A
Are Be
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What's going on here? Where are the knee - jerk America haters?
HERE'S WHAT I'D LOVE TO SEE: THE TORONTO STAR BENDING OVER BACKWARDS, SAYING THAT LIBERAL INFATUATION WITH AMERICA IS WARM AND TENDER, NOT MEAN LIKE A PC GOVERNMENT'S PRO U.S. STANCE
Martin focuses on Bush
Photo: Jorge Uzon/AFP
Prime Minister Martin and his wife Sheila arrive in Mexico Sunday for the Summit of the Americas.
By LOUISE ELLIOTT
Canadian Press
UPDATED AT 6:30 PM EST         Sunday, Jan. 11, 2004
Advertisement
Monterrey, Mexico — The delicate task of establishing personal rapport will be Paul Martin's first order of business when he meets George W. Bush this week, the Prime Minister said Sunday.
Improving relations with the U.S. President requires more than a list of objectives and a sharp pencil — it needs personal chemistry, Mr. Martin said during a flight to a special Summit of the Americas meeting.
"Getting to know [Mr. Bush] is obviously a very important part of this," he told reporters aboard the Prime Minister's Airbus 310.
Mr. Martin is hoping to inject his own personal, informal style during the two-day summit, which will include a half-hour of private time with Mr. Bush on Tuesday.
"Formal meetings — I don't know what that gives you, it's photo ops ... everyone has his speech to read," he said. "But at an informal meeting there's an exchange of opinions. For me that's very important."
Priority items — the mad cow crisis, respect for the Canadian passport, Iraq reconstruction and softwood lumber — will also be raised, he said.
But the desire to get to know other leaders personally sets Mr. Martin apart from his predecessor, Jean Chrétien, as he makes his first international foray as Canada's leader.
Mr. Chrétien, who has been criticized for a souring of relations with the U.S. in recent years, said friendships with other world leaders — including the U.S. president — had little importance in world affairs.
Mr. Martin signalled an intention to talk about multilateralism with Mr. Bush. The lack of a United Nations mandate was a key reason for Canada's refusal to participate in the Iraq war.
"I certainly hope we can talk about Canada's broader international vision as well, what I believe is a very important decade, what I believe is a very important role the international institutions play," he said.
Appearing relaxed, Mr. Martin joked with reporters that the trip was different from his travels as finance mininster because "there's 30 reporters and I'm not flying commercial."
Mr. Martin, who met Mr. Bush once before — coincidentally also in Monterrey during an economic development conference about 18 months ago — said personal chemistry is a key ingredient to successful diplomacy.
"I think it's important but ... in the end, countries represent interests, they represent their own interests and that is always going to predominate, but there's no doubt in the role that the personal side plays," he said.
Several factors suggest the two men will hit it off.
Despite superficial differences in style — Mr. Bush is a drawling southerner, Mr. Martin a cautious northerner — both leaders hail from political families where the father was a prominent politician in his own right.
Add to that a healthy dose of respect by both for free enterprise — Mr. Bush, a Republican, is likely to approve of Mr. Martin's success as a businessman — and most observers expect the two men to get along well.
"They're going to hit it off and enjoy being alone in the backroom," predicted Henry Jacek, a political scientist at McMaster University.
"Mr. Martin will know how to ingratiate himself with Mr. Bush."
Mr. Martin is known as a skilled negotiator internationally whose greatest strength may be meeting and organizing behind the scenes, Prof. Jacek noted.
That will likely play well with a President who, like Mr. Martin, spent much of his youth organizing for his father's political successes.
With new security, health and trade problems preoccupying Canadians, some argue there needs to be a new emphasis on warm personal relations between the two leaders.
Last year, a string of public insults by aides and MPs directed at the U.S. and at Mr. Bush personally — in the most infamous an aide to Mr. Chrétien called Mr. Bush a "moron" at a NATO summit in Prague — brought the relationship between Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Bush to a virtual standstill.
The final slap came when Mr. Bush cancelled a planned visit to Ottawa last spring, and then found time to meet the Australian Prime Minister.
Past friendships have proven critical to advancing Canadian interests south of the border, — for example, Brian Mulroney's close ties to Ronald Reagan and later, George H.W. Bush, which were instrumental in achieving his goals such as the free-trade agreement.
"If Mulroney had had a bad relationship with the U.S. president, we could have been left out of the NAFTA," he said. "Most trade experts would say that would have been bad for Canada."
But not everyone banks on the importance of personal relations.
"The amount of flexibility Canadian first ministers have in this area is so small — it's really very narrow," said John Thompson, an expert on Canada-U.S. relations at Duke University.
"Summit diplomacy is not what it was at a certain time," said Mr. Thompson.
Indeed, the Bush-Martin summit may be shaped by Mr. Bush's biggest preoccupation: the upcoming November election.
Mr. Martin cast doubt on whether a Free Trade Area of the Americas can be established by the deadline currently set for 2005, and said Canada should focus on bilateral agreements such as the ones it has signed with Costa Rica and Chile.
Mr. Martin was to meet Mexican President Vicente Fox on Sunday night and Chilean President Ernesto Lagos during the two-day summit, which starts Monday.
Some 34 hemispheric leaders will attend the summit, which will tackle poverty brought on by economic and political changes in the region as well as issues such as AIDS and corruption.
© 2003 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
HERE'S WHAT I'D LOVE TO SEE: THE TORONTO STAR BENDING OVER BACKWARDS, SAYING THAT LIBERAL INFATUATION WITH AMERICA IS WARM AND TENDER, NOT MEAN LIKE A PC GOVERNMENT'S PRO U.S. STANCE
Martin focuses on Bush
Photo: Jorge Uzon/AFP
Prime Minister Martin and his wife Sheila arrive in Mexico Sunday for the Summit of the Americas.
By LOUISE ELLIOTT
Canadian Press
UPDATED AT 6:30 PM EST         Sunday, Jan. 11, 2004
Advertisement
Monterrey, Mexico — The delicate task of establishing personal rapport will be Paul Martin's first order of business when he meets George W. Bush this week, the Prime Minister said Sunday.
Improving relations with the U.S. President requires more than a list of objectives and a sharp pencil — it needs personal chemistry, Mr. Martin said during a flight to a special Summit of the Americas meeting.
"Getting to know [Mr. Bush] is obviously a very important part of this," he told reporters aboard the Prime Minister's Airbus 310.
Mr. Martin is hoping to inject his own personal, informal style during the two-day summit, which will include a half-hour of private time with Mr. Bush on Tuesday.
"Formal meetings — I don't know what that gives you, it's photo ops ... everyone has his speech to read," he said. "But at an informal meeting there's an exchange of opinions. For me that's very important."
Priority items — the mad cow crisis, respect for the Canadian passport, Iraq reconstruction and softwood lumber — will also be raised, he said.
But the desire to get to know other leaders personally sets Mr. Martin apart from his predecessor, Jean Chrétien, as he makes his first international foray as Canada's leader.
Mr. Chrétien, who has been criticized for a souring of relations with the U.S. in recent years, said friendships with other world leaders — including the U.S. president — had little importance in world affairs.
Mr. Martin signalled an intention to talk about multilateralism with Mr. Bush. The lack of a United Nations mandate was a key reason for Canada's refusal to participate in the Iraq war.
"I certainly hope we can talk about Canada's broader international vision as well, what I believe is a very important decade, what I believe is a very important role the international institutions play," he said.
Appearing relaxed, Mr. Martin joked with reporters that the trip was different from his travels as finance mininster because "there's 30 reporters and I'm not flying commercial."
Mr. Martin, who met Mr. Bush once before — coincidentally also in Monterrey during an economic development conference about 18 months ago — said personal chemistry is a key ingredient to successful diplomacy.
"I think it's important but ... in the end, countries represent interests, they represent their own interests and that is always going to predominate, but there's no doubt in the role that the personal side plays," he said.
Several factors suggest the two men will hit it off.
Despite superficial differences in style — Mr. Bush is a drawling southerner, Mr. Martin a cautious northerner — both leaders hail from political families where the father was a prominent politician in his own right.
Add to that a healthy dose of respect by both for free enterprise — Mr. Bush, a Republican, is likely to approve of Mr. Martin's success as a businessman — and most observers expect the two men to get along well.
"They're going to hit it off and enjoy being alone in the backroom," predicted Henry Jacek, a political scientist at McMaster University.
"Mr. Martin will know how to ingratiate himself with Mr. Bush."
Mr. Martin is known as a skilled negotiator internationally whose greatest strength may be meeting and organizing behind the scenes, Prof. Jacek noted.
That will likely play well with a President who, like Mr. Martin, spent much of his youth organizing for his father's political successes.
With new security, health and trade problems preoccupying Canadians, some argue there needs to be a new emphasis on warm personal relations between the two leaders.
Last year, a string of public insults by aides and MPs directed at the U.S. and at Mr. Bush personally — in the most infamous an aide to Mr. Chrétien called Mr. Bush a "moron" at a NATO summit in Prague — brought the relationship between Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Bush to a virtual standstill.
The final slap came when Mr. Bush cancelled a planned visit to Ottawa last spring, and then found time to meet the Australian Prime Minister.
Past friendships have proven critical to advancing Canadian interests south of the border, — for example, Brian Mulroney's close ties to Ronald Reagan and later, George H.W. Bush, which were instrumental in achieving his goals such as the free-trade agreement.
"If Mulroney had had a bad relationship with the U.S. president, we could have been left out of the NAFTA," he said. "Most trade experts would say that would have been bad for Canada."
But not everyone banks on the importance of personal relations.
"The amount of flexibility Canadian first ministers have in this area is so small — it's really very narrow," said John Thompson, an expert on Canada-U.S. relations at Duke University.
"Summit diplomacy is not what it was at a certain time," said Mr. Thompson.
Indeed, the Bush-Martin summit may be shaped by Mr. Bush's biggest preoccupation: the upcoming November election.
Mr. Martin cast doubt on whether a Free Trade Area of the Americas can be established by the deadline currently set for 2005, and said Canada should focus on bilateral agreements such as the ones it has signed with Costa Rica and Chile.
Mr. Martin was to meet Mexican President Vicente Fox on Sunday night and Chilean President Ernesto Lagos during the two-day summit, which starts Monday.
Some 34 hemispheric leaders will attend the summit, which will tackle poverty brought on by economic and political changes in the region as well as issues such as AIDS and corruption.
© 2003 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
