[Mb-civic] Conservatives can disagree with the US and still be friendly

[Harold Sifton]

Canadian conservatives positioning themselves as to not alienate Canadians .............

Later H



Conservatives can disagree with the U.S. and still be friendly, says Kenney 
BETH GORHAM



WASHINGTON (CP) - Canada's Conservatives can strongly disagree with the United States on issues like Arctic sovereignty and still be friendly, says MP Jason Kenney, who promised a more mature, diplomatic and sophisticated tone in bilateral relations. 

"We Canadians, we're supposed to be friendly folks," he told a forum Friday on the election at the Woodrow Wilson Center think-tank. "We can be friendly when we're disagreeing with our neighbours." "We're going to fight U.S. protectionism, we're going to fight to protect our Arctic sovereignty, but we're going to do it in a way that's diplomatic and gets results," said Kenney. 

"(You can) disagree without being disagreeable." 

His comments came a day after prime minister-designate Stephen Harper told U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins to stay out of Canadian policy. 

Wilkins had criticized the party's plan to boost Canada's presence in the Arctic, saying the United States and other countries don't recognize its claims to those waters. 

"It is the Canadian people we get our mandate from, not the U.S. ambassador," Harper told his first news conference in Ottawa, raising the matter himself after journalists didn't ask about it. 

For former U.S. ambassador Gordon Giffin, the remark was evidence of the perennial conundrum facing Canadian leaders who walk a fine line in how close they can get to the United States without earning the enmity of voters. 

It's the first time in 18 years that there's been a Conservative prime minister and a Republican president, said Giffin, and there are "extraordinarily high expectations." 

He joked that Harper and President George W. Bush could sing Home on the Range in Calgary, instead of When Irish Eyes are Smiling, the song that former prime minister Brian Mulroney sang with then-president Ronald Reagan in Quebec City in 1985. 

Their duet at the so-called Shamrock Summit proved an enduring moment of the era, and the two shared a warm friendship that lasted until Reagan's death from Alzheimer's disease in 2004. 

"The tone at the top does matter," insisted Giffin, who represented the United States in Ottawa under previous president Bill Clinton. "Friendship is important. It makes a huge difference." 

Clinton delivered his passionate defence of federalism in Mount Tremblant in 1990 because Jean Chretien was his friend, said Giffin, not because he was prime minister. 

But Kenney suggested that Harper doesn't have to be a close buddy of Bush's to advance Canada's interests. 

"I think that the personality politics are over-rated. Obviously leaders should get along. But I think people perhaps read too much into superficial aspects of personal relationships. What really matters is getting progress for Canadians." 

The Conservatives view their election win as an opportunity for a fresh start, said Kenney, and the Bush administration could begin by "eliminating the illegal duties on softwood lumber." 

"I think that could get the ball rolling and (spark) progress in other areas." 

Kenney also appeared to reject Giffin's suggestion that there be a more continental approach to issues rather than "one-off discussions," saying Conservatives would work deliberately, issue by issue. 

"I don't think it's realistic to look at some big scheme." 

Kenney, who helped direct the Conservative campaign in the party's war room, blasted the Liberal strategies, saying they ran a "fear and smear" campaign that Canadians just didn't buy. 

He credited a few factors in the win, including the Liberal party's internal bickering and Conservatives who were finally united after a decade of bitter decisions. 

He said he was surprised at their success in getting their policies widely played in the media, where there have been problems and mistakes in the past. 

"We made sure our candidates provided a controlled response" to issues, whereas the Liberals were "almost hysterical" in the final weeks. 

In the end, Paul Martin just couldn't get past the sponsorship scandal, he said. 

"The notion that he was completely ignorant of what was going on . . . was just a bit difficult to swallow, particularly for those in Quebec." 

Canadian consultant John Duffy, who helped on the Liberal campaign, said there's never been a more unstable government than the Tory minority that must grapple with three left-leaning parties. 

But Harper, he said, is "among the most strategically shrewd people in the prime minister's chair in the history of the country." 

The Conservatives said during the election campaign they want to station armed icebreakers, remote-controlled aerial drones and troops in Canada's Arctic. 

"Any foreign government should ask permission before entering our territorial water," said Kenney. "They'll take more seriously our approach to sovereignty if they know if we have assets up there." 



© The Canadian Press, 2006
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