by Judi McLeod
June 16, 2004
a new Web site, launched by the Canadian Embassy in Washington, blames rampant Canadian anti-americanism on "urban legends".
Even in the face of anti-american shots by party leaders in last night’s first English federal election TV debate, Canadianally.com boasts about Canada’s "huge contribution to the war on terrorism". Canada, of course, sat it out on the sidelines when america and the coalition went to war against Saddam Hussein.
"Canada is better being under the United Nations than being under the Star Spangled Banner," Canadian Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said last night.
In a debate where Prime Minister Paul Martin continued to attack Conservative Leader Stephen Harper for being too pro-american, Martin blasted Harper for writing a letter to the editor "apologizing because we didn’t go to war" and for doing it in the Wall Street Journal, "a foreign newspaper".
Specifically designed to capture an american audience, Canadianally.com is both bought and paid for by the Canadian Embassy--the Canadian Government.
Listed among Canada’s "huge contribution to the war on terrorism" are "18 warships" and "11,000 troops that have been dispatched overseas since 2001.
Since the troops dispatched have been rotated over three years and considering that there have never been 11,000 troops on the ground at the same time, the figure while not exactly a whopper is seriously misleading.
Canada did dispatch 5 ships with 1,200 troops to afghanistan.
"Since Osama bin Laden didn’t have submarines, they weren’t much use," military expert and Espirt de Corps publisher Scott Taylor told Canadafreepress.com.
Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Robertson, creator of Canadianally.com, listed as the embassy’s Counsellor Military-Media affairs, is on the Canadian government payroll.
The site shows the thin skin of the Canadian Government with a "Myth Buster" section, in which visitors are reminded, among other things, that the massive blackout of last august did not originate in Canada, in a roundabout way of saying it was all the americans’ fault.
"There is a lot of misinformation out there," according to Lt. Col. Robertson.
The election-bound Canadian Government is still touchy about news media accounts that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers came through Canada.
While no hijackers came through Canada, there is no mention of former Prime Minister Jean Chretien saving so-called "Canadian charity worker" ahmed Said Khadr from a Pakistani prison where he was nabbed for plotting terrorist escapes. Neither is there any reference to Prime Minister Paul Martin speaking out in support of members of the Khadr family when they returned to Toronto for medical assistance. Family members who openly admitted to having close ties to bin Laden were entitled to their opinions as Canadian citizens as far as Martin was concerned.
Unveiled last month, after several months of no updating Canadianally.com is targeting Washington, D.C. bigwigs, all the way from the policy wonks on Capitol Hill to the think tanks and political commentators most often quoted by the U.S. media.
Marketing efforts for the site have been feverish with the recent distribution of pens, Thermos mugs and desk clocks emblazoned with the site’s domain name.
according to Lt. Col. Robertson "thousands" have already clicked on to the site.
The site’s main mission is to convince americans that despite recent disagreements, Canada is fully committed to the war on terrorism and the protection of North america.
Tell it to Prime Minister Paul Martin and Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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