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Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has been named to Clemson University Board of Trustees. Haley, who served as South Carolina governor before becoming former President Trump’s envoy to the U.N., will replace retiring member David Wilkins. It’s one of seven lifetime appointments on the 13-member board. “Ambassador Haley’s love of country, leadership skills, commitment to education, and passion for Clemson University will serve the Board well. She will be a tireless advocate for the University and all of its constituents,” Kim Wilkerson, the board’s chair, said.

U.S. ambassador a Canuck-at-heart TORONTO SUN Sunday, May 28, 2006 By MICHELE MANDEL OTTAWA -- After a year as U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins can now hum a few bars of O Canada and even tell you where maple syrup comes from. "That was a set-up," he protests, a sheepish note creeping into a South Carolina drawl as thick as the Canadian syrup. "It comes from a maple tree." Not only that, this transplanted southerner has adopted our national passion ("I was pulling very hard for the Senators to win"), loves Beavertails, has sampled poutine ("I like the...

New Canadian PM rebuffs US envoy Mr Harper criticised opponents for anti-US positions during the election Canadian Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper has defended plans to send military ice-breakers to the Arctic in defiance of criticism from Washington. US ambassador David Wilkins said on Wednesday that Washington opposed the plan and, like most other countries, did not recognise Canada's claims. Mr Harper said his mandate was from the Canadian people, not Mr Wilkins. Mr Harper's Conservatives have promised to defend Canada's northern waters from claims by the US, Russia and Denmark. The party won a narrow victory over the outgoing Liberal...

TORONTO - Canada's next prime minister used his first news conference Thursday to tell the United States to mind its own business when it comes to territorial rights in the Arctic North. Testing the notion that he would kowtow to the Bush administration, Stephen Harper, whose Conservative Party won general elections on Monday, said he would stand by a campaign pledge to increase Canada's military presence in the Arctic and put three military icebreakers in the frigid waters of the Northwest Passage. U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins had criticized the plan Wednesday, describing the Arctic passage as "neutral waters." "There's no...

Taylor, a Canadian blogger has uncovered a number of irregularities with Liberal ads that suggest that Martin purposely got in a dispute with the US for political gain. Take a look at the link.

When American Ambassador David Wilkins unleashed his fusillade at Paul Martin's electoral anti-Americanism this week, he catapulted our relationship with the United States, at least temporarily, to the top of the election agenda. Not since the free trade election of 1988 have Canadian-American relations figured so prominently in a campaign. But unlike 1988, when the debate centred on a substantive policy issue, this time it's all sound and fury signifying very little. The risk-free politics of bashing a deeply unpopular American president was the subtext for Mr. Martin's attack on the U.S. environmental record in Montreal last week. Given that...

Toronto – When United States Ambassador David Wilkins warned the prime minister to stop chest-thumping, it was more than an off-the-cuff remark amplified in the heat of a federal election campaign, social activist Maude Barlow says. It represented the latest example of American conservatism creeping into Canadian politics and posing a risk to our national values of tolerance and independence, the national chairwoman of the Council of Canadians says. "Absolutely, and it's just this notion that you can make it public as ambassador … that you have a right to interfere in Canadian politics and bring this brand of conservatism...

Voters electrified as Canada's PM hits back in war of words with US By Francis Harris in Washington (Filed: 16/12/2005) Canada's increasingly heated war of words with the United States intensified yesterday, with the prime minister demanding that Washington halt attempts to "dictate" to its northern neighbour. Paul Martin responded after the US ambassador to Ottawa accused him of playing politics with the relationship between the two countries. Paul Martin: 'I am not going to be dictated to' Mr Martin, who has called an election for next month, shot back: "I am not going to be dictated to as to...

U.S. is 'walking the walk' when it comes to environmental issues, David Wilkins says OTTAWA — The Bush administration issued a sharp, public rebuke today to Prime Minister Paul Martin for dragging the Canadian-U.S. relationship into the federal election campaign. Ambassador David Wilkins said Canada risks damaging one of the world’s best relationships by focusing on short-term political gain. “It may be smart election-year politics to thump your chest and criticize your friend and your No. 1 trading partner constantly,” Wilkins said in a speech to the Canadian Club at the historic Chateau Laurier Hotel, next door to Parliament Hill....

OTTAWA and VANCOUVER — The United States launched an exceptional mid-campaign rebuke yesterday of the Liberal government's constant criticism of the Bush administration, bringing the high level of tensions between the world's two biggest trading partners to the forefront of the Canadian election. "It may be smart election-year politics to thump your chest and constantly criticize your friend and your No. 1 trading partner. But it is a slippery slope, and all of us should hope that it doesn't have a long-term impact on the relationship," the U.S. ambassador to Ottawa, David Wilkins, said in a tough speech to the...

