It's closer than you think...
Posted on 08/26/2004 10:14:09 AM PDT by SB00
I won't apologize, Parrish says MP referred to U.S. 'coalition of idiots' in speech yesterday
SUE BAILEY CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Paul Martin didn't ask Carolyn Parrish to retract her latest anti-American slur, and the maverick MP has no plans to back down, she says.
Martin phoned soon after Parrish lobbed her latest verbal grenade but didn't ask her to apologize, she said today.
"I believe in free speech and I am a colourful speaker," she said in an interview. "I occasionally will use terms that other people find bold.
"That's me, and I'm going to stop trying to fit into some cookie-cutter mould that somebody else has tried to design for me."
She made the comments as critics demanded that Martin take action.
Parrish made international headlines last year for publicly muttering: "Damn Americans, I hate the bastards."
The Toronto-area MP landed in hot water again Wednesday for calling missile defence supporters "a coalition of the idiots."
Martin publicly rebuked her, saying "there is no room in this debate for that kind of language."
Then he picked up the phone.
"He talked about options" but did not ask her to say sorry, Parrish said.
"The tone was quite business-like and acceptable," she said of the five-minute call. "He's a very nice man."
Martin's inner circle weighed in today on Parrish's comments.
"I think she should have kept her mouth shut," Immigration Minister Judy Sgro said as she arrived for a cabinet meeting.
Defence Minister Bill Graham said the remark wasn't helpful in a situation that requires "civilized discussion."
And a group that lobbies for individual rights and better government said Martin should do more.
The National Citizens' Coalition called Parrish "an intolerant, anti-American zealot" who should be pressed to apologize.
"So far Martin's response to her brainless remarks has been tepid to say the least," said vice-president Gerry Nicholls.
"It's time the prime minister made it clear to the world that Parrish does not speak for Canadians."
Parrish at first denied Wednesday that she had made the remark, and asked media not to report it.
"I did become concerned that the issue was going to be me and ... the word (`idiots')," she said today. "And I just thought: 'Ugh. Darn. Here we go again.'
"Then I settled down and gave it some serious thought and said: 'No, I'm not going to back down from this.'"
Debate over Canadian participation in the U.S. plan to build a space-based missile shield promises to be hot this fall as the minority Liberal government grapples with a divided House of Commons.
Canadians should be concerned that missile defence could speed the global weapons race and spur rogue countries to design missiles that could breach such a shield, Parrish says.
She has been speaking on the issue with little media interest until now, she said.
"Suddenly, because there's one word in there that people find very exciting, I'm getting tons of coverage. It's a criticism of the media, if I may be so bold."
Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, told the CBC that Parrish is entitled to her opinion.
"Canada is a free country, people can express their opinions how they see fit," Cellucci said in Goose Bay, Nfld.
Liberals NEVER apologize.
United States won't apologize for forgetting Canada was there...
She sounds a lot like Michael Moore and the Democrats.
And they call us the Ugly Americans.
The malignant, narcissistic leftists just can't stand freedom and are probably so deeply ashamed of their own appeasement policies that it has manifested itself in anger at a "safe" target.
Al Qanada.
is a Coalition of Idiots anything like a Confederacy of Dunces? hmmm...
*scribble* *scribble*
No, Mr. Cellucci, Canada is not a free country. It has outlawed so-called "hate speech" as criminal, although apparently hate speech against Americans can be uttered with impunity.
Screw him. No one in the United States gives a rat's ass what he thinks anyway. Tell him next time they need help, here's a quarter to call someone else.
Good. The more the Canadian government speaks their true feelings towards the US, the more the citizens of the US will wake up and realize that the Canucks are not our friends.
Any apology from her would be meaningless, as she obviously continues to hold us in utter contempt.
Can you imagine how fast the Soviet Union would have taken over those lazy, worthless, socialist, weasels in Canada during the Cold War? They sat on their a$$'s and let the USA defend them.
Doesn't there need to be two or more parties to make a coalition? What an idiotic statement.
Canada has been a good ally for decades. Canadians have served honorably and bravely in the US military and vice versa.
Until the election of the socialist wingnut Pierre Trudeau, Canada was the best ally we've ever had.
They're not all loungers and moochers - just the Quebecois.
It's closer than you think...
Right before we launched our attacks against Iraq, a Canadian poll indicated that 17% of the Canadian population supported our efforts, while 83% were against us.
I can't remember the actual source of this poll, but the results were "seared...seared into my memory". On that day, I decided that 17% of the people up North would be welcomed into my home and that the rest of that country was no longer relevant and never will be.
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