Open Letter To That Stupid B**** In The White House
To those Americans who mistakenly perceive our nuanced, sophisticated and uniquely Canadian world view as “anti-Americanism”, former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy (Liberal) would like to explain things more thoroughly, in this open letter to the US Secretary of State, Dr.Condoleeza Rice.
Dear Condi,
I’m glad you’ve decided to get over your fit of pique and venture north to visit your closest neighbour. It’s a chance to learn a thing or two. Maybe more.
I know it seems improbable to your divinely guided master in the White House that mere mortals might disagree with participating in a missile- defence system that has failed in its last three tests, even though the tests themselves were carefully rigged to show results.
But, gosh, we folks above the 49th parallel are somewhat cautious types who can’t quite see laying down billions of dollars in a three-dud poker game.
As our erstwhile Prairie-born and bred (and therefore prudent) finance minister pointed out in presenting his recent budget, we’ve had eight years of balanced or surplus financial accounts. If we’re going to spend money, Mr. Goodale added, it will be on day-care and health programs, and even on more foreign aid and improved defence.
Sure, that doesn’t match the gargantuan, multi-billion-dollar deficits that your government blithely runs up fighting a “liberation war” in Iraq, laying out more than half of all weapons expenditures in the world, and giving massive tax breaks to the top one per cent of your population while cutting food programs for poor children.
Just chalk that up to a different sense of priorities about what a national government’s role should be when there isn’t a prevailing mood of manifest destiny.
There’s more. For those who may not recognize the name, Lloyd Axworthy is the man credited with bringing about the sweeping economic, democratic and human rights reforms in Cuba in 1997.
Lloyd Axworthy: for the readers attention did not bring swrrpingchanges to Cuban human rights. They already had them. What he did dp,was open Canada-Cuban relations. He has been a Good ambasadoe for Canada on Human rights , and brought the Land mines removal issue to the UN as a UN demand. He was a Canadian Liberal MP in the Canadian Government, and represented Manitoba fairly well. He contradicted his prior good role when he entered Canada into Afganistan, and he had a great deal of troublr with his conscience in doing so. He is back again in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he is the President of The University of Winnipeg. He could have been the Prime Minister of Canada, as a Libereal, from the West. He felt he did not have the economic resources to take the plunge, and furthermore, support for the position of PM traditionally comes from the East.He is still active in Human rights issues,recently the issue of child soldiers, and is also active in the Winnipeg community, planning the re-vitalization arround the area surrounding the University of Winnipeg.
It is just for back-seat drivers such as Lloyd here that the vehicle of international relations keeps an open rumble seat. Let the harpy old maiden aunt from up north freeload her ride from back there.
Meanwhile, and as always, it will be left to the grown-ups up front – like the accomplished Toronto-born academic, writer, and journalist Michael Ignatieff – to steer North America where we shall need to go.
Deborah is yet more evidence that the international left is losing its mind. It takes a person with a pretty craven morality to question the justness of the Afghanistan war.
If nothing else, re-electing Bush gave the collective finger to leftist, socialist jerks like Axworthy. And that in itself makes it worth it.
I’ve been wondering about his choice of words to describe George Bush… did he mean to spell it “massah”?
Is this a real letter or a joke? Or both?
The landmine issue, yes. Axworthy is the Lady Diana of Canada, in other words, and the man from whom Canada inherited limp power. As one can see, the changes that he boasted to encourage with his limpness in Cuba are now in full reverse. We are all proud of Lloyd. We should soon build a giant urinal in his name too, one that will channel away the waters of the Red.
As Ignatieff demonstrates, it is possible to be Canadian, it possible to be a Liberal in Canada, and it is possible to be concerned with human rights without descending to level of ignorance and naivete of an Axworthy.
Is an “ambasadoe” somebody that works in a forest, like, with deer and such?
Somebody should tell this person that, sadly, nobody from the West gets elected prime minister, even if they are a “Libereal” party member.
Well, it seems the readership of this site is fairly right wing. Nice, I’m sure it makes for interesting debates. I for one think Canada has every right to do whatever it wants with its own money. And to deny the missle tests where set up only to pass is just plain ignorant.
The United States has fallen into a trance and the religious conservatives in the White House are tricking you with their endless lies and propaganda. Your news media has utterly failed you.
A true friend, like Canada, has the integrity to tell you when you are wrong. It isn’t easy and you may not like what you hear but it does need to be said. You are free to hate us for not prostrating ourselves before you like the Brits and kangaroos but you’d better start to wake up soon because the patience of the world is wearing dangerously thin.
I am speaking as a winnipegger myself, and I know that Mr. Axeworthy is indeed a very intelligent man. I also do know that some of his opinions expressed are valid views from Canadian society, as well as some being a truly leftist and socialist view. I for one am against the theory of the BMD, but also know the value of support for our friends. To me, the USA is our best friend in the world and our most powerful ally, and we should be on the same side as them on a military aspect. We as a country can’t even defend ourselves as it is due to lack of funding to our degraded military due to liberal cuts. It is time that our government stop slagging and slandering Americans with our rhetoric and realize who is really protecting us, because it isn’t our feeble peacekeeping corps. Personally, I think there are many inherent flaws with our democracy and all views from outside of Ontario and Quebec get lost in translation. My deepest apologies go to our friendly neighbors down south on behalf of Canadians outside the center of the universe!!
Christ, if you’re going to apologize for people who hold different positions than the Bushies then you may as well apologize for the views of 95% of the world — including half of all Americans. Kudos to Axworthy for having the guts to say it like it is. He’s a rare man in this age of chicken-shit politicians and ass-kissing news networks.
Lloyd Axworthy is an embarrassment to Canada.
He was chased out of B. C. ( British Columbia).
He has no business being the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg.
One should use proper titles as a sign of respect.
Canadians are a very passive lot.
Check out our latest scandal ” The Sponsorship Scandal.”
Not one word that basically all the personalities involved are from Quebec or that the proceedings are being held almost entirely in
French.
Never mind Gay marriages.
Canadians are among stupidest people in the world.
Max Labovitch
New York Rangers
1943-44 numbers 9 & 17
I respect Mr Axworthy’s right to express his opinions and it is interesting to read the views of an ex-MP from Canada. I doubt he would have had the audacity to express such a view if he was still in office. True, it may seem a tad disrespectful that he referred to Ms. Rice as “Condi”, but at the same time, she likes to bandy this name around herself and so does Mr. Bush. Besides, in the interests of open and friendily government, I believe Ms. Rice will not be too upset by Mr. Axworthy’s informal tone.
The fact is that Mr Bush was not elected by a majority of the American people as some on this site claim. It was a near even 50/50 split with Bush winning out by 1-2% of the vote. A majority this does not make. The truth is, the USA is split over the current administration and I am adamant that a very large proportion of disaffected American voters will welcome Mr Axworthy’s comments. It is also worth noting that a sizeable number of Canadians will vehemently disagree with Mr Axworthy’s views and probably feel deeply embarassed by his remarks.
What gives America the right to always act in its best interests on foreign policy but is not OK for anyone else to do so? The BMD is totally unnecessary, extremely expensive and of no real benefit to Americans or Canadians. Why should Canadian tax payers be forced to line the pockets of Bush’s friends at Boeing? The simple fact of the matter is that Canada doesn’t have to do a bloody thing to protect its borders. If Canada was ever invaded America would have to act!