontario Security Minister Bob Runciman accused the federal Liberals of spitting in the eye of Americans by not supporting the U.S. in its war against Iraq.
Runciman said ill feelings towards Canadians are already started to show.
"I talked to a fellow the other night coming back from Florida (with) Ontario plates on his car and some people were yelling at him at a gas station with respect to Canadians not supporting them,'' he said.
"I just don't think it is (just) the Americans who are disappointed and sad. I think there are a great many Canadians who think we should be there and we should be supporting these folks."
Enterprise Minister Jim Flaherty said he heard first-hand the American disappointment while on ministry business in Michigan earlier this week.
"They were expecting us to act like friends in this time of crisis, that we would be there for them," he said. "There is more sadness and disappointment than there is a hostile feeling or anything like that."
Chrétien rose in the Commons yesterday to again try to calm the waters.
"The people of the United States know very well that on Sept. 11, in the first hour of their great difficulties, the Canadian people received in their homes 40,000 Americans who had no place to land," the Priime Minister said, a reference to the hospitality of the people of Gander, Nfld.
"The people of the United States and the government knew very well that when they asked us to fight terrorism we were the first ones to go there and we put troops in to fight terrorism in Afghanistan.
"The people of the United States are aware that we have ships that are there for months protecting navigation in that very difficult place so that we can help in the fight against terrorism. We disagree on one element."
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister, Steven Hogue, said there are no signals from Washington the Bush visit will be cancelled except if, as Cellucci pointed out, his country is still at war.
Another government official, however, said "the optics" may not be good for a visit that would likely draw large protests and where Bush could draw heckling.
Former defence minister Art Eggleton said it was time for both sides to "cool the rhetoric. They are our friends and they will get over it, but in the meantime we should be careful."
Former finance minister Paul Martin said there were "obviously some strains" in the relationship between Ottawa and Washington.
"But I think that we've really got to understand just how strong the friendship between Canada and the United States is. ... Canadians are not anti-American, this government is not anti-American," he said.
Toronto businessman Richard Diamond and two associates are planning a large pro-American rally April 4 at Nathan Phillips Square. Meanwhile, a group of Albertans is taking out an advertisement in USA Today to voice support for the U.S.-led war, Canadian Press reports.
Richard Wambeke and a dozen friends had planned to split the $30,000 cost of the ad, which is to run early next week. But they say they've been deluged with offers of financial support.
With files from Tonda MacCharles and Les Whittington
