“Obviously, from what I’m hearing, what I’m reading (the relationship) has been better in the past,” he said after a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“I don’t know how rocky it is today but, clearly, it can be improved.
“Softwood lumber is clearly at the top of the heap, the top priority. The fact that we don’t have a resolution there is impacting the whole relationship.”
Wilson, who held the trade, industry and finance portfolios during nine years in Brian Mulroney’s cabinet, appeared far less comfortable talking about non-economic matters — particularly military and security issues.
In an interview last year with the Globe and Mail, he suggested Canada should have supported the U.S. military effort in Iraq.
The proper position, he said, would have been: `We did our best to achieve United Nations support in the Canadian tradition, but in the end we have to back our friends and the country on which we rely the most.”
Asked about that comment today, Wilson replied that he was speaking then as a private citizen. In his new job, “I won’t be expressing comments as an individual in a public way. I’ll be expressing the view of the government.”
At the start of the war Harper, then in opposition, was critical of then-prime minister Jean Chrétien and declared that Canada should be standing “shoulder to shoulder” with the Americans.
He has since said that doesn’t mean he supported sending Canadian troops and has promised he won’t do so as prime minister.
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Lumber Top Priority: Wilson
Posted on Friday, February 17 at 09:57 by 4CanadaContributed By
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Despite numerous ruling in our favor by NAFDA, the US side has claimed they will continue to persue these terrifs.
I belive by promising results, he is mearly making worse the effect of his inevitable failure.
I am for NAFTA because of the wonders it has done for our economy. However if one side decides not to follow the rules, we must retaliate and not be the typical canadian doormats.
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"A Liberal is someone who refuses to take his own side in a fight".
-Robert Frost
I saw Wilson on Politics yesterday and Susan asked him if he though NAFTA should be renegotiated because of the softwood problem. He said (paraphrasing) "Oh no if you open up renegotiating then they could say we don't like this and we don't like that and the whole thing could fall apart." Does he honestly think that if anything else wasn't going "their" way that it wouldn't be on the "negotiating" table at the WTO right along with softwood? No wonder we are where we are, sitting on the USAmerican toilet bowel rim like a crotch hair just waiting to be blown in and flushed.
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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche
Like every politician Cretien had his good points and bad, but to this day I thank God he had the wisdom and fortitude to keep us out of that blood soaked quagmire called Iraq. I hope the lesson has been learned that when the general concensus around the UN table suggests we shoud proceed with caution it is in our best interest to be a team player and not split off from the group to support American ambitions for the sake of being their best buddy. Do we really need validation from our big southern brother that badly?
Hindsight has shown us that the US action was unjustifiable and based on false or fabricated intelligence. I think we all know that So-dam-insane (as we used to call Hussein in the military) had to go, but sending troops off to the slaughter to do it American style was not a good idea.
So good luck Mr. Wilson. I truly hope you can repair Canada/US relations because like it or not it is very important to this country. But be advised that we don't have much appetite for running into other countries with guns a-blazin' hollering hoo-rahh and waving the American flag. That's just not who we are.
Look out Star Wars, drilling in the North for Oil and Private American Health Care service providers getting their hand on our TAXES.
It all about ass kissing from here on out, you just keep ypur eye on those who get in on the deals, it sure as hell will not be the taxpayers, the only things we the tax payers will see, is our taxes Revenue Canada collects ling the pockets of the bottom feedersc who are just hiding around the corner in the back rooms of the CONSERVATIVE PARTY.
Keep in mind Political Parties are nothing more than vehicles the lawyers and the elite use to take over "our" government so they can get their free lunch.
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Good government is not a party government