Prepare For Freedom Bacon - Canada Has Been Very BAD!!!

Rice delays trip to Ottawa over missile snub
CTV.ca News Staff

The ripple effect created when Canada said 'no' to signing on to U.S. missile defence seems to have penetrated deeper south of the border than first believed.

CTV News has learned that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was so displeased by Canada's decision to opt out of the program that she's postponed a planned visit to Ottawa in mid-April.

This contradicts Ottawa's official line that U.S.-Canada relations are proceeding smoothly after Prime Minister Paul Martin announced last week that Canada won't be a part of the controversial ballistic missile defence (BMD) program.

A senior U.S. State Department official, who was on board a London-bound flight with Rice, confirmed to CTV News that the cancellation of the Canadian visit was a direct consequence of Martin's decision.

Washington State Department spokesman Adam Ereli took a softer line, saying there's still discussion going on about the timing of the meeting, and that "it'll happen when the stars are all aligned in the right way."

That could take a very long time, reports Clark. He adds that it wasn't just that Martin opted out of the American plan but the way in which he did it.

Martin has sent signals in the past that he was in favour of Washington's missile defence program.

"I think our sovereignty depends on our being at the table when discussions are taking place about the defence of North America," he said about a year-and-a-half ago.

And last fall, Defence Minister Bill Graham made statements indicating it would be a serious mistake for the government not to be at the table with the Americans on the issue of missile defence.

But on Thursday, Martin announced: "BMD is not where we will concentrate our efforts. Instead, we will act both alone and with our neighbours on defence priorities outlined in (the) budget."

Chris Sands of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies says that the result of Martin's backtracking on the issue could have negative consequences for Canada-U.S. relations.

"The one thing with Bush, the one thing you don't do with him is double-talk him. You tell him what you think," he tells CTV News.

Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, says American anger and astonishment at Canada's decision runs deep.

"As I said last week, I don't understand why Canada would give up its seat at the table, given our history of working together in the defence of North America, particularly at NORAD. But that was a decision for Canada," he tells CTV News.

Rice is currently in London at a conference of Palestinian reforms, as is Canada's Foreign Minister, Pierre Pettigrew.

An official in Pettigrew's office told CTV News that the minister will try to have a private word with Rice and perhaps even extend another invitation to Ottawa.

The secretary of state's planned visit to Canada's capital was supposed to actually be a follow-up trip to another meeting.

The White House has confirmed with CTV News that there will be a summit between Martin, Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox in Mexico City on March 23.

But with no follow-up, says Clark, "it begs the question: how seriously are Canada's concerns going to be taken at that summit?

"Bush is very frustrated with Canada and the way Canadians are making their decisions, about everything from Iraq to missile defence," says Clark, adding that consequences of Martin's decision could impact trade areas such as softwood lumber.

One analyst in Washington says Canada's rejection of missile defence is a historic shift in its relationship with the U.S. and could have deep, unforeseen results.

Dwight Mason, former chairman of the American section of the Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board on Defense, said one impact will come next year when the Norad agreement comes up for renewal.

"The decision to opt out of missile defence is an abandonment of some Canadian sovereignty," he writes.

This wasn't the first time that Canada has angered the U.S. in recent years.

Two years ago, then prime minister Jean Chretien decided Canada would not join the American-led coalition to invade Iraq.

Bush promptly reacted by cancelling a visit to Ottawa, saying he was too busy with the war in Iraq to address a planned joint session of parliament in May, 2003.

With a report from CTV's Tom Clark and files from the Canadian Press