Chrétien hit by storm of controversy
Photo: Tom Hanson/CP
The Prime Minister ponders for a moment at a news conference during the Canada EU summit in Athens Greece Wednesday.
By SHAWN McCARTHY and BRIAN LAGHI
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
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Athens and Ottawa — Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has sparked a storm of criticism ranging from the White House to his own backbenchers after attacking the United States for its burgeoning federal deficit.
Mr. Chrétien's remarks prompted a spokesman for U.S. President George W. Bush to fire back that the deficit was, in part, caused by extraordinary circumstances, including the U.S. decision to fight the war in Iraq.
"One of the reasons for that [difference between deficit and surplus] is the United States was attacked on Sept. 11; Canada was not," Ari Fleischer said. "The United States helped lead a war to bring freedom to the people of Iraq."
Mr. Fleischer also said that Mr. Bush and Mr. Chrétien are different politicians, with Mr. Bush focusing on tax cuts. Mr. Bush signed a budget bill yesterday that will cut taxes by $350-billion (U.S.) over several years.
"Well, I think it's important to understand what created the deficits," Mr. Fleischer said. "What created the deficits, of course, are the same factors that Canada has lived through, which is the economic slowdown, the recession, of course, which hit the United States, which is the single greatest cause of what led to a drop in revenues."
Mr. Fleischer said it is not surprising "there's a philosophical difference between a tax cutter like President Bush, and Prime Minister Chrétien."
Mr. Chrétien's comments also prompted some members of his own back benches to raise questions. Joe Commuzzi, who chairs a parliamentary committee overseeing U.S.-Canada relations, said Mr. Chrétien should apologize.
"It's not helpful," he said. "I'm not good at diplomacy, but I don't think you do those things. I don't think that when you go home tonight and you got a good neighbour on this side of you or a neighbour on this side of you, that you should talk about their overspending, that they're not meeting their obligations and they have a huge debt. I don't think that makes for good neighbours."
Liberal Dan McTeague called Mr. Chrétien's comments "ill-advised" and said they bordered on gratuitous.
"Name calling and pointing fingers is not a helpful way to demonstrate leadership at a time when people are seeking it and, clearly, with those comments, certainly not getting it."
However, in Athens yesterday, Mr. Chrétien insisted it's fair to attack the U.S. deficit because it could undermine world economic growth.
An unrepentant Mr. Chrétien said he is concerned about growing deficits in the United States, as well as in Europe.
"I discussed the deficit here today. The problem of the finances of the Western world is a very problematic problem and it is a big problem in many countries," he said after meeting Greek Prime Minister Costas Simikis.
"European nations, North American nations, we need a stable economic situation. And it is normal when you are going to have a summit debating the economic situation that you comment on it. So I don't see any problem with that."
During a flight to Europe on Tuesday, Mr. Chrétien said he is worried that the United States is expected to post a $500-billion deficit this year, which would be equivalent to Canada posting a $75-billion (Canadian) shortfall.
Mr. Chrétien is scheduled to address the G8 summit on the state of the world economy.
A senior official said yesterday the Prime Minister will discuss the need for countries to take "tough measures" to rein in their deficits, as Canada did in the mid-1990s.
"That means severe cuts and so on," the official said.
Mr. Chrétien said yesterday that Canada also faced spending pressures as a result of Sept. 11, 2001. He noted that his government has been criticized frequently by the Americans regarding the level of Canadian defence spending.
"Sometimes, people make comments on the level of spending in defence in Canada. How many times [have] we heard that? I don't take that personally. It's not six months or six weeks that we don't hear about it. And it's fine; we don't agree about it."
But Mr. Chrétien's words received universally harsh reactions yesterday from the opposition.
Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper said the remarks won't help Canada as it works to have a U.S. ban lifted on Canadian beef after the discovery that a cow in Alberta was infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
"There are obviously people in the U.S. Congress who would like to exploit this issue for protectionist purposes and would like to keep that border closed for as long as possible," he said. "The Prime Minister is not helping us with this behaviour at all."
Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark said the comments were "just plain dumb." Adding that the Prime Minister is being irresponsible and "complicating things by going out of his way to anger the White House."
NDP Leader Jack Layton said Mr. Chrétien appears desperate to seek congratulations for his record.
"I think this kind of remark by the Prime Minister doesn't particularly harm or help" the beef ban, he said. "It's just a bit sad."
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, whose province is suffering most from the ban, said Mr. Chrétien should apologize.
"I would think he would — he should. And I think that you've got to be careful about what you say on the record or off the record in an airplane or outside of an airplane," he said, adding, however, that Mr. Bush will probably brush it aside.
With reports from Kim Lunman and Jill Mahoney |
