April 15 , 2003
Kamloops Daily News



I notice, President George W. Bush, that you have canceled 
your visit to Canada next month. That's OK, we know how 
busy you are.  We got preview of what your message might be 
from your ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci.

"There would be no debate. There would be no hesitation. We
would be there for Canada as part of our family. And that is
why so many in the United States are disappointed and upset
that Canada is not fully supporting us now," said Cellucci 
on March 25, 2003. 

I notice that your ambassador delivered your passionate
appeal directly to Canadians,  via Economic Club of Toronto. 
Diplomats usually give their dry, carefully worded, messages
to host governments.

But what, Mr. President, do we owe this earnest attention? 
In the past, you have scarcely noticed that we exist.

Excuse me if I seem petty, but it seems like you like Mexico
best.  Mexico was the first country that you visited as
president.  Mexico's President Vincente Fox was the first
leader invited to the U.S.  On Fox's visit, you gushed "This
is a recognition that the United States has no more
important relationship in the world than the one we have
with Mexico."

Did you forget, Mr. President, that our two countries share
the world's greatest trade ($1.4 billion a day) and the
longest undefended boarder in the world (although I
understand you have a problem with that).

What do you want from Canada?   You know that all of our
military resources are fighting the war on terrorism in
Afghanistan and in the Persian Gulf.  It's a commitment
greater than most in your coalition.

If you are seeking our approval, I'm truly touched since
your always seem to do things your own way. 

I notice that you didn't visit Iraq either.  Your message to
Iraqis came in the form of 17 million leaflets dropped in
advance of your invasion, and from a pop radio station
aboard a converted C-130 cargo plane that flew over Iraq.

One of your leaflets read "The oil industry is your
livelihood.  Your family depends on your livelihood.  If the
oil industry is destroyed, your livelihood will be ruined."

The American pop music from the flying radio station over
Iraq was a nice touch.  We get a lot of that music here,
too.  When the radio announcer flying over Iraq said that
Saddam Hussein was corrupt and you wanted him out, you
obviously meant what you said.

Three days after ambassador Cellucci's impassioned speech in
Toronto, he was the heart of B.C.'s oil patch in Fort St.
John.  His message was that Canada is the biggest source of
energy for the U.S. and without Canadian energy, the
American way of life would die. 

Wow, the survival of the American way of life is at stake. 
But I'm beginning to get the feeling that you like us, not
just because we are family, but for our oil.  The ambassador
also says that you have a problem with our government.

He told the Economic Club of Toronto that you were
"disappointed" with recent comments from members of the
government of Canada.  Disappointed?  As you would be with a
wayward brother, Mr. President?

I notice that you have also been disappointed with
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Frias ever since he was
elected in 1999.  Is that why you tried to get him out
office and privatize Venezuela's publicly owned refineries?  
I can understand why you are concerned - - it's the second
largest output of oil in the world, and the fifth largest in
terms of exports.

And Venezuela's membership in the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries is certainly irritating. 
Don't you hate the way OPEC controls world oil prices by
limiting oil production?

I thought President Chavez's reaction to your concern was
uncalled for when he said that "Venezuela is a sovereign
nation ... we are nobody's colony."

Come to think of it, that's almost exactly what our Canadian
prime minister said in response to the remarks from your
ambassador.  Or was he responding to your senior adviser
Richard Perle who called Prime Minister Chrétien a "lame
duck"?

Anyway, I'm sure that you'll make it clear to us.  You can
just put your message on American TV channels.  We all watch
them.

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