Ottawa backs missile pact

[CHIMO]

OTTAWA - Canada should work with the United States in the controversial missile defence program for political reasons, not just security concerns, Defence Minister Bill Graham says.

"We are talking about the nature of the relationship we want with the United States and that's why I'm a strong proponent," Graham said in an interview. "My view is, on continental defence matters, we should be really accommodating of the Americans and work with them as closely as we possibly can."

"Co-operation with them clearly helps us," he said. "Given the potential for negative consequences, given vis-à-vis what we're asked to do in relation to this, I think we should do it."

Meanwhile, an official with the U.S. State Department said yesterday Canada may have to contribute military personnel, cash and even land if it wants Canadian cities to be protected under the defence program.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1096324215231&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154


Looks like the next election is going to be sooner rather than later. Even Dief will be turning in his grave.

[Wat_Tyler]

1. There's trouble up ahead.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. Vote NDP! The Liberals have become Neo-Cons!

:eyes:

[CHIMO]

3. That's

What it is looking like to me. And they haven't even convened Parliament yet.

The NDP and The Bloc are going to paint them into the corner with the Alliance(It will soon have a new meaning) that will hopefully bring out the Liberal left. Perhaps this is also why we began hearing rumors about potential contenders lining up for a leadership battle?

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. "Leadership Battle"?

[CHIMO]

5. Martin dismisses talk of rebellion

QUEBEC - Prime Minister Paul Martin denied Liberals are already organizing rival leadership bids, despite mounting evidence in the nation's capital that contenders are putting together campaign teams.

Just months after Martin won a minority government in the June election, candidates are beginning to get organized and speak out in Ottawa. Two potential leadership candidates savaged Martin's federal-provincial health deal in recent days.

Former ministers Maurizio Bevilacqua and John Manley - both said to be building leadership teams - said the deal would tie Ottawa's fiscal hands for years to come. They also questioned the wisdom of signing a separate side deal with Quebec.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1096022424896

Shark fins spotted in Liberal waters



It is no coincidence that the first public rumblings of yet another federal Liberal leadership battle in the making are surfacing in the immediate wake of last week's federal-provincial health accord.

Prime Minister Paul Martin's decision to embrace asymmetrical federalism has predictably flushed into the open some of the many who aspire to succeed him.

Martin's approach to the health accord was always bound to divide his own Liberal house more deeply than the House of Commons itself.
But from the perspective of federal Liberal orthodoxy, the Prime Minister's self-proclaimed flexibility on federal-provincial matters is an elastic that may easily snap back in his face.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1095977415418

[canuckforpeace]

6. Guess its time to get on the e-mail campaign

and let each party know where we stand. I e-mailed the liberal party campaign about this during the last election to get clarification on Martin's position. Never got an answer and voted NDP. I'd be very interested in knowing how much cash Canada is expected to put up.

BTW I couldn't access the link.

[CHIMO]

7. Worked For Me

Copied the full address below:

http://www
.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid


Enter it as one line in the address.

Hope this helps. Edited several times to obtain the full address in the display.

[canuckforpeace]

8. The elephant is stirring...

"If Canada doesn't sign on, there will be consequences in its relationship with its southern neighbour, warns Graham, the former foreign affairs minister."

"In an admission certain to fuel debate over Canada's involvement, the missile system the United States hopes to have operational by the end of the year will provide only "incidental" protection to Canada, said the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity."

"Federal cabinet ministers have tiptoed around opposition to the scheme by saying the U.S. does not need money or territory to make the program work, a refrain Graham repeated yesterday."

Why are we getting bullied into this when we will only receive "incidental" protection and they don't really need us to get it done anyway? Is this the start of our own "military-industrial" complex?

There was a report done that questioned the effectiveness of this program http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0513-02.htm

This makes me hope even more that Kerry will win. Our relationship with the U.S. really needs some help right now.