To that end, while in Washington this April, Sheila Martin gave Laura Bush a copy of Margaret MacMillan’s Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed The World, a much admired tome partly about the formation of Iraq, and implicitly delivering the lesson of imperialism: if you break it, you will own it. Germane enough, but in case Mr. Bush, being an of-the-moment and outdoors type of guy, was disinclined to also read the book, Mr. Martin gave him a leather riding vest, ideally suited for his Texas ranch.
Nuance not being his strong point, Bush’s gift to Martin was a signed glass-and-metal box representing the White House: a reminder, perchance, of where real decisions are made.
On cattle exports, Bush intoned, “It’s in our nations’ interests that live beef be moving back and forth.” Of course, he also said, “It’s also in our interests to make decisions based on sound science, which [Mr. Martin] fully understands.” Conceivably Martin “fully understood” that he was listening to a born-again Christian who hasn’t demonstrated much respect for “sound science” (space- based laser weapons, yes; stem cell re-search, no). But this is a quibble. The cattle crossings will help clinch Alberta.
Assuming the mantle of magnanimity, the president accepted Canada’s refusal to participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, saying simply, “I want Canada to do what it feels comfortable doing in Iraq.” Hostility to U.S. unilateralism is especially fierce in Quebec, and this statement, demanding nothing, must have been music to Martin’s ears.
With Ontario anxious about social conservatism and already tilting towards the Liberals, Martin focused on British Columbia. Mention of the second nafta ruling in favour of Canada on softwood lumber enabled him to say that Bush “wants a solution that lasts.” And now Martin could think, “Mission Accomplished.”
That the Canadian cattle industry will have to await rulings from U.S. “sound scientists;” that no straight-thinking person really believes that Canada’s demanding United Nations’ approval before invading Iraq doesn’t still rankle U.S. Republicans; and, that Bush lacks the direct authority to open the border to Canadian softwood lumber, are, again, quibbles. The president and prime minister got along well, and Stephen Harper’s job was suddenly more difficult.
In return for these conciliatory words on the road map to Canadian electoral success, what did Martin offer? First, he gave his respect of a middle power leader at a time when Bush was desperate for international acknowledgement. Second, Martin avoided mentioning truly thorny and embarrassing issues (e.g. the legal quagmire that is Guantanamo Bay, home for two years to Canadian citizen Omar Khadr; or that May 7, 2004 marks the 50th anniversary of national independence in Vietnam). Third, by calling continental defence “indivisible” and promising beefed-up border security and military spending, Martin satisfied both Bush and his former club, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. (The ccce – a hyper-charged lobby group promoting U.S./Canada integration – had just met in Washington.)
Martin further suggested that the G-20 might be a better forum than the UN to cure what ails the world. It mattered little that in March, as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited Ottawa, Martin assured him that Canadians “were among the first and continue to be among the world’s most steadfast supporters of the United Nations.” In Washington, he was speaking to a different crowd. It might matter even less that, on the second day of their Washington tour, both Martin and Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham reaffirmed their support for the UN.
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