April 14, 2003
The opposition Canadian Alliance had prepared a motion to table in the House of Commons, that not only affirmed Canada’s support for the coalition, but also apologized to the United States for the anti-American rhetoric that emanated from some Liberal MPs. To head off this motion, the government introduced their own on April 8, which easily passed in the Liberal majority held House.
The motion contained several affirmations, not the least of which was that the House reaffirms "the importance of self restraint on the part of all Members of the House in their comments on the war in Iraq while our American friends are in battle".
To do a quick review, the Prime Minister’s former communications director, Francois Ducros said "What a moron" in reference to President George W. Bush, at an international gathering. When Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish was overheard by a boom microphone saying "Damn Americans, I hate those bastards," she later went on a comedy show, giggled like a schoolgirl, played up to the anti-Americanism in the audience, and said that she can’t guarantee that she won’t do it again. Finally, the Cabinet got into the act when Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal called George W. Bush a "failed statesman."
To somehow state that all Members of the House should refrain from comments on the war is an insult to the opposition, especially the anti-war, anti-American New Democratic Party, and Bloq Quebecois. The pacifist NDP, and its predecessor parties have never found a cause that was worth fighting for. And the Bloq, much like Quebec in the previous world wars, saw nothing in what was happening in Iraq that was of any interest to them. Yet members of both of these parties have expressed their criticism of American foreign policy with propriety and dignity, and without resorting to name calling and personal insults. Former NDP leader, Alexa McDonough, consistently spoke about "Bush’s illegal war" in the House, but in all of her criticism, she never resorted to personal attacks on the U.S. president, members of his administration, or as in the case of Parrish, all citizens of the country. When the oxymoron Minister (Canada’s Minister of National Defense), John McCallum, expressed his displeasure with the blatant anti-Americanism, he couldn’t come up with a single statement of any NDP member that could be classified as anti-Americanism as opposed to a legitimate disagreement with American policy. It was typical Liberal arrogance to ask all Members of the House to refrain from speaking out against the Americans, when their members were the only ones who were making childish and hurtful comments. The Liberals have no shame.
The section of the motion that deals self-restraint limits this self-restraint to when the Americans are "in battle." At the time of this writing, U.S. troops are in beautiful downtown Baghdad, destroying statues of Saddam Hussein to the thunderous applause of the crowds. The motion clearly signals that when the fighting is over, a time that is fast approaching, it will be once again okay for members of the government to call Americans "bastards" and their president, a "moron."
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien excuses his members’ remarks on the grounds of free speech. This is the same argument made by rock stars who, after making anti-American comments to American audiences, are shocked that people are offended. This is not a free speech issue. It’s an issue of how to maturely deal with a foreign country with whom the Canadian government has a disagreement with. It will be a long time before the United States will be taking Canada seriously.
It’s obvious that Chrétien is just playing for the anti-American faction in his government. There wasn’t even an attempt to apologize for the name- calling. The government motion was just an attempt to suck up to the Americans while holding the anti-American line.
Another interesting part of the motion was where the government reaffirmed its hope that the United States "accomplishes its mission…" Part of the mission is to change the regime in Iraq--something that Jean Chrétien is still opposed to---blatant Liberal hypocrisy.
The motion itself, with its praise of "the moron" and "the bastards" insults the intelligence of the people that the government is trying to impress. Not only are Americans not bastards--they’re not stupid ones.