Canada-U.S. relations News

 Younger Canadians will not remember David Lewis as the leader of the New Democratic Party from 1971 to 1975, but he made a critical contribution to the political lexicon of our country when he coined the term “corporate welfare bums” and ran a federal election campaign on that theme. It is a term that was very pertinent then and has even greater pertinence today, as today these same bums have become even more pervasive and dangerously parasitic.

  Premiers and governors to meet in Washington,February 20

A report says the Canadian diplomat praised for sheltering Americans during the Iranian Revolution was a CIA spy.

The Globe and Mail quotes former ambassador Ken Taylor as telling the newspaper that he was made ``de facto CIA station chief'' in a secret deal between president Jimmy Carter and prime minister Joe Clark.

The report says the move followed the seizure of the U.S. Embassy by Iranian students Nov. 4, 1979, when 63 Americans, including the four-member Central Intelligence Agency contingent, were taken hostage.

                An open letter to my American cousins

My first American experience was as a young boy visiting my American cousins on summer vacations in Minot ND. There I acquired a playmate who asked me where I was from.  I replied, “Saskatchewan,” a mere hundred miles to the north. I was astounded he had never heard of our fair province. Even at that young age I was generally aware of the giant to the south of us and expected the same reciprocity from my playmate.  While our two countries are inextricably linked especially in matters of commerce to this very day there is still a certain reciprocity lacking.

For a dozen years, since signing the Kyoto Protocol to fight global
warming, the federal government has struggled to craft a cap-and-
trade policy of its own.

But repeated Liberal and Conservative governments have retreated in
the face of entrenched opposition from energy and manufacturing
interests, and from provincial premiers who fear the economic
consequences.

Now Canada can only watch as the United States, moving from laggard
to leader in the fight against global warming, crafts a cap-and-trade
policy, one that Canada will have no choice but to emulate......

Add it all up, and the case for Canada's federal government simply
photocopying the U.S. program and submitting it to Parliament is
overwhelming.

Canada will join the fight against global warming whether its
politicians want it to or not. The Americans will leave us no choice

fyi-janet

Defence Minister Peter MacKay is demanding an apology from Fox News after a panel on of one of its late-night programs made "disgusting" comments about the Canadian military.

A group of pundits on "Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld," which airs weekdays at 3 a.m. on Fox News, each took turns trashing Canada and its military during an episode that aired on March 17.

Mat (Smith Falls 9/11 Truth) and myself ,Tyrone, ( Ottawa 9/11 Truth ) went to the Obama welcome rally when the president came to visit the nation's capital on Feb 19th,2009.

 Barack Obama’s first international trip as United States president was a quickie seven-hour visit to Canada’s capital Ottawa, where he thrilled adoring fans by calling Canada “sexy”, though he added, “even if it’s in an unsexy way,” a rather backhanded if appropriate compliment for those toque-clad, rosy cheeked admirers bussed in to catch a glimpse of the new president. One commentator compared his visit to the Second Coming. He was greeted at the airport by his fellow black head of state, Michaelle Jean, Canada ’s Haitian-born governor general, who along with 80 per cent of Canadians are delighted that the days of George W Bush are over. He then met Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was a big supporter of Bush and is most certainly not one of Obama’s fans.

Many Canadians view a Barack Obama presidency as an opportunity to further renew Canada-U.S. relations. This includes a more North American approach in dealing with challenges that face not only the continent, but the world as well. The Security and Prosperity and Partnership (SPP), a trilateral initiative between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, has stalled and in some cases, Canada-U.S. bilateralism has also been hampered. Many policy papers and reports are still calling for deeper North American integration.

The policy paper entitled “From Correct to Inspired: A Blueprint for Canada-U.S. Engagement” was released to the public in January of this year. It was prepared by Carleton University’s Centre for Trade Policy and Law and outlines how the Canada-U.S. partnership can be rejuvenated. It details how Canada can help Obama further reshape America’s role in the world.

A Calgary audience might be the first group to hear George W. Bush's take on the state of the world since he stepped down as U.S. president earlier this year.

Bush is to speak to an anticipated audience of 1,500 at a private event in the city on March 17, according to organizers Andy McCreath and Christian Darbyshire.

"It's our understanding it's one of the first -- if not the first -- times he'll speak since leaving office," said Geoff Pradella, vice-president of public and government affairs at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, which is partnering in the event.

John Manley has made numerous contributions to reports advocating increased international ‘governance’. As Wikipedia notes,

He is also chair of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America, a project of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. In March 2005, the Task Force released a report that advocated a North American union, an economic union between Canada, Mexico and the United States which would resemble the European Union.

The CFR’s major report on continental integration, Building a North American Community, was cowritten by Manley in cooperation with Robert Pastor, the US mandarin on ‘economic integration.’ This is another dangerous development for Canada’s sovereignty as we are further rolled into the international infrastructure of large foreign relations thinktanks and powerful political ‘councils’. For more information, dig into the large collection of news links following the body of this story.

Desperate hope among Canadians (and others) is that Barack Obama, U.S. president-elect, will be a truly new influence for good and that Canada will benefit from his election.  The story may be very different and only time will show what his politics really are.

The Canadian government is prepared to wield its "emerging energy superpower" might after talks with the incoming U.S. administration failed to "reassure" Canada that the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement would remain unchallenged. Canada also seeks to expand ties with other countries to reduce its dependence on U.S. trade, Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, said yesterday.

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=953485

 A Rough Guide to Obama, on $2.3 billion a day*

By Richard Sanders, coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)

Did you know that President-elect Obama:

• voted for every one of President Bush's Iraq-War funding increases?

• believes Bush's "surge" in Iraq has "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams" and has proclaimed his "absolute" belief in the "War on Terror"?

• criticized the Iraq War because it is "unwinnable," not because it is illegal, immoral and has killed one million Iraqis?
• will probably leave 140,000 private contractors (mercenaries) and as many as 60,000 to 80,000 regular US troops in Iraq?

• praised President Bush, Sr., and the 1991 Gulf War saying: "I think that when you look back at his foreign policy, it was a wise foreign policy. In how we executed the Gulf War.... I think George H.W. Bush doesn't get enough credit for...his foreign policy team and the way that he...prosecuted the Gulf War. That cost us $20 billion dollars. That's all it cost. It was extremely successful."

• is willing to bomb Iran and that he won't rule out a first strike nuclear attack?

• wants to send an additional 10,000 US troops to fight the war in Afghanistan?

• wants to expand the Afghan war with unilateral air strikes to bomb Pakistan?

• supported Israel's war against Lebanon?

• supports Ballistic Missile Defense?

• favours military expenditures on warplanes that he says "provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power."

• voted for the Patriot Act II, the Wall Street bailout, building a border wall with Mexico and immunity for corporations that conducted electronic eavesdropping on Americans?

• wants continued sanctions against Cuba?

• called President Chavez an "enemy of the US" and wants sanctions against Venezuela?

Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other examples from Obama's statements, his voting records, his financial backers and his selection of advisors and staff that expose very regressive positions on foreign policy and domestic issues. (Check out the links to an initial list of articles below.)

People around the world, including those in the Middle East, may have paid little attention to Canada's parliamentary elections on 14 October. This should come as no surprise, as Canadians themselves seemed more interested in the developments of the presidential race for the White House south of the border. Besides, the Canadian election brought little change to the makeup of parliament. The Conservatives maintained their lead and formed a minority government while the Liberals lost more seats.

But preserving the status quo and the virtual absence of foreign policy as a topic of public debate in the run up to the vote reinforces the transformation in Canada's geopolitical role in relation to the Middle East. And this must be of extra concern today. Canada may take on an increasingly active role in light of the partial weakening of the United States' ability to maintain its hegemonic status across the globe single-handedly following its invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. This is especially so if Barack Obama becomes president. Canada is among the nations with the largest military presence in Afghanistan. The Conservatives led by George W. Bush's protege Stephen Harper have always pushed for a more aggressive role by Canada at a time when the anti-war movement is on the wane. Harper's policy is more likely to sit well with the public if it is marketed in line with the "moderate" vision of an American president like Obama who doesn't have Bush's bad reputation and who has expressed a desire to shift the war effort from Iraq to Pakistan and Afghanistan

http://www.countercurrents.org/hicham051108.htm