Angry Bush official met with McKenna over Martin's climate comments

OTTAWA (CP) - An angry Bush administration official demanded and received a meeting with Canadian ambassador Frank McKenna to complain about Prime Minister Paul Martin's attacks on U.S. environmental policy, U.S. sources say.

Martin accused the Americans earlier this week of being deaf to global opinion on the need to sign the Kyoto Protocol. The White House took Martin's rebuke as cheap electioneering during the campaign leading to the Jan. 23 vote, the sources said.

The meeting with McKenna took place earlier this week in Washington.

Martin was in Montreal on Friday to meet with another Bush foe - former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Martin came to office promising a more mature relationship with the Americans but trade disputes and Canada's refusal to take part in the ballistic missile program have led to a deterioration in the relationship since Martin came to power in 2003.

http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/news/shownews.jsp?content=n120908A

...stick it in his ear.

If he can't stand the heat (thanks to the greenhouse effect) he should get out of the damned kitchen.

Although I do not trust McKenna given he was a director in the Carlyle Group, he has pleasantly surprised me at time by speaking up quite bluntly to U.S. politicians on a number of issues.

I must say the double standard held by the bush admin regarding giving and receiving criticism does cause one to go "Whaaaaa??????", lol.

...although my aunt (a former consulate to Kenya and Ethiopia) probably could have gotten me in. :rofl:

Clearly I didn't inherit any of her tact.

The only consolation is that even the Bushies won't be able to ruin a friendship that's been pretty much solid between our countries since the War of 1812 wrapped up.

I hope.

He is but a bothersome, irritating blip on the radar of Canadian/U.S. relationships, and we know he doesn't speak for the majority of Americans even in his domestic policies never mind his infantile foreign policies, lol.

U.S. officials are now unofficially acting like "lunatics", or "thugs". I just read in the India Times that a member of the U.S. delegation called the Indian Foreign minister a "retard" and "stupid" because he didn't go along with the American directive.

Folks, the U.S. has officially dispensed with diplomacy. Government officials are now going for the jugular.

Why would the U.S. do this? They must be desperate. No country voluntarily throws away friendships and alliances just for the hell of it. Because they've got FAR more to lose when they do that.

There is an article on Counter Punch that explains that the U.S. is losing consistently in its battles with different countries. The author can't figure out why the U.S. is now using the approach of "Going for Broke".

Maybe that last word has something to do with it.

Do they think being angry will make people fail to notice the air is getting so bad, the environment so tenuous, we may go the way of the Dodo bird. What total Babbits!

I've pretty much written it off as a source of anything.

Blame Canada! Blame Canada!

;)

Canada except for the faux Cons like Harper who are wanting to be in bush's back pocket. Polls, long before this election, show we dislike bush intensely but, given we are in an election campaign, it certainly won't hurt Martin to talk tough right now.

he wants to be Bush's front...ahem....

Bend over Canada and beg for the vaseline if Harper gets in.

too chicken to 'voice' it, virtually speaking. I must learn to be more forthright when it comes to Harper for sure!

...why I'm not in the diplomatic corps!

it's true. How dare they complain?

That's rich.

It's the one thing they know best.

That must be worth a few points in the polls.

Just watch the other guys trying to duplicate some of this.

Just imagine. Canada couldn't gets anyone's interest in Mad Cow, Devils Lake nor softwood. But along comes an election and bang.