Posted on 03/03/2005 11:13:24 AM PST by proud American in Canada
The fallout from Paul Martin’s decision not to participate in the ballistic missile defense program has been massive. I’m not sure Paul Martin knows what hit him.
The loony leftists aside, average Canadians are upset with the Liberal government and very, very concerned that this decision is going to directly impact them in the pocketbook, given that 80% of Canadian exports are sold to the U.S. market and that tourism here depends heavily on American visitors.
Many here suspect that the decision yesterday of a Montana judge not to reopen the U.S. border to Canadian beef would have turned out differently had Martin not double-crossed George W. Bush. The Canadian beef industry has been devastated by the closed border and may not survive if the border remains closed indefinitely.
The newspapers are full of supportive letters written by average Canadians and some have called the White House to express their disgust with Martin.
Also, the news media has ripped into Martin. 90% of the coverage has been highly critical of the substance of the decision and of the way he handled it, both here in Canada and in reporting it to the United States.
Yesterday’s National Post, a conservative paper, devoted two full pages to how not participating in BMD will adversely affect relations with the United States.
The first page, headlined, “From Texas, Ohio, New York and Boston, Americans ask one question of our Prime Minister: Why?” was devoted to reprinting editorials from U.S. newspapers.
Like many newspapers across the States, this page reprinted the infamous “Canadian Free Riders: Don’t Worry About Missiles; The Yanks Will Save Us” opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal (a subscription is required to read that at www.wallstreetjournal.com).
The second was a scathing piece from The Boston Herald, “Give Martin the Putin Treatment.” The original may be found here:
http://news.bostonherald.com/opinion/view.bg?articleid=70259
The third, entitled “The John Kerry of the North,” was from The Plain Dealer. The original may be found here:
http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1109413890261900.xml?oxedi
Finally, the Post also reprinted Freeper DH’s essay. DH owns a Texas company and has decided to no longer sell his products to Canada. He articulates his reasons why here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1352592/posts
The Post also featured a copy of DH’s “No sales to Canada” website page:
http://www.weldtron.com/general/Canada.htm
Finally, the second page was devoted to lengthy and perceptive pieces by Claire Hoy (“Betraying a Great Friend”) and Andrew Coyne, “The U.S. is in No Mood for this Nonsense”
I could not find a link to Hoy’s article, but Coyne’s article may be found here;
http://andrewcoyne.com/2005/03/us-is-in-no-mood-for-this-nonsense.php
Even left-leaning newspapers—including the Globe and Mail and the ultra-liberal Toronto Star--are criticizing Martin, whose government is demonstrating profound ineptness regarding its relationship with the U.S.
For example, today, the new ambassador to the U.S., Frank McKenna, opined that the refusal to participate in BMD is a “direct result” of softwood lumber and beef trade disputes:
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=e049e880-097d-4f69-a083-03d5a1138553
Oh really? If that’s why Martin came to his decision, it comes as news to Canadians, as Martin has never explained his position or allowed a parliamentary debate on this issue, as he had promised he would.
A recent national COMPAS poll reports that 54% of Canadians are against missile defense. However, this number is misleading. To better understand the situation, you have to break it down by province. Then you learn that amazingly, despite the liberal bias of most of the Canadian news media and the fact that not one politician has tried to make the case for joining BMD, 53% of Canadians outside of Quebec support it. It’s the 75% of Quebeckers who do not support it that skew the national poll.
In short, this debacle has all the makings of a situation where this minority government could come crashing down. The opposition could call an election and make the case that joining missile defense is a good idea and that in once again poking a stick in Uncle Sam’s eye, Paul Martin has seriously damaged the livelihood of average Canadians. A resounding Liberal defeat would go a long way to demonstrating to Americans that Canadians support them.
Unfortunately, we haven’t heard a peep from the Conservative leader, Stephen Harper, who appears to have been whisked away to an undisclosed location.
Is he, like Martin, aiming to appease Quebec? No one knows because he has apparently vanished, but one thing is certain--Canadians were stunned by this decision.
I want people to know that the average Canadian feels very upset about this. They support the Americans and are upset about the fact that apparently Quebec has a veto power over Canadian foreign policy.
a "Canadian reaction to Paul Martin's decision" ping
I thought you might be interested in this. :)
Canada ping...
a "trying to get the word out" ping.
Please ping any Canadian freepers you know.
There's a Canada ping? I'd join.
We Canadians are being mislead on the issue by CBC and the star. That poll will drastically change with education.
DH, you were mentioned in a national Canadian newspaper!
Your Freeper essay was also discussed on talk radio here.
Canadians are very concerned and upset with Martin's decision.
I believe Clive has the Canada ping list. :)
Yes, Canadians are being misled. It's sad.
Where is Stephen Harper!? It seems to me this is an ideal opportunity for him to educate people.
Any Canadians in a position to comment on the passivity of the Conservatives?
"The senate voted today to continue the ban on canadian beef"
They did?! Oh no... I knew that they had the votes to do it but I didn't realize they had actually voted.
They should have tested ALL the animals at the very beginning of this thing and gotten done with it.
I would love to know why Stephen Harper has been AWOL here.
The only issue that he has taken a strong stand on is gay marriage, and while I agree with him on that, it's a losting issue in Canada. It will not get him elected up here.
He needs to step aside and let someone else take over.
pAiC, did the paper reprint just DH's essay, or also the web addy of the essay? Did they reprint the comments?
DH, goodness you've created quite a storm, good on ya. Also, I passed your website onto my friend who own's the fabrication welding shop, he's looking into your catalog of equipment. I hope my comments didn't get posted in a national Canadian newspaper...
Don't worry Canada we'll save your butts if a nuke shows up in your sky, after all some 3 year old in Vancouver didn't make such a dumb decision.
But that proud strong ally that forced its way ashore in Normandy is obviously gone. Such a shame. There's a lesson for Americans there I hope we learn.
"But that proud strong ally that forced its way ashore in Normandy is obviously gone. Such a shame."
It really is. It is very, very sad.
Thank you for your post and for your service.
They reprinted only the essay and said that it was "from Freerepublic.com." The conservative talk radio host also mentioned FR and read DH's essay on the air, as I mentioned.
No, they didn't print the comments.
It's funny because I was going to pass along DH's thread to the conservative talk radio host last week but got sidetracked.
So, I think the Canadian news media surfs FR.
"I've never understood why a certain percentage of Canadians hate America so much anyway."
I don't either but it gets OLD very quickly when you live up here.
My husband and I lived for ten years in the States and a few weeks ago I said, "if you had to listen day in and day out to comments about how Canadians were stupid warmongering bastards," etc., you'd get sick of it pretty fast."
Please put me on the Canadian ping list.I am unfortunately canadian having to watch this country implode,one stupid liberal policy after another.
Who is DC?
Is the National POst really conservative? I used to subscribed and then cancel,we only kept the local paper for the sports,ie hockey,but now there is absolutely no reason to get the paper, the news are at least 3 days old and so distorted,its frightening.
I get my news here,and enjoy FOx news now.
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