The White House made an unusual foray into Canadian electoral politics Tuesday, scolding Prime Minister Paul Martin for his tough talk on U.S. policies. But rather than quiet the Liberal leader, the rebuke fuelled his fire.
In a speech to the Canadian Club at Ottawa's historic Chateau Laurier Hotel, U.S. President George Bush's envoy to Canada accused Martin of trying to score cheap political points by bashing America.
"I understand political expediency, but the last time I looked, the United States was not on the ballot for the Jan. 23 election," Wilkins told the crowd gathered just steps away from Parliament Hill.
"Just think about this: What if one of our best friends criticized you directly and incorrectly almost relentlessly? What if that friend's agenda was to highlight your perceived flaws while avoiding mentioning your successes? What if that friend demanded respect but offered little in return?" Wilkins asked.
"Wouldn't that begin to sow the seeds of doubt in your mind about the strength of the friendship?"
In his pointed rebuke to campaigning politicians, but aimed principally at the Liberal leader, Wilkins warned them to tone down the rhetoric.
"It may be smart election-year politics to thump your chest and constantly criticize your friend and your No. 1 trading partner," the U.S. Ambassador to Canada said. "But it is a slippery slope, and all of us should hope that it doesn't have a long-term impact on the relationship."
Wilkins said he feared this "constant attitude" would hurt the Canada-U.S. relationship unless "all of us make a concerted effort to simply tone it down."
Wilkins' wide-ranging speech covered just about every issue of contention between the U.S. and Canada.
Although he didn't mention Paul Martin by name, he responded to the Liberal leader's remarks last week concerning America's refusal to become party to the Kyoto protocol aimed at curbing greenhouse gases.
Less than a week after Martin named the United States for failing to yield to a "global conscience" on climate change in its refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol, Wilkins lobbed the phrasing back at the prime minister.
"The United States is, in fact, reducing emissions and spending more money on tackling climate change than any other country in the world, having spent over 20 billion dollars in the last five years," said Wilkins.
"I would respectfully submit to you that when it comes to a 'global conscience,' the United States is walking the walk," he added.
Martin fends off critics
But in his own remarks Tuesday, perhaps bearing in mind the praise his damning remarks earned in The New York Times, Martin made no apologies for the controversy.
Asked to comment on Wilkins' speech by reporters in Surrey, B.C. on Tuesday, the Liberal leader brushed aside the reprimands.
"I have not made the United States a target in this campaign," he said, explaining that his disputed positions on softwood lumber and climate change were adopted "long before any election was contemplated."
"Let me simply say to anyone who wants to question what I have been saying, beginning with (Conservative Leader) Stephen Harper, that I am the prime minister of this country, that our position on climate change will be determined by the government of Canada, that the fact is that we do expect our partners to honour their agreements -- and I will defend Canada. Period."
When asked what right Martin has to speak about others lacking a global conscience when Canada's track record on greenhouse emissions is far from shining, the Liberal leader simply repeated that the world needs a "new multilateralism."
"We live in a world where other countries, China and India, are rising to the fore, and the fact is, before we start having these huge tectonic giants clashing with each other, we have got to basically put in place rules by which the world is going to govern itself."
Martin said he first used the term "global conscience" in the context of preventing a global avian flu pandemic.
"We have to have a global conscience that says, whether it's avian flu or AIDS in Africa... whether it is climate change globally or whether it is softwood lumber -- the fact is we've got to understand this is one world and the leadership of the world has got to speak to that global conscience."
But Martin's stoic defence was not enough to stop the criticism, as Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe virtually echoed Wilkins' scolding during a campaign stop in Plainville, Que.Tuesday.
"I think he wants to please, to displease, depending on the issue," Duceppe said, speaking through an interpreter.
"On the war in Iraq, Mr. Martin was very hesitant about whether he wanted to go or not, and when the vote was taken in the house, proposed by Mr. Chretien, two Liberals went against. One of those was David Pratt. And when Mr. Martin became prime minister he sent a signal to the Americans, he sent David Pratt."
As for the Conservative leader who earned his own praise in the Washington Times as the most pro-American leader in the Western World, Stephen Harper distanced himself Tuesday on the contentious issues of softwood lumber and Iraq.
In a letter published Sunday, Harper said the Times op-ed piece "greatly oversimplifies my positions.''
On Iraq, for example, Harper wrote of his disappointment, "at the failure to substantiate pre-war intelligence information regarding Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction."
But the Tory leader stopped short of a wholesale criticism of the Bush administration, noting in his letter that he supports the U.S. plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing new technologies and energy conservation.
Despite the war of words north of the border, the Wall Street Journal's John Harwood said the exchange has not received much coverage in the United States.
"I think we have to see it as part of ... the overall administration communication strategy over the last week or so, or couple of weeks, actually," Harwood said, appearing on CTV's Canada AM.
"Which is that the Bush administration feels tired of being slapped around by its critics, and they're starting to push back. They're doing that against Democrats on the war here, and I think David Wilkins sort of picked up the banner in Canada yesterday."
