Vive Le Canada

McKenna Seeks To Forge Stronger Ties With U.S.

Posted on Thursday, June 23 at 10:31 by jensonj
Some 40 U.S. lawmakers lent their names to the Canadian American Business Council reception, an unprecedented coming together of Canadian interests and American policymakers, a chance to meet Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna and his American counterpart David Wilkins, who lands in Ottawa next Tuesday. That only a fraction of the 40 showed up surprised no one and simply pointed to the challenges faced by a Canadian diplomatic mission that is seeking reinforced ties with the 109th U.S. Congress. Embassy staff and those with business interests ranging from the international bridge between Windsor and Detroit to pharmaceuticals and even soup outnumbered members of Congress, who routinely book a number of events per evening. It was an evening of good humour and light chatter. If anyone noticed the symbolism of a meeting in a room named for a Democratic president who reputedly once grabbed Lester Pearson by the collar and told him "you pissed on my rug" after the Canadian prime minister criticized the Vietnam war in a 1965 Philadelphia speech, well, it went unsaid. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1119477014839&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

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  1. by Anonymous
    Fri Jun 24, 2005 2:50 am
    The current United States disgusts me. Who ever enjoyed the bully in the schoolyard? Even Harry Potter had to show the stuff he was made of to stand up to his bullyboy nemesis.
    Now we have Frank McKenna to represent us in the 'pissing room' of LBJ Washington? I would much rather have Hugo Chavez.
    Afterall Yankee pillage does not just flow south, they NEED our oil, water, wheat, timber, minerals, markets and political allegiance. We succumbed long ago to the ultimatum: a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs. Unlike Afghanistan or Iraq, we are lulled into an addiction of affluence based on selling out the larder. Continental security perimeter? How about meltdown of Canadian sovereignty. Maybe Paul Martin will be the next Canadian PM to get hauled up by the collar by a belligerent US prez or even vicePrez, for 'pissing on his carpet'.
    Yes.

  2. by grahamia
    Fri Jun 24, 2005 2:54 am
    The current United States disgusts me. Who ever enjoyed the bully in the schoolyard? Even Harry Potter had to show the stuff he was made of to stand up to his bullyboy nemesis Malfoy.
    Now we have Frank McKenna to represent us in the 'pissing room' of LBJ Washington? I would much rather have Hugo Chavez.
    Afterall Yankee pillage does not just look south, they NEED our oil, water, wheat, timber, minerals, markets and political allegiance. We succumbed long ago to the ultimatum: a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs. Unlike Afghanistan or Iraq, we are lulled into an addiction of affluence based on selling out the larder. Continental security perimeter? How about meltdown of Canadian sovereignty. Maybe Paul Martin will be the next Canadian PM to get hauled up by the collar by a belligerent US prez or even vicePrez, for 'pissing on his carpet'.
    Yes.

  3. by N Say
    Fri Jun 24, 2005 5:49 am
    What's wrong with the general principle of "stronger ties" with the US or any other country? I thought that what most people were opposed to were specific forms of integration, like military & economic integration, and to make the continent safe for corporations. Nothing wrong with cooperating with the US, or any other country.

    ---
    "George Bush has declared the war on terrorism to be the cause of his generation. The cause of Canadian sovereignty will be ours." - John Godfrey, MP for Don Va

  4. by Dave Ruston
    Fri Jun 24, 2005 2:36 pm
    Well, i tend to agree, I wouldn`t oppose closer ties to the USA if these closer ties meant not only fair trade, but keeping Canada`s sovereignty intact. You know, no hostile backlashes just because we don`t agree with certain wars, no pressure put on us simply because we want the Canadian people to benefit from our own resources, no 'harmonizing' of laws, standards, regulations, etc. You know, I liked the working relationship that Pierre Trudeau had with Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. We weren`t bullied simply because Canada had an independent foreign and domestic policy. But that all changed with the arrival of Reagan and successive ignorant US presidents since. Couple this with loser Canadian Prime Ministers from Mulroney to now, and one can easily see why Canadians feel the way they do!

    ---
    Dave Ruston

  5. by hoopoe
    Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:34 pm
    Unfortunately, for the US stronger ties has all too often been interpreted as someone coming begging at their door and that's exactly what McKenna is seen as. I agree, we need someone like Hugo Chavez in Canada. Then we might regain some of the respect we had when Trudeau and Pearson actually stood up for independent Canadian policy.

  6. by N Say
    Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:53 am
    trudeau was definitely no chavez, & neither was pearson...

    ---
    "George Bush has declared the war on terrorism to be the cause of his generation. The cause of Canadian sovereignty will be ours." - John Godfrey, MP for Don Va

  7. by Dave Ruston
    Sat Jun 25, 2005 4:06 pm
    Yes, that`s true, but atleast Trudeau told the US to mind their own business!

    ---
    Dave Ruston



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