More Naughty Canadians?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Bruce Campbell <bc () clicknation com>
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 00:08:09 -0500
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: More Naughty Canadians?

Maybe, but probably not.

 From the Ottawa Citizen:

> A Liberal senator has been thrown into the firestorm of shaky
> U.S.-Canada relations after the Senate's Debates quoted him shouting
> "Screw the Americans" during a Senate sitting this week.

Canadian Senator Laurier LaPierre is in the stew over remarks he was
supposed to have made in the Senate debates on Wednesday. The Senate is
the non-governing, appointed upper house of the Parliament. Some people
were calling on him to resign. PM Jean Chretien called the remarks, if
true, "completely reprehensible".

I apologize if this seems gratuitously injecting Canadianism into the
debate, but I notice that it is a theme that seems to be cropping up.
Canada is our largest trading partner, a major cohabitant of this
continent, and except for Britain, the greatest traditional ally of the
United States. Its pursuit of a "different" path in the current war is
thus very wrenching for Canadians and (if Americans weren't so
preoccupied at the moment) should be an important issue for the US.

Canada has been having a bad time lately with intemperate remarks by
prominent (mostly Liberal) politicians. This week the heat rose after a
speech by the US ambassador chastising Canadians for their disloyalty
in the current situation.

Laurier LaPierre is notably for his volatility and is very liberal
(small l). Full disclosure: I worked with LaPierre briefly on a civil
liberties committee during the October Crisis in 1970. He is a funny
guy and such a comment is certainly within his reach. On the other
hand, the context in which he supposedly made the comment argues for
the alternative reading, as we shall see.

LaPierre fought back valiantly, requesting a change to the official
transcript  (Hansard) that is published daily:

> Senator LaPierre: I have taken careful note of what everyone has said.
> I thank you for your well-expressed opinions.
>
> [English ]
>
> I have spent 50 years in public life and I have used excessive
> language often, but I have always apologized when I went beyond the
> board, which is more than people have done for me in 50 years of
> public life.
>
> I would like to inform you that I have a son who lives in the United
> States, a granddaughter who is a Jewish American and a daughter-in-law
> and I certainly would not say that they be screwed. It is not a word
> in my vocabulary. I use other kinds of language, but not this one.
>
> In the context in which I made the remark, it had to do with France
> and other countries arming the Iraqis, and I said, "So did the
> Americans.'' I did say that and we would have corrected it, had the
> blues come to us.

The change has been granted.

Should anyone like, the debate on the changing of the language is
mildly amusing and shows much of Canada's torn :

http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/2/parlbus/chambus/senate/deb-e/044db_2003-03-
26-E.htm?Language=E&Parl=37&Ses=2

And here is the (amended) transcript including Senator Buchanan's
speech so you can see the context.

I have to go with LaPierre on this one:

> Canada-United States Relations
>
> War with Iraq
>
> Hon. John Buchanan: Honourable senators, I wish to speak about this
> matter later, on a resolution, but I wish to say something right now.
> I hope to be allowed one half hour to two hours.
>
> I totally disagree with what the honourable senator just said. Can you
> imagine?
>
> Hon. B. Alasdair Graham: A speech is not debatable during Senators'
> Statements.
>
> Senator Buchanan: I am not debating the honourable senator.
>
> The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable Senator Buchanan, the point made is
> quite correct. Senators' Statements is for just that. It is not in our
> rules to debate. If you wish to make a statement, please proceed.
>
> Senator Buchanan: Honourable senators, I was making a statement, and I
> hope His Honour will not take a minute off my time!
>
> What would have happened if, in Toronto or Montreal, two, three or
> four planes had flown into the tallest buildings or hit the Centre
> Block in Ottawa and hundreds, maybe thousands, were killed? Would we
> be saying, "Let us wait until Saddam Hussein really gets some nuclear
> weapons. Let us wait until he gets biological weapons. Let us wait
> until he gets more missiles. Let us wait for authority from the UN to
> do it all.''
>
> No way, that would not happen! However, it happened to our friends.
>
> Who are our friends in this world? Who have been our friends for over
> the last 100 years? The United States is our best neighbour, our best
> friend. The United States, Britain, Australia, Denmark and Holland are
> our friends, and we have turned our backs on them.
>
> Do not forget it. We have turned our backs on them. That is a fact.
>
> Honourable senators, what are we doing? Here in Canada, we are saying,
> "Oh we want to have this all sanctioned by the Security Council of the
> United Nations. Never mind the genocide and murder that is taking
> place in Iraq.''
>
> What a double standard, what hypocrisy! When there was genocide and
> murder in Kosovo and Serbia, we did not need sanctions from the United
> Nations to move ahead. We did move ahead in those areas. That is the
> double standard. That is the hypocrisy. We moved ahead there, but we
> cannot do it here. We will back off, and we will let our friends do
> everything to protect us.
>
> What would happen, honourable senators, if Canada were attacked? We
> have brave soldiers, airmen and sailors. I know many of them. However,
> we do not have the wherewithal to defend ourselves, and we all know
> that. Who will protect us? Will France, Germany, or Russia, who has
> provided weapons to Saddam Hussein, or China protect us?
>
> Hon. Laurier L. LaPierre: So did the Americans!
>
> Senator Buchanan: Do not start that. I will enter a debate with that
> senator sometime as well.
>
> Honourable senators, in 24 years of elected life, I found out one
> thing. You go with your friends and you build on your strengths.
>
> Senator LaPierre: You build on the truth!
>
> Senator Buchanan: Honourable senators, why are we not with our friends
> now? There are many reasons, but we will get into it later.
>
> Some Hon. Senators: Hear! Hear!

The Snoofmadrune weblog
http://www.clicknation.com/snoof

bruce campbell
[  72 Madison Avenue   12th Floor   New York NY 10016  ]


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