[mobglob-discuss] Chief U.S. warlord to visit Canada in May

[Graeme Bacque]

FYI - Graeme
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Feb. 6, 2003. 03:52 PM The Toronto Star

Bush plans first Canadian visit May 5th
U.S. president waited over two years to pay respects in Ottawa

ROBERT RUSSO
CANADIAN PRESS

WASHINGTON - U.S. President George W. Bush will make a state visit to Ottawa
on May 5, a time when a U.S.-led coalition could be at war in Iraq.

It will be Bush's first official visit to Canada. He will make an address to
a joint session of Parliament, sources told The Canadian Press. Trade and
border security are expected to be the themes of the president's trip.

In Ottawa, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed today that May 5 is the
date of the Bush visit.

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has been pushing the U.S. president to come to
Canada since Bush entered the White House two years ago.

There was consternation and chagrin in the Department of Foreign Affairs
when Bush discarded a loose tradition of making Canada the first destination
for a new president and opted instead to head to Mexico.

At the time, Bush suggested there was no greater friend of the United States
than Mexico.

The timing of Bush's trip to Ottawa indicates the Pentagon believes any war
with Iraq will be brief and that the U.S. administration thinks the
president can weather any anti-war protests that might greet him in Canada.

Poll after poll has suggested that Canadians are opposed to a U.S.-led
military mission to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein, particularly if the
initiative is not sanctioned by the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the Canada-U.S. cross-border relationship has hit several bumps
since Bush, a Republican, replaced Democrat Bill Clinton as president. Bush
defeated Al Gore, the Democratic candidate, in the closely contested 2000
election.

Some in the Bush administration were left with the impression that the
Chrétien government made public their preference for Gore when Raymond
Chrétien, the former Canadian ambassador in Washington, said that Gore was
already well versed in Canadian issues whereas Bush, then governor of Texas,
was more familiar with the southern border of the United States.

Some bitter trade disputes, notably the rancorous battle over Canadian
softwood lumber exports to the United States, have also put a strain on the
bilateral relationship.

Canada's long-standing complaint of being taken for granted by the United
States was reinforced when Bush thanked a long list of countries for their
support after the airliner assaults of Sept. 11, but neglected to express
gratitude for the outpouring of assistance and waves of sympathy that came
from Canada.

But the White House and the Pentagon were pleased with Canada's effort in
the war to drive the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda out of
Afghanistan.

And despite Canada's public wavering on whether to support the U.S. drive to
oust Saddam from Iraq, there is some appreciation in the Bush administration
that there has been "no grandstanding" about Ottawa's misgivings.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is still trying to repair his country's
relationship with the United States after his party resurrected its
electoral fortunes last year by campaigning on opposition to any
American-led war in Iraq.

Bush has been to Canada twice as president. He was in Kananaskis, Alta.,
last June for the Group of Eight summit of industrialized countries. He also
attended the Summit of the Americas in Quebec in April 200, when thousands
of violent protesters attempted to disrupt the meeting.

Those trips, however, were not official visits to Canada. A state visit is
more formal and involves elaborate protocol. Clinton was the last U.S.
president to make a state visit to Canada in 1995.

The window on a Bush visit would have closed after this year.

Next year is a presidential election year in the United States. Even though
Bush is not expected to be challenged, the campaign season begins with the
Iowa caucuses in January. Canada doesn't want to risk playing any role in a
presidential campaign, particularly after the way Raymond Chrétien's
comments on Bush were interpreted by some in Washington.


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