Firstly, Chretien and Parrish don't represent all Canadians. Chretien won a majority with about 37% of the vote.
Secondly, Bush is playing hardball if you what you mean by hardball is "IGNORING THE RULES THAT YOU DICTATED IN THE FIRST PLACE AND ENCOURAGED US TO ABIDE BY".
I back the Republicans and I support America. But I do not support lack of integrity. Period. End of story.
You don't like Parrish or Chretien, say so. I doubt you hate them more than we Canadian conservatives. But don't change the story here. Don't bait your allies. Don't try to weasel out of the fact that this is blatantly ignoring the rules that you yourselves made and strongly encouraged Canada to abide by.
Furthermore, why do Canadian conservatives deserve this?
The funny thing is, lumberjacks and lumber company owners in Canada are probably a pretty conservative, pro-America lot.
I didn't mean to make you so heated first of all, and I appologize for that.
The thing that I find very interesting, is that if this is an issue that Canada takes 'very, very seriously', then why are they 'protesting' our decision by not meeting to talk about the issue at hand. According to the article, there are still issues within the U.S. International Trade Commission that need to be settled and brought forward (from an American perspective of course) before we deem an issue like this as being settled and an agreement can be reached.
How do you settle something by walking away from it? Here and CA are the only places I have lived where concepts like 'Social Activism / whining', 'protest / whining', and 'raising awareness / whining' equate to 'solving a problem'. That is why I found this article humorous and posted it.
Specifically, what I mean by Bush playing 'Hardball' is that, in my opinion, had Canada not had leaders in power like Chretien, who were very anti-American. Issues like this (and Mad Cow etc) could be resolved very quickly and easily, but instead, you get the joy of going through as much political BS as humanly possible. It all boils down to the old addage of 'you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours'. Of course it is an a$$hole thing to do, and I feel sorry for any conservative Canadians who get screwed in the deal.
But be honest and put yourself in the shoes of an American: Based on the policies and sentiments of many Canadian politicians, based on the negative coverage that the US receives in the CBC, Globe and Mail, MacLeans, etc...., and the strong anti-American sentiments that exist here both public and private, would you bend over backwards in a dispute like this, or would you be as big of a headache as you can?
Its not just or rational, its simply politics.