As if to prove that the Liberals have no foreign affairs strategy and no negotiating prowess, the Liberals appear to be taking the “confuse the hell of ‘em” method of arm twisting.
How else to explain this statement from the Liberals’ new boy in Washington, Ambassador Frank McKenna?:
“Let me say this, that this [missile defence] issue in some ways perhaps could be construed as the direct result of letting fester some of the transactional issues,” he told reporters at the Canadian embassy. “From a Canadian perspective, you can understand how the atmosphere has not been conducive to creating a political environment where a different decision might have been achieved on the ballistic missile defence issue.”
And that affects the U.S….. how? Oh I see so the idea is to harm ourselves and open our nations’ security to great risk, in order to get the Americans to relent on legitimate trade issues. OK. Got it. Rah rah. Vote liberal.
And suddenly—and I do mean suddenly since this appears to have come literally out of nowhere (which is another name for Ottawa, Canada)—they’re linking Canada’s national defence to trade? Is that really the best way to go for my family? I submit that it is perhaps the best way to go if you’re completely bereft of any common sense at all whatsoever.
Right on cue, Liberal Prime Minister Paul (“we lead the world”) Martin’s “Team Ditherer” went into back-peddle mode.
Melanie Gruer, press secretary to Prime Minister Paul Martin, said in response to Mr. McKenna’s comments that ‘‘I don’t see him drawing the linkage’’ between the trade disputes and missile defence. ‘‘There have certainly been some bumps along the way in our relationship but we are going to continue working in partnership with the United States.’‘
Oh I see. So, “nevermind all that bit about it being you know whatever”. Got it.
I’ll tell you what this is: It’s an obvious attempt to find some other rallying point—to regain Canadian voter favor by finding a way to get Canadian voters on-side, after hideously fumbling the ball on Missile Defence. In colloquial language, The Liberals know that Canadians feel like idiots because of them, and that ain’t no way to win an election—and that, my friends, is all that matters to the Liberals. Not Canada, not Canadian security, not your family, not “trade relations”.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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