American ambassador tells Martin to stop dragging U.S. into federal election
OTTAWA (CP) - The Bush administration issued a sharp, public rebuke Tuesday to Prime Minister Paul Martin for dragging the Canada-U.S. relationship into federal electoral politics.
Ambassador David Wilkins' unprecedented, mid-campaign sortie drew an immediate, flag-waving riposte from Martin, who came to office in 2003 promising a more mature relationship with Washington. "I will defend the Canadian position and I will defend our values and I will defend our interests against anybody," the prime minister said on the campaign trail in Surrey, B.C.
Wilkins' diplomatic message was about as subtle as a sledgehammer, suggesting maturity in cross-border relations remains in short supply two years after Martin became prime minister.
"It may be smart election-year politics to thump your chest and criticize your friend and your No. 1 trading partner constantly," Wilkins said in a speech to the Canadian Club at the historic Chateau Laurier Hotel, next door to Parliament Hill.
"But it is a slippery slope, and all of us should hope that it doesn't have a long-term impact on the relationship."
With Jonathan Fried, Martin's chief foreign policy advisor, and Peter Harder, the powerful deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, seated to his right, Wilkins took issue with the barrage of criticism that has been directed at U.S. policy by Martin and his Liberal cabinet.
"What if one of your best friends criticized you directly and indirectly almost relentlessly?" asked Wilkins.
"What if that friend demanded respect, but offered little in return?"
The United States may be an easy target for "political expediency," he said.
"But the last time I looked, the United States was not on the ballot for the Jan. 23 election," Wilkins added to scattered applause.
If the intent was to extricate Washington from the election campaign, the speech was counter-productive.
It appears that Martin's campaign team, which is often given to bare-knuckle politics, considers a dust-up with the Bush White House as ballot-box gold.
The prime minister used Wilkins'rebuke Tuesday to insist that he hasn't made American relations an election issue - even as he repeated his criticisms of American policy on softwood lumber and global warming.
And he seamlessly, and without prompting, spun the issue around to bludgeon Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.
"If the thesis of Mr. Harper is that the only way to have good relations with the United States is to concede everything to the United States, then I do not accept that at all," said Martin.
If anything, the Conservative leader has been doing everything possible to distance himself from Washington after feeling the sting of Liberal claims in the 2004 election that he was too closely allied with the Bush Republicans.
Harper sent an open letter this week to the right-wing Washington Times newspaper, repudiating much of a recent glowing commentary that painted a potential Harper election win as "a rare foreign event that manages to put a smile" on President Bush.
Curiously, Martin didn't seem to mind that association himself when he unseated Jean Chretien as prime minister in the fall of 2003.
"I'm sure they're doing high fives somewhere in the bowels of the White House," James LeBlanc, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said when Martin assumed office.
"Martin is going to blow off a lot of negativity in the atmosphere and present a fresh view."
Not according to Ambassador Wilkins in his commentary Tuesday.
Wilkins, a long-time Bush supporter and confidant, did not name Martin directly but left absolutely no doubt the U.S. administration was sending a message directly to the prime minister.
Less than a week after Martin raised hackles in Washington by specifically citing the United States for lacking a global conscience on climate change, Wilkins threw the words back at the prime minister.
He pointed out that the U.S. record is far superior to Canada's on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
"I would respectfully submit to you that when it comes to a 'global conscience,' the United States is walking the walk," said the ambassador.
Wilkins also mentioned the softwood dispute, noting that the U.S. Commerce Department cut the contentious tariffs on Canadian lumber in half last week.
He defended the continuing American occupation of Iraq, saying "freedom is on the march."
And on looming passport requirements for Canada-U.S. travellers, Wilkins said the two countries can work together to mitigate the impact but that Canadians have to appreciate the new American mentality.
"Canada should understand that 9-11 forever changed my country," Wilkins said of the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
His blunt message got a muted reception.
After getting hearty laughter with an opening quip about "beer and popcorn" - a deft aside aimed at Martin's communications director and his insulting reference to a Conservative pledge of child-rearing money for Canadian parents - Wilkins' 20-minute speech was mostly greeted with silence.
Nancy Hughes Anthony, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, was among the several hundred who attended the luncheon speech and said she hopes it spurs all the party leaders to talk honestly about their plans for cross-border relations.
"You can't say on one hand that your government, if elected, is going to be enhancing trade and diplomacy and all those good things with the United States, while you're indulging in bashing the U.S. side during an election campaign," she said.
That rhetoric is bound to hurt the relationship, Hughes Anthony warned.
American observers said Martin is getting exactly what he deserves.
"Those of us who've been watching the election know there aren't many issues out there, so you pull out the old anti-American card," said David Biette, director of the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars.
"It always works."
Chris Sands, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that in the 2004 federal election the Bush administration "ignored little snipes from Canada.
"Now there's a pro-active strategy. They're almost like referees, setting a tone of not cheating."
The upside, said Sands, "is that the administration, despite all the distractions, is paying attention to Canada."
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