We Deserve Better

That is to be expected from a political hack appointed to his position by what is very likely the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States. Canada deserves better, we deserve much better. As the closest ally and largest trading partner of the United States, Canada deserves a real ambassador, not some has-been politician who lacks the diplomatic skills necessary to fulfill the duties of his office.

This week, Cellucci weighed in on security once again. Mr. Cellucci is, of course, of the opinion that Canada should allow the United States to dictate what security measures should be in place in and decide how those measures are carried out in Canada. According to Cellucci it is inevitable that terrorists will use Canada as a base to attack the United States from.

While that is a possibility, the security of the United States is really the responsibility of the United States, not of Canada. Given the actions of the United States around the world; the Bush regime’s raping of civil rights in the United States and complete disregard for human rights all over the world; and the serious privacy questions that the Patriot Act raises for Canadians; we should be very wary when Cellucci tries to shake us down. We shouldn’t be afraid of him or his masters in Washington though. Giving in to a protection racket, as we all know, just encourages the racketeers to demand more.

Mr. Cellucci decided to make his dire pronouncements about security in Canada because John Ashcroft was coming to lean on our Liberal government in person. You know they want you bad when the higher-echelon gangsters start showing up in person, and Ashcroft is pretty high up in the crime family currently running the United States. Cellucci was doing the pre-sell so when Ashcroft leaned on Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, we would be prepared for her predictably giving in to US demands.

Mr. Cellucci doesn’t restrict himself to issues of security. He was in Winnipeg on Thursday, October 21 speaking to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. Paul Cellucci is a darling of the business elite, who swallow his message of the United States’ right to dominate Canada with an eagerness usually reserved for press releases from the Fraser Institute.

This odd incestuous relationship threatened to turn cannibalistic on Thursday though. Manitoba has a large number of hog barns and the recent institution of a 15% duty on live hogs shipped to the US is seen by many as yet another kick in the teeth by a protectionist US government...a further insult added to the injury caused by continual attacks on the Canadian Wheat Board, the mad cow border closure, and the huge subsidies paid to US agribusiness. Cellucci’s speech had focussed on better dispute resolution and reduced subsidies as a way to increase trade between Canada and the United States, and not everybody was buying his story. At the end of the speech somebody asked the question...why did the US institute the duty when Canadian hog producers are only selling below market value to compete with the heavily subsidised US hog industry?

Cellucci, ever the finger-pointer, first blamed the Democrats then quickly brought up the issue of Canadian duties on US dairy and poultry products. Canadians are, of course, too polite to point out that Prime Minister Paul Martin recently said, "I don't believe that linkage is the way to a solution." Perhaps Mr. Cellucci should keep that in mind the next time he starts making links between separate trade issues, because if we start playing his game things could get awfully dark south of the border.

Paul Cellucci has been stirring up trouble ever since his questionable appointment landed him in the US embassy in Ottawa. Although the spin doctors and apologists for the Bush regime have tried to put the best possible face on it, it has been clear since the beginning that Mr. Cellucci lacked the skills and qualifications required of a diplomat. He is a creature of the American right and a long-time friend of George Bush. His ineptitude at performing his duties as ambassador inspired the Not A Colony website to launch Cellucci Watch saying Paul Cellucci has this strange habit of acting more like a proconsul than an Ambassador when speaking to Canadians, and it's very instructive to see how sectors of our elite react to his hectoring and insulting tone.

On several occasions, he has resorted to not very diplomatic language to express Washington's frustration at Ottawa's refusal to obey every single command, no matter how apologetic the Prime Minister sounds when he is merely reflecting mainstream Canadian opinion, and linking to an on-line petition requesting that Mr. Cellucci be returned to the United States.

There is a reason why many Canadians do not like Mr. Cellucci and feel he should have been sent packing long ago. Mr. Cellucci is apparently incapable of understanding that he has no say in, and deserves no say in, the policies of the Canadian government. He expressed something close to anger when we refused to go Iraq. He complained loudly at the proposed reforms to our marijuana laws. He spoke out against the opening of the safe injection site in Vancouver. He has continually pushed for trade deals that benefit the United States but are detrimental not just to Canada, but to South American and African Nations. He has tried to impose the militaristic and imperialist vision of the Bush regime onto the debate of what Canada should do with its military.

On each occasion that Paul Cellucci, acting more like a mob enforcer sent from Washington to instill fear in Canadians than an emissary sent to convey messages and viewpoints between governments, has spoken out against the policies or proposed policies of the Canadian government. He has threatened us. The threat is always the same...that if we will not do as George Bush says we should that we will be made to suffer at the border. Our trade will be unwelcome and Canadians wishing to travel to the US could experience long delays when crossing the border. Paul Cellucci is somewhat of a one-note Johnny when it comes to getting his way. Do as I say or else, is his common refrain. Like a gangster demanding money, he simply rephrases his lone threat as he asks for ever more.

Paul Cellucci will likely be heading south soon. He has been here for longer than US ambassadors usually are and it is likely that he will be rewarded for his service with a post in the next Bush cabinet should Bush win a second term. There are rumours that Cellucci likes it here in Canada though, that he enjoys forcing the views of the neo-conservatives in the White House on what he sees as a left-leaning Canadian public. It is possible that Paul Cellucci wants to stay in his position until he has forced the Canadian government to accept the American view of terrorism, softwood lumber, the border, and BSE.

If John Kerry wins the White House on November 2, there is little doubt that a political appointee like Celluci will be recalled. There is a chance that George Bush set an unpleasant precedent when he appointed a politician instead of a diplomat though. Even under Kerry there is a chance that Cellucci’s replacement will be another political appointee instead of a competent career diplomat. Canada does not need another disaster like that.

Paul Martin needs to send a strong message to both George Bush and John Kerry that it is time that Canada was treated with due respect and assigned a real ambassador. No matter who the president of United States is for the next four years, it is imperative that Canada be afforded the respect of having a real diplomat assigned to the American embassy. While Paul Martin is more than hesitant about picking sides in the US election he should take the opportunity of that election to make it very clear that it is long past time for Paul Cellucci to return home and a replacement assigned that is not a political hack.

Sending a clear message now, to both presidential candidates, may or may not break Martin’s credo of not angering George Bush. It will, however, go a long way to ensuring that Canada gets the respect it deserves when the next US ambassador is assigned to 490 Sussex Drive.