McKenna Commentary

First, as Canadians, should we not be concerned when high profile advocates of deeper Canadian integration into the US economy (including former Prime Minister Mulroney) extend their enthusiastic and unqualified endorsement for our ambassador? Second, should we not question our ambassador's intimate involvement with American corporate interests and their connection with the global military-industrial complex? Third, should we not be concerned when a former politician is appointed as the ambassador to the most powerful country on the planet when a career diplomat is the traditional choice? Fourth, should we not be concerned when our electronic and print media play the unique role of being stenographers by parroting official press releases about the suitability of a choice for ambassador? It should be pointed out that raising these concerns in no way questions the personal integrity of Mr. McKenna. The salient issue here is about protecting Canadian interests, not American interests, nor multinational interests. And what should be alarming to Canadians is that the Fourth Estate, for any number of reasons, allows the fundamental issues to go unquestioned while other minor issues are mentioned or highlighted. For example, according to the CanWest News Service (Jan.8/05), Brian Mulroney, and George Bush, Sr., spent an hour with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office. Also, Mulroney was reported as saying that Frank McKenna is: "a reliable guy and you can trust him to work co-operatively with the Republican administration in resolving bilateral disputes and dealing with global issues." Unfortunately, CanWest and other media outlets failed to question the meaning of the reference to McKenna as "a reliable guy and you can trust him". Also, more fundamental questions which should be raised are ignored. For example: 1. What is the possible raison d'etre for a former Conservative prime minister, a current Liberal prime minister, a former Liberal premier, a former American president and a current American president to agree on the choice for the most important senior Canadian diplomatic position? 2. Is Frank McKenna a board member with the Carlyle Group along with George Bush, Sr., James A. Baker III, Frank Carlucci, John Major, and other powerful mandarins? 3. What is the investment firm called the Carlyle Group? Is this investment firm really involved with the production of armoured vehicles, artillery, defence electronics and other spheres of the defence and aerospace industry? 4. What is the relationship between the Carlyle Group and the Saudi bin Laden Group? 5. What is McKenna's role with the Carlyle Group? With his appointment, Ambassador McKenna has resigned from all corporate boards. The major question, however, is whether he will be able to represent Canadian interests and resist the pressures from his American corporate friends. More importantly, if McKenna already believes in further economic integration into the U.S. orbit of control, and support for Canadian participation in the US Star Wars, there will be little need for American pressure. It is important to recognize that economic cooperation with the US is critical to our economic health. Clearly, we share a continent, many common traditions, values and beliefs. This should not be underestimated or taken for granted. On the other hand, we should not continue to give away our natural resources to transnational corporations. We must remind Ambassador McKenna that he represents Canadian interests exclusively. While striving for cooperation with the US should be his hallmark, he must be vigilant of the need to defend our economic and geographical independence. In concrete terms, Ambassador McKenna has to establish his reputation as the unequivocal defender of Canadian rights. In fact, if the stories of McKenna's strong personal rapport with the Bush family are true, he might influence them (and other Washington mandarins) with respect to the unfair corporate advantages enshrined in NAFTA or to the folly of the US Star Wars project. On a serio-comic note, if Ambassador McKenna is a bit timid about pointing out to members of the Bush administration how destructive and suicidal Star Wars would be, he could leave copies of Mel Hurtig's "Rushing to Armageddon" scattered throughout the Canadian embassy. Autographed copies would also make lovely gifts. Richard Julien Saskatoon, SK [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on January 19, 2005]