Chretien turns down resignation of his aide for her reported 'moron' remark (blame Canada!)

CP ^ | 11.22.02 | Louise Elliot

[mhking]

Chretien turns down resignation of his aide for her reported 'moron' remark

By LOUISE ELLIOTT

Francoise Ducros shown in Ottawa last year. (CP Picture Archive/Fred Chartrand)

PRAGUE (CP) - Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Friday he has refused the resignation of his embattled communications director, Francoise Ducros, over her alleged remark that U.S. President George W. Bush is a "moron."

Chretien said Ducros had apologized to him for the furore caused by a conversation she had with a journalist at the NATO summit in Prague. "She was graceful enough to offer me her resignation," the prime minister said. "I have not accepted that."

Ducros, who did not appear at the news conference in Prague, told Chretien she couldn't recall whether she made the remark but acknowledged she frequently uses the word "moron," Chretien added.

"I know her very well," the prime minister told reporters. "She may have used that word against me a few times and I am sure she used it against you many times. It's a word she uses regularly."

Chretien said there have been no official complaints from American officials at the NATO summit, which closed Friday. He said U.S.-Canadian relations had not been damaged. Chretien said Ducros has been a frequent defender of Bush in front of the media, and took aim at reporters for making much of what he called a "private conversation."

"She defended many, many times the president of the United States - I heard her, many times," he said.

"And she reflected the position of Canada many times, that we have good relations. So she has apologized to me for the problem it's causing ... but we don't live in as civilized a world as we used to, where private conversations are private."

Chretien dismissed reminders that he himself - during a storm over his former solicitor general Lawrence MacAulay a few weeks ago - said he accepts resignations as a matter of policy when they are offered.

"I said that to cabinet ministers because a cabinet minister can use a resignation to try to push you," he said. "It's not a question of her trying to press me. She offered her resignation and I said that I don't think that under the circumstances, unless other things occur (that I should accept it)."

Chretien noted that White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, for example, was in hot water recently over comments suggesting Washington could solve problems with Iraq by killing Saddam Hussein with "one bullet."

Speaking in Prague Thursday, Fleischer said the reported comment by Ducros was not taken as the official position of Canadian government.

[MD_Willington_1976]

They actually have the real cheap versions of the F18's, they call them the CF-18. They have been slowly cutting back the number of these aircraft, they are mainly based in Cold Lake Alberta and Baggotville in Queerbek. They will probly never get around to updating the CF-18's some of which have 20 year old airframes..

[arly]

Is that picture Franx\cois or her brother Frank?... At first glance I thought it was a photo of Harry Potter with his glasses off.

[VMI70]

Hey, ugly American. Before you go off half cocked, furore is the British variant of furor, which would be entirely appropriate in a Canadian newspaper.

Do the homework and don't rely on spell checker. It creates more mistakes than it corrects.

[Bonaparte]

"What in the heck is furore?"

An Italian racing car, the Furore Testosterosa.

[Argh]

In a civilized country this egregious insult would be mitigated not by accepting a resignation but by a termination of the offending employee. The Liberal Party isn't that civilized, continuing as usual to root around ignorantly in its own filth.

[bushfamfan]

No doubt he's trying to cover his tracks again by claiming that she "uses the term all the time, even on me". Hahaha the lying scum backstabber. I don't trust them. It's always about the Canadians and how we are bad just because we are Americans! And we're supposed to reap praise on them. That country doesn't lead on anything but the moron department.

[JohnathanRGalt]

The Microsoft spell checker suggests the correct spelling of Chretien should be Cretin.

[virgil]

I think governments like Germany and Canada are having to scrape the bottom for hired help. There is this lack of professionalism. Conduct like this should never be tolerated and they should be fired immediately and escorted off government property. That is what I would face in my non-union job if I were openly disrespectful towards management and vented those sentiments to a newspaper. If I talked to another employee like this, I would at least get a reprimand.

[stands2reason]

Imagine if Bush's communications director had called Chretien a moron. That would be the ex-communications director.

[DennisR]

I did not know Jim Carrey (sp?) was a spokesman for the Canadian government! :)

[Bigg Red]

Of course, and driven by Gonadal Hormones.

[Bigg Red]

Thank you for the clarification on the variation on "furor" vs. "furore". I should have known that, but I did not. I stand corrected.

[Bonaparte]

Yep. It's got that Spermatozzini injection system, the long-stroke Scrotalucci crank and the indestructible Testicularelli drive shaft.