The United States last night issued an extraordinary warning to Canadian politicians to tone down their anti-American rhetoric or face the consequences. Washington's ambassador to Ottawa intervened in the Canadian election campaign after politicians north of the border attacked their closest ally and biggest trading partner. In a televised speech, David Wilkins said: "It may be smart election politics to thump your chest and constantly criticise your friend and your Number One trading partner. "But it's a slippery slope and all of us should hope it doesn't have a long-term impact on our relationship." The intervention by a US official...

According to this news report the US Ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, has given a speech where he warns Canadian politicians against bashing the United States in an effort to gain votes in the coming election. The issues that concern me the most are self defense and national defense (with the environment coming in a distant 3rd), and I’ve been frustrated with the way the Canadian government has acted on those issues for the past few years. But what’s been even more maddening is the way that the Canadian government and media has insisted that they’re better than the Americans...

Liberal Leader Paul Martin said on Wednesday he's not concerned by what officials in Washington think about his remarks on the campaign trail. FROM DEC. 13, 2005: Martin rejects U.S. ambassador's rebuke"I am not going to be dictated to as to the subjects I should raise," Martin said at a lumber mill in B.C. He was responding to comments made by U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins in Ottawa on Tuesday. Wilkins implicitly rebuked Martin for attacking U.S. policies to score political points, suggesting it could have an effect on the future of the cross-border relationship. Martin was unapologetic following Wilkins's speech,...

RICHMOND, British Columbia (Reuters) - Prime Minister Paul Martin escalated a war of words with the United States on Wednesday, telling Washington not to dictate to him what topics he can raise in the run-up to Canada's January 23 election. U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins warned Martin and other Canadian politicians on Tuesday not to bash the United States as part of their campaigning. But Martin -- who has regularly attacked the U.S. stance on a bilateral trade dispute over softwood lumber and also criticized Washington's approach to climate change -- said he was not paying attention. "When it comes to...

OTTAWA/SURREY, British Columbia (Reuters) - The United States made an unprecedented foray into Canada's election campaign on Tuesday, warning politicians not to bash Washington in their bid to win the January 23 election. But an unapologetic Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin responded immediately by saying "c'est la vie" -- that's life -- if the United States did not like his remarks, and he would not accept anyone telling him he cannot defend his country. In a hard-hitting speech in Ottawa, U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins lamented what he called relentless and incessant criticism of his country, which he speculated might begin...

The U.S. ambassador to Canada has rebuked Prime Minister Paul Martin, saying he risks damaging relations between the countries by dragging the United States into the federal election campaign. Wilkins didn't name Martin directly but left no doubt that he was talking about the prime minister when he warned against scoring cheap political points against Washington. "It may be smart election-year politics to thump your chest and criticize your friend and your No. 1 trading partner constantly," Ambassador David Wilkins said in a speech to the Canadian Club in Ottawa on Tuesday. "But it is a slippery slope, and all...

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins came back to South Carolina this week to share some tales from the north. The former South Carolina House speaker spoke Thursday to business leaders at the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. Wilkins may have shocked his former colleagues when he greeted them in French, but he later went on to explain the language barrier also applies to English-speaking people in Canada who may not understand some Southern ways of saying things. "There's no Canadian equivalent of 'y'all,' " said Wilkins, who represented Greenville in the Statehouse for 25 years...

• The week began with almost a million people on hand in the sweltering heat for the 25th annual gay pride parade in downtown Toronto, touted by one participant as "the gayest city in North America." Some 80,000 people reportedly participated in the event, more than 900,000 watched. Toronto's mayor and chief of police, who walked proudly side by side, were testimony to just how far this celebration has come since 1981, when a mere 80 brave souls marched and nobody watched. If you still have trouble with it, get over it. On Tuesday, Canada became the third country in...

Bush nominates southern politician to be U.S. ambassador to Canada BETH GORHAM Wed Apr 27,10:57 PM ET WASHINGTON (CP) - A southern politician and Republican fundraiser, David Wilkins, was picked Wednesday by President George W. Bush to be the next U.S. ambassador to Canada. Rumours have circulated for weeks that Bush would choose Wilkins, 58, a lawyer who serves as Speaker in South Carolina's House of Representatives and the man who ran both of Bush's election campaigns in the state. Wilkins, who must still be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, didn't return a phone call late Wednesday to his Greenville,...