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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
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Bush to avoid Parliament
 Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:10 am
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Bushy-poo doesn't want to be booed.......awwww, poor baby!
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/041124/w112496.html
Bush to avoid Parliament, will travel to Halifax; no desire to be 'booed'
09:03 PM EST Nov 25
BETH GORHAM
WASHINGTON (CP) - President George W. Bush will avoid a potentially hostile reception in Parliament and travel to Halifax next week after his first official trip to Ottawa, White House sources said Wednesday.
Bush's side trip to thank Canadians who helped out after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will come after a working visit Tuesday with Prime Minister Paul Martin and a dinner reception with hundreds of prominent Canadians. American officials involved in planning the trip were worried about a cranky audience on Parliament Hill, sources said.
"We didn't see the need and, frankly, we didn't want to be booed. There are other, better venues," said one U.S. official.
Last week, the White House brushed off the latest anti-American outburst of MP Carolyn Parrish, who appeared on a comedy show stomping on a Bush doll before Martin turfed her from the Liberal caucus.
Her antics didn't directly contribute to the decision to avoid Parliament, sources said.
But Bush wanted to avoid another embarrassing incident like the one in Australia last year, when he was shouted down by Green party senators while trying to address the parliament in Canberra.
And U.S. officials noted during planning discussions that Ronald Reagan was heckled by New Democrats opposed to his missile defence scheme during that president's 1987 state visit to Canada.
Bush will instead hold a joint news conference with Martin after lunching with him. He'll also offer a toast that night at a gala dinner held at the Museum of Civilization.
It still wasn't clear whether the president would deliver a major address next Wednesday in the Nova Scotia capital or just a few brief remarks before heading home.
"My understanding is that he wants to extend his gratitude to the people of Atlantic Canada for their help in the immediate aftermath of 9-11," Federal Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan said from Ottawa.
Thousands of Canadians opened their homes to Americans when their planes were grounded at several eastern airports following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
In all, 250 aircraft carrying 44,000 people were diverted to Canadian airports. About 13,000 travellers ended up staying in Newfoundland, swamping towns like Gander with a population about half that size.
Bush has travelled to Canada twice before for international gatherings but has never paid an official visit. He cancelled one last year after Canada's decision to stay out of Iraq.
Canadians opposed to the war, Bush's massive missile defence program and his socially conservative views overwhelmingly preferred Democrat John Kerry in the race for the White House.
Although Bush attended the APEC summit in Chile last week, this is his first state visit since winning a second term in the Nov. 2 election that returned bigger Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.
It reflects a commitment to improving ties with Canada after the bitter divide over Iraq and a frosty relationship with former prime minister Jean Chretien.
Bush has already extended a conciliatory hand on the U.S. cattle ban, promising last week to help end it. Washington banned imports of Canadian cattle in May 2003 after a lone Alberta cow tested positive for mad cow, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The ban has cost Canadian producers some $4 billion Cdn over the last 18 months.
A review process started Monday that could take about five months and end with renewed trade in young cattle and more beef products.
Martin will doubtless want to discuss other trade irritants like softwood lumber while Bush may seek more help in Afghanistan and Iraq.
U.S. officials say Bush will also want to discuss border security and the larger war on terror, including the threat of weapons of mass destruction around the globe.
Thousands of peace activists began planning to converge on Ottawa during Bush's visit after it was announced last week. The Halifax side trip came as a surprise.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says he's "very disappointed" Bush isn't addressing Parliament and blamed Liberals for not ensuring U.S. officials could feel confident of a warm welcome.
"Everything just seems to be happening here on the fly," Harper said in Ottawa. "I find it odd and I find it troubling but hopefully, we can still somehow manufacture the best possible visit."
Regan, the fisheries minister, said he expects Nova Scotians will extend a "gracious" welcome to the president even if they don't agree with his policies.
"If the president wishes to come to express his gratitude, I would want to accept that graciously and highlight the positive relations that we have."
Bill Clinton, in 1995, was the last U.S. president to make a state visit to Canada.
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"You find me offensive? I find you offensive, for finding me offensive" |
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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:13 am
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http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Ottawa/Greg_Weston/2004/11/23/726553.html
Break out the tear gas for Bush visit
By Greg Weston -- Sun Ottawa Bureau
Even as the nation's capital is recovering from being this year's city of Grey Cup drunks, police here are polishing their riot gear for a likely onslaught of protesters during next week's U.S. presidential visit.
