Canadian Press
October 25, 2006
OTTAWA — The Canadian government has lodged a complaint with the Bush administration over a Republican election ad that belittles Canada as a global freeloader.
Canada's ambassador to Washington registered his displeasure over a Senate election ad from Tennessee that implied Canada doesn't pull its weight in international matters.
Michael Wilson expressed Canada's concerns in a phone call Wednesday to a White House official, said a Canadian government source.
The Republican National Committee said Wednesday that it would phase out the ad — but it's unclear whether the move came before or after Wilson's phone call.
Although the Conservative government enjoys a warm relationship with the Bush administration, a Canadian official wasn't shy about condemning the ad.
“We would like to remind the Republicans that Canada is playing an important role in rebuilding Afghanistan,” the official said “(Wilson) reiterated that only with positive exchange can we rebuild a strong relationship.
“Insulting one another does nothing to improve it.”
But the Tory complaint may have more to do with politics up north than it does with rescuing Canada's reputation in Tennessee.
The Bush administration is very unpopular in Canada, especially in urban areas where the Tories need to curry support if they hope to win a majority government.
The television ad's chief target is Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr., who just made the cover of Newsweek and is fighting Republican Bob Corker in a pivotal race of the do-or-die fight to control the upper house of Congress.
Various actors in the 30-second spot suggest Mr. Ford is a tax-and-spend playboy, a gun-control supporter, and soft on terrorism and nuclear threats to the United States.
One man in the ad says: “Canada can take care of North Korea. They're not busy.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's opponents have been eager to exploit his closeness to the U.S. president for their own political gain as they approach the next election.
Hoping to pound away at his support in Ontario and Quebec, they have dubbed him “Bush-lite,” and railed against the softwood lumber deal as a “sellout” in the hope that those labels stick.
They clearly hoped to use the Republican ad against the Tories, too, and raised the issue during Wednesday's question period.
One Liberal MP mocked the Tories campaign slogan from the last election: Stand Up For Canada.
“Is this what Canadians should be expecting as the outcome of cozying up to Mr. Bush by the prime minister and his Conservatives?” asked Liberal MP Omar Alghabra.
“I have a question for the prime minister. Will he call his mentor, President Bush, and demand this insulting ad be pulled from the airwaves immediately, and stand up for Canada, but for real this time?”
The Tennessee ad also had its critics south of the border.
Some denounced it as racist, sexual innuendo because it displays a bare-shouldered blonde who winks at the camera and invites Mr. Ford, an African-American, to call her.
Canada-watchers in Washington were also puzzled.
“It's unfortunate, it's over the top,” said Scotty Greenwood, executive director of the Canadian American Business Council.
“I would turn their attention to Afghanistan if they don't think Canada's busy.”
In Washington, Canada has aggressively promoted its contribution in Afghanistan, where 43 Canadians have been killed since 2002 and more than 2,200 troops are stationed.
The Canadian embassy has blitzed busy subway stations in the U.S. capital with giant posters depicting Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
The government also has a website devoted to highlighting Canada-U.S. defence co-operation.
The last Canadian ambassador, Liberal Frank McKenna, regularly took to the U.S. airwaves to combat the false impression that the 9-11 hijackers entered from Canada.
One political analyst said the ad does reflect a conservative southern view that Canada doesn't pull its weight in the world.
“But the folks at the RNC, how closely do they follow Canada's foreign policy? It may reflect ignorance as much as an intent to insult,” Patrick Basham said in an interview from Washington.
However, he noted that Canada has bashed its neighbour in the past.
In the middle of the last Canadian election, U.S. ambassador to Ottawa David Wilkins spoke out against the Liberals' constant references to Mr. Bush and called them a “slippery slope” for the Canada-U.S. relationship.
“It's almost back to the future,” said Mr. Basham, director of the conservative Democracy Institute. “The hope is the other guys realize this is politics.”
RNC chairman Ken Mehlman said this week that he didn't have the authority to take the ad down because it was created by an outside group contracted by the party — what's known as an “independent expenditure” that doesn't count against legal spending limits on campaigns.
Mr. Corker's campaign called it “tacky” and “not reflective of the kind of campaign we are running.”
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also criticized it.
But Mr. Mehlman dismissed the view that there's racist undertones in the ad, which reportedly cost more than US$450,000 to run for several days.
Yet the rhetoric of the negative ad is striking, even in a notably bitter campaign where Republicans are in danger of losing their 12-year grip on Congress.
Another ad started running Monday claiming Mr