So Just Who Is George Bush's Biggest Critic In Ottawa?

A check of the hansard for this session of Parliament shows that Bush gets roundly criticized on an almost daily basis. But it's not by Parrish bringing up Bush, but the NDP. As of Tuesday, 27 of 28 negative references to Bush have come from NDP MPs. BQ MP Claude Bachand is the only politician outside the NDP caucus to criticize the U.S. president in the House. NDP Leader Jack Layton leads the way with 16 Bush critiques. All but one come from his question period questions to the prime minister and most of those questions are on the missile defence file. "Canadians have a growing fear of George Bush and his next step," said Layton in one recent question. "His next step is militarization that is going to increase the arms race." Layton often blasts Bush's values, and suggests they differ greatly from Canadians. He sometimes suggests that both the PM and Bush are similar in some respects. "Jean Chrétien shared our values when he said no to the war in Iraq. The prime minister does not seem to know whether he shares our values or those of George Bush," said Layton in one exchange. Or there was the time when Layton asked: "When did Canada become a red state? Will the minister admit that the decision has been made and that it was made according to the values of George Bush, not the values of Canadians?" And sometimes Layton uses Bush to attack the prime minister's character. Such was the case on the day Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams walked away from a First Ministers meeting accusing the prime minister breaking an election promise to provide 100 per cent of offshore revenues. When the PM offered a differing interpretation of the agreement than Williams and said he was living up to his commitment, Layton said, "Mr. Speaker, I can see why the Prime Minister and George Bush get along. Neither of them is ever wrong." NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough is also enjoys playing the Bush card, having made five references to Bush over the past six weeks. McDonough often likes to use the catch phrase "George Bush's missile madness" when discussing the missile defence program. The other MPs who have criticized Bush in the House are Bill Blaikie and Nathan Cullen (both with two mentions of Bush) and Bev Desjarlais and Brian Masse with one each. But the NDP isn't totally negative on Bush. Layton recently applauded Bush for his environmental record. "George Bush does a better job, quite frankly, at achieving environmental objectives than the government does," Layton recently told the PM in an exchange. Despite all his digs at Bush and his policies, Layton says he and his party will treat the U.S. president with the respect deserved of any foreign leader if he appears before Parliament. "I don't believe the House of Commons is a place for disrespect," said Layton. "In fact our party has been urging the Speaker to get this House of Commons under some kind of control and we'll be behaving accordingly." Layton said he has given no orders to NDP MPs not to disrupt Bush's speech because he said none is needed. "Our caucus has been I think one of the most responsible groups of Members of Parliament since this House began to sit. We're here to make the Parliament work. I think we've proven that time and time again. We don't have to issue commandments." Jack Layton's Greatest Hits From Hansard On missile defence .... > "Tommy Douglas would also have had a few well chosen words about the Prime Minister's seeming desire to help George Bush launch the next arms race, without mentioning even once in the throne speech the so-called missile shield." > "Let us hope that this omission means that the Prime Minister has converted to peaceful values and decided to say no to George Bush's star war." > "Does the Prime Minister think that the Russian ambassador was telling the truth about George Bush's plans to weaponize space?" > "Does the Prime Minister not believe that this new weapon system will cause a new arms race, cost billions and will not work? These are all good reasons to say no to George Bush." > "The star wars missile defence program is the next initiative of George Bush's values, and is based upon them. Will the Prime Minister seek guidance from Canadian values or George Bush's values?" > "Pierre Trudeau shared our values when he said no to the Vietnam war. Jean Chrétien shared our values when he said no to the war in Iraq. The Prime Minister does not seem to know whether he shares our values or those of George Bush. Can he tell us now why, when he asked Canadians to support him, he did not tell them he was going to lead them down the road to George Bush's next arms race?" > "Canadians have a growing fear of George Bush and his next step. His next step is militarization that is going to increase the arms race." > "As far as the defence shield is concerned, why does what Bush thinks matter more than what Canadians think?" > "Does the Prime Minister believe that this represents the Canadian approach, the multilateral approach that is so important, with Condoleezza Rice and George Bush tearing up multilateral arms control treaties?" > "My question is simply, will the Prime Minister ensure that there is a vote in this House prior to any aspect of the decision to get involved in missile defence being made, or did George Bush not allow him to agree to that?" On the environment ... > "George Bush does a better job, quite frankly, at achieving environmental objectives than the government does." On the Patriot Act ... > "Why is the government doing absolutely nothing to protect the privacy of Canadians against the George Bush patriot act?" > "Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister who refuses to act to protect Canadians in the face of George Bush's patriot act." On Canadian values ... > "When did Canada become a red state? Will the minister admit that the decision has been made and that it was made according to the values of George Bush, not the values of Canadians?" On never having to say you're sorry ... > "Mr. Speaker, I can see why the Prime Minister and George Bush get along. Neither of them is ever wrong."