by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
September 8, 2004
Saturday will mark the third anniversary of the day that Islamic fanatics flew planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania; a day that transformed the modern world.
In Canada what makes this anniversary different from the other two is that we now have a new prime minister. Canadians are well aware of the embarrassing comments and understated actions of former PM, Jean Chrètien following the terrorist attacks and on the first two anniversaries of those terrible events.
In 2001, Chrètien approached the terrorist attacks as if they were no big deal. He bragged about how quickly he telephoned President Bush to express his condolences as if that was all that mattered. Chrètien realized the death of 3,000 was something that he should express his condolences, but he and his government failed to understand the consequences to the world of what transpired on that day. The ever optimistic former prime minister beamed with joy at how the town of Gander, Newfoundland rallied together to give support to the thousands of airline passengers, mainly americans, who became stranded when their flights were ordered to land. The hospitality that was shown in Gander to the thousands of people who were forced to that location was due solely to the people of Gander--it had absolutely nothing to do with Jean Chrètien or his government.
Chrètien was one of the few, perhaps the only, leader of a country that visited the United States in the few months following the terrorist attacks and didn’t bother paying his respects at the World Trade Center site. Even the leader of his beloved France visited New York. Chrètien left a meeting in Washington to fly back to Canada in order to attend a Liberal fundraiser. He had no time to waste at silly memorials. Chrètien eventually went, but only to prevent embarrassment when Stockwell Day, leader of the now defunct Canadian alliance planned to go to the site.
Chrètien saved his best shot for September 11, 2002. On that day he released a statement blaming the United States for the attacks. The terrorist attacks were caused, according to the former prime minister, by "Western greed and arrogance". While Jean never specified exactly who he meant when he talked about "the West," you can rest assured he didn’t mean Canada and France.
Chrètien’s actions and musings concerning the events of 9/11 is proof positive that he and his government were anti-american. The perception that many Canadians on the left have — that the Canadian government is only anti-american because there is a Republican retard in the White House is simply not true. Most civilized countries rallied around the U.S. when it was attacked — the Canadian government couldn’t have cared less.
It is interesting to anticipate what Prime Minister Paul Martin will do and say when the anniversary date of the worst attack on american soil in history comes around. Will Martin act any differently than his predecessor did in commemorating the attacks?
So far Martin’s comments and actions regarding U.S.-Canada relations generally have been mixed. This is in keeping with Martin’s personality to come down forcefully on both sides of any issue, lest he anger someone. On the one hand, Martin did announce that relations between his government and the United States would be conducted in a much more sophisticated manner. This was clearly a reference to the cheap shots that Chrètien, his staff and caucus members took at the americans to the delight of Da Boss.
On the other hand, Martin’s tepid response to Carolyn Parrish’s comments that the United States had formed a "coalition of the idiots" indicates that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Yes, Martin did call the american-hater’s statement "unacceptable", a code word that Liberals use when they want to express displeasure at something but not do anything about it. Martin’s refusal to discipline Parrish, a serial offender, shows that he can talk the talk but not walk the walk when it comes to improving relations with our neighbours to the south.
The upcoming anniversary of 9/11 will go a long way in showing whether there is any substantial change between the government under Chrètien and that under Martin. Will he simply say little or nothing and appease those of his supporters who think that the U.S got what they deserved, or will he recognize the terrorist attacks for what they were?
It will be interesting to find out.
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