Posted on 06/07/2004 11:07:27 PM PDT by kyd_ident
Ottawa — Prime Minister Paul Martin decided yesterday not to go to Washington to attend the state funeral of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, two days after his letter of condolence raised eyebrows about whether he is distancing himself from the United States during a hard-fought election campaign.
"Let's say a lot of ambivalence came through," a U.S. official said yesterday of the statement issued on the weekend by the Prime Minister's Office. "It seemed to underscore things somewhat."
The letter referred to Mr. Reagan as one of the most influential leaders of the past 50 years, and stated that he "helped lay the foundations" for the end of the Cold War and much greater co-operation between East and West.
But it was largely observational in tone, steering clear of the kind of rhetoric employed by leaders such as French President Jacques Chirac, who lauded the 40th president as "a great statesman who will leave a deep mark in history."
Canada will be represented at the funeral by Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson.
"I think the world will understand that we have an election going on and that the Prime Minister's international commitments have been quite extensive already," Liberal spokesman Steven MacKinnon said yesterday.
Mr. Martin took 11/2 days off the campaign to travel to France for the 60th anniversary of D-Day last weekend, and is to leave for Georgia today for the G8 summit of major industrialized countries.
An official at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa said: "It's entirely the Canadian government's decision as to whom they send to the funeral."
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, a friend of Mr. Reagan and his wife, Nancy, will attend the funeral at the National Cathedral and has reportedly been asked to speak at the service. That had not been confirmed by protocol officials as of last night.
University of Toronto historian Robert Bothwell said yesterday that it's entirely appropriate for Ms. Clarkson to attend rather than Mr. Martin. "That's what Adrienne is paid to do."
Some U.S. officials have expressed disquiet at Mr. Martin's tendency, as they see it, to involve their country in the election campaign through comparisons between Liberal philosophy and a more right-wing program outlined by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.
On the weekend, a Liberal cabinet minister went beyond Mr. Martin's criticism of Mr. Harper for advocating U.S.-style tax cuts, saying the Liberals' social programs hew toward "feminine values" while Conservatives ape the U.S. ethos of "each to their own."
The rhetorical tactics have been of some surprise in Washington, because Mr. Martin made much in recent months of trying to improve Canada-U.S. relations. Using the United States as an occasional whipping boy doesn't seem to underscore this goal, an official suggested, even if Mr. Martin did proclaim in the campaign's opening days that he "loves the United States."
Other U.S. officials, however, have shrugged, suggesting that references to the United States in Canadian election campaigns are a time-tested tactic that Canadian politicians don't seem able to avoid.
Mr. Martin is now expected to spend Friday in Quebec giving a major speech designed to frame the last half of the campaign. Mr. Martin also plans to campaign on Thursday, after missing the last day of the G8 summit.
In recent decades, Prof. Bothwell said, the United States has sent representatives other than the sitting U.S. president to funerals of prime ministers. The last Washington funeral of a U.S. president, Lyndon Johnson's, in 1973, was attended by foreign minister Mitchell Sharp, not prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
In 1972, president Richard Nixon dispatched Spiro Agnew, his vice-president, to former prime minister Lester Pearson's funeral. "But he couldn't get down [to land] because there was a snowstorm; he just flew around Ottawa and went home," Prof. Bothwell said.
Former president Jimmy Carter represented the United States at Mr. Trudeau's 2000 funeral. Mr. Nixon's California burial in 1994 was attended by deputy prime minister Sheila Copps.
PMO spokesman Justin Kingsley said yesterday that Mr. Martin will be able to offer his condolences to President George W. Bush when they meet today at the G8 summit.
I don't believe the invitations have been sent out, what makes Canada think they are going to be invited?
Perhaps he's sore that the American-based Tampa Bay Lightning just defeated the Canadian-based Calgary Flames for the Stanley Cup.
who cares... much rather have Mulroney represent Cananda. If I am reading these polls correctly, Martin might not be in office much longer...
Mulroney is supposed to be a pall bearer, from what I have read.
Fascinating.
It will be interesting to see if this move costs him in the polls. The Canadian people might think that Canada would do well to honor a former president of their ONLY neighbor. But then again maybe not.
I'm not buying anything from Canada while he's PM ! These lefties are making me sick. I knew Reagans death would let us know who are friends really are !
Prime Minister Martin's Liberals are neck and neck with the Conservatives in the most recent polls. If the trend continues, the Conservatives will pass the Liberals pretty soon.
So why is Prime Minister Martin 1) leaving the G-8 summit a day early to go campaigning and 2) sending the Governor General (who I was told on another thread is the Queen's representative to Canada, not even head of state) to President Reagan's funeral, instead of a minister from his cabinet, which seems to be in line with past practice?
Leaving the summit early to go campaigning makes it appear that he's not doing his job; not sending a deputy prime minister or foreign minister to a former president's funeral seems a bit disrespectful in a country that prides itself on being polite.
Is Martin a stupid politician, or is my Yankee analysis of Canadian politics incorrect?
The power-house of the free world may not attend President Reagan's funeral. Oh, my!
Who cares? Former PM Mulroney will be there and is the only Canadian PM worthy of attending the funeral.
Now THAT's interesting. The same thing could have come out of the mouth of any scumbag Democrat in the United States. At least in Canada the scumbag liberals ADMIT they have no balls and prefer communism.
You must be reading my mind. I was thinking that the State Department should issue the invitation to Mulroney anyway since he and Reagan were such good friends.
Sounds like a good time to shut the border down for temporary repairs, should take about a month to repaint all the signs.
Those amongst us who believe America stands alone, that even if the whole world falls into slavery we intend to live free or die, those who long for tasting of the undiluted Declaration of Independence, those who want a land that respects all, yet falls not into nauseating "tolerance"; those of us who remember the days of Ronald Reagan, for these brief few days while his good name is eulogized by friend and foe alike; for these few days we stand in the light.
Fellow such as this Canadian, and even one wretched hag I heard locally who said Regan hurt the middle class, well, these folks, they can wilt under the hot sun of truth. Their day to spread like unwanted weeds will come soon enough.
For now, though, the day belongs to us to remember and rejoice in the good that Ronald Reagan did for America. Oh that more like him would arise!
Speaking for myself, I am not displeased.
Martin is only slightly less dispicable than Clinton, and if there was any way I could uninvite him, I would.
yes! Exactly.
Prime Minister Paul Martin wants to keep his job and that means keeping the few French-speaking ridings in Quebec the party has left in its column. Being seen as pro-Reagan would mean writing them off. It doesn't help any the federal Liberals are going to have their behinds handed to them in next door Ontario cause the provincial Liberals foolishly raised taxes.
Actually, I don't think Canada is our friend any more. They've been infected with socialism in the extreme. Now, they look down their noses at the US, like all socialists do.
They stopped being our friend around the time Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister and they've (with the exception of Brian Mulroney's tenure) gone downhill ever since.
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