George W. Bush arrives in Ottawa next Tuesday for his first state visit to this country, a diplomatic celebration that could quickly turn into the great northern tear-gas festival.
Police are wisely assuming the welcoming party for the U.S. president this time will include mobs of anti-American protesters.
The short notice of the visit -- it was announced virtually out of the blue only last week -- has left organizers scrambling to put in place the massive security that surrounds Bush wherever he goes.
But police are also hoping the last-minute trip to Canada caught the protest groups equally off-guard, without time to organize mass demonstrations.
There is also a reasonable assumption that only true diehards and assorted dupes would travel to Ottawa midweek for the fun of freezing their clenched fists off in the world's coldest capital.
Monique Ackland, a spokesperson for the Ottawa police, said there is no doubt security for the presidential visit "is going to be big, very big.
"As far as demonstrations are concerned, every indication is there will be some. How big, we don't know. The one thing I can tell you is we will have enough resources to deal with anything."
The last time the RCMP and other police forces assembled "enough resources to deal with anything" coming to the capital, a meeting of international finance ministers here in early 2003 was protected by enough riot police and heavy artillery to quell the outbreak of WWIII.
Similarly, the security cordon for the Bush visit will likely be massive overkill (pardon the expression).
True, violent demonstrations erupted in the streets of Santiago, Chile, as Bush arrived there for an international meeting with Paul Martin and other leaders this week.
Rubber bullets
But in North America, at least, most protest groups worth their face paint seem to have realized the days of free rock tossing, rubber bullets and friendly tear gas ended with 9/11.
A good demo these days is a lot of shouting, a little shoving, a few mandatory arrests for the cameras and plenty of riot cops in an ugly mood, banging on their shields. That's it.
Not that the protesters are coming to Ottawa with anything but great expectations.
One of the dozens of groups trying to recruit placard-wavers over the Internet has the following modest goals for its day of anti-Bush demonstrating:
"A group of Canadians has come together quickly to organize protests to 1) indict Bush for war crimes, and should that prove difficult, 2) force the Canadian government to stop its complicity with U.S. foreign policy.
"He expects to be treated like an emperor. He should be treated like the criminal he is." Good luck to that crowd.
A similar call to would-be fist-clenchers in the Toronto area includes a wee note about Bush that begins: "In every corner of the world, the policies of the Bush administration are causing impoverishment and destruction.
"On Nov. 30, this war criminal is coming to Canada. Against overwhelming odds, people across the world are mounting fierce resistance to the empire."
Another recruiting message calls the U.S. president "the world's foremost enemy of peace, of civil liberties, of choice and diversity, of self-determination, of the environment."
Finally, one organization wishes to make it clear this is not just all about George:
"The Canadian government, headed by Paul Martin, is preparing a warm welcome for him, betraying its true colours as a willing ally to a regime of international terrorism.
"We must make the most of an opportunity to confront the Bush and Martin administrations on their murderous policies, so thinly disguised as security agendas."
By the time this is all over, Carolyn "Stompin' Doll" Parrish is going to seem like a love-struck Bush fan.
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"You find me offensive? I find you offensive, for finding me offensive" |
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Mech
Joined: 06 Jun 2001
Posts: 8237
Location: THE 4th REICH USA |
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:36 am
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The people were probably handing out EGGS and TOMATOES for the event. |
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increase 1776
Joined: 07 Oct 2000
Posts: 3097
Location: Bizzaro World |
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:46 am
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"The people were probably handing out EGGS and TOMATOES for the event." It should be bottles of urine and bags of feces. Dubya is always avoiding something,VietNam,Truth,honesty,integrity.Hope some country that doesn't need our $$$$ will indict him and the other Nazis for war crimes. |
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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:50 am
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quote:
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says he's "very disappointed" Bush isn't addressing Parliament and blamed Liberals for not ensuring U.S. officials could feel confident of a warm welcome.
This statement stuck out like a sore thumb to me. Liberals (typically blamed for everything by the right) are somehow at fault for the fact that Bush is internationally despised?
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