(Canadian)Liberal senator: 'Screw the Americans'

Liberal senator: 'Screw the Americans' Laurier LaPierre ready to quit over disputed quotation in Senate transcript

A Liberal senator has been thrown into the firestorm of shaky U.S.-Canada relations after the Senate's Debates quoted him shouting "Screw the Americans" during a Senate sitting this week.

The quote was attributed to outspoken Senator Laurier LaPierre, who has expressed anti-American sentiments in the past, in the official transcript of Tuesday's Senate sitting. Opposition MPs and senators were quick to jump on the quote as another example of the Liberal government's strong anti-Americanism.

Mr. LaPierre told the Senate yesterday that he had been misquoted in the transcript and that he had in fact shouted: "So did the Americans." But his attempt to correct the Debates, which requires unanimous consent, was blocked by opposition members who said they wanted to listen to a tape of the sitting first.

A shaken Mr. LaPierre said he would offer his resignation to Prime Minister Jean Chretien since "his honour" was being challenged by the opposition members.

This latest Liberal caucus controversy came a day after U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci delivered a stern rebuke to the Canadian government, saying his country was disappointed that Canada had not joined the "coalition of the willing" to fight the war in Iraq.

The Bush administration has been irked by remarks by Carolyn Parrish, a Toronto-area Liberal MP, who said she hated American "bastards," and Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal, who said President George W. Bush's decision to go to war shows he is "not a statesman."

Mr. Cellucci said there is a "growing perception" among Americans that Canada, like France, is a source of knee-jerk objections to U.S. foreign policy.

Answering questions about Mr. LaPierre's apparent quote, Mr. Chretien said if the senator actually said it, "it is completely reprehensible."

"I was not aware of it and if it was said, I reprimand that. I do not think that is acceptable to use language like that," said Mr. Chretien.

Mr. LaPierre, a former broadcaster, acknowledged he has used excessive language in the past, but he has always apologized when he has gone too far.

His voice cracking with emotion, he told the Senate that he has a son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter living in the United States and he would not have used the expression "screw," since it is not part of his vocabulary.

"I do not use that kind of language that way. I use other kinds of language, but not this one," said the senator tearfully.

When he was interrupted by some opposition senators across the floor, Mr. LaPierre became indignant and said: "I don't have anything more to say, since obviously I have no honour and I will have to speak to the prime minister to determine whether I should resign or not."

In Toronto, Ontario Premier Ernie Eves inserted himself yesterday into the diplomatic crisis surrounding Mr. Cellucci's remarks by writing a letter to the U.S. ambassador condemning the federal government and supporting Washington on Iraq.

Taking his lead from Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, Mr. Eves wrote Mr. Cellucci to say he agrees with the criticism of Canadian neutrality.

"This morning at our cabinet meeting, members of our executive council were unanimous in our support for you and your fellow Americans," Mr. Eves wrote.

"We believe it is important to support our good American neighbours to the South as you have been our allies and our friends for many decades now," he continued.

Speaking to reporters in Brampton, Mr. Eves denied he was intervening to deflect attention from his administration's many domestic problems.

"It is how I happen to feel. I phoned Ambassador Cellucci (Tuesday) afternoon after his remarks to make sure that he understood ... exactly how I felt," said the premier, who has advocated Canada's participation in the Iraq invasion for a week.

In Ottawa, Senate Speaker Dan Hays said he would rule later on Mr. LaPierre's point of order to change the Debates, the Senate's Hansard.

It's not just the Canadians. The subplot to this entire war, both in and outside the US, is the "war" of the Communist Left vs. the Right. American leftists and Communists, with their comrades-in-arms in Canada and Europe, see this as their chance to try to eliminate a right-wing government that they despise. Nothing we've seen so far originates so much from opposition to war as opposition to Bush and opposition to those of us on the right.

To not put too fine a point on it, the war against Iraq is really the subplot; the REAL war is the verbal and ideological war currently being waged everywhere else. We are under siege by the Left. They have their sights squarely poised on the election in '04 and this opposition to the war in Iraq is merely the opening conflict. They are no doubt sharpening their proverbial knives for the next act in their siege if and when the war in Iraq ends.

Indeed he did -- Operation Desert Fox. Many Iraqi civilians died, and the reaction from the media and the professional protestors the world over was zilch. Tom Daschle argued at the time that Saddam's WMD were a menace to the entire world, and that he must be stopped at all costs. Saddam has had 5 years (after we last kicked out the inpsectors) to build upon that arsenal that everyone knew and admitted he had at the time, but Daschle and the Dems all took a giant 180 and were/are all of a sudden unconvinced (now that a Republican graced the WH).

But getting back to the Slickster, he didn't even seek UN approval for his Kosovo adventure, where hundreds of innocent civilians were murdered (by us). ....the same UN approval that leftists the world over demanded the Bush administration receive. And it's worth noting the obvious: Milosevic's regime posed absolutely no danger to either the U.S. or any other nation. They didn't have WMD, and they didn't finance or collaborate with international terrorist orgs.

I'm not entirely sure about this. Tony Blair is the leader of the Labour Party; he's far removed from Thatcherism (or at least he was when he was elected).

Regarding Canada, France, Germany, and Russia (off the top of my head), I'm seeing opposition to the US from governments that are decidedly farther to the left in the political spectrum. In the specific case of Germany, the German leadership was very open about shifting farther to the left to oppose us to appease the left-of-center voting public. In the case of Tony Blair and England, it's well known that a majority (or very near to one; the numbers vary) of his own party oppose his position and his alignment with the US. If he survives, it will be due in no small part to support from the Tories. A supreme irony, at the very least.

Canadians and Europeans don't have the power to "eliminate" Bush as President

Perhaps I didn't explain what I meant well enough. No one outside of the US can directly eliminate any elected official here. However, that neither means that these people outside the US don't desire it, nor does it mean that they are powerless in their wish to see the Bush administration gone. The war of the Left is a war of public opinion. From the opposition of foreign governments, to protests in their cities, to the language in their media (some of which may be truthful and some of which may be propaganda), they are clearly waging an all-out war to try to swing public opinion in the US their way.

the American Left has been fairly well demonized in mainstream media

I'm sorry but I beg to differ. I've seen coverage, but I've rarely if ever seen people like peace protestors described in the media as "of the Left" or "representative of the Left". While there can be no doubt that they are indeed leftists, the media has gone out of their way to portray these people as anything but. Even when you extend the argument to leftists who, while not violent, still oppose the war (e.g. Hollywood celebrities), nowhere in the media will you see them openly identified as having any connection whatsoever to the Left. While violent or disruptive protestors are being somewhat demonized, their leftist bent, their leftist position is most certainly not being pointed out.

This seems a bit black-and-white. Leftists, from what I gather, aren't "opposed" to rightwingers themselves

This is what I really meant. Truthfully, does anyone oppose people? We oppose their policies, we oppose their point of view, we oppose their actions, or we oppose what they intend to do to us or our country.

They see an injustice, and they're doing what they feel is right to try to correct it

This is no doubt true of some fraction (large or small) of the protestors, but I have no doubt whatsoever that a great many of them have a larger political agenda that overshadows their opposition to war (though this opposition might be real). It's a question of motives, and which ones are more important to them. I submit that their opposition to right-wing and Libertarian policies is their primary motive.

Not to split hairs, but Tony Blair has been as ideological as anyone these days. He's trying even harder than George W. Bush to colour things in moral terms.

This seems like a strawman argument to me. Labour is vehemently opposing him, and the opposition from all the other leftists around the world (in my opinion) bears my argument out.

Do I think there are real reasons for calling this a "War on Terror"? I'm honestly not sure. If this were any country other than Iraq, the purported reality of a terrorist connection would matter a great deal to me. However, in the specific case of Iraq, I think the terror argument is redundant. Simply put, I think twelve years and seventeen UN resolutions is enough, and I would support this action regardless. I think only time will truly tell as to whether the terrorism argument was truth or propaganda. I think you're right to be acutely aware of how the given reasons for going after Iraq have seemingly shifted, and my "propaganda detector" is flashing red as well. However, I'm willing to give the administration the benefit of the doubt.

Okay, now I'm angry. You made me use HTML. I hate using HTML >:)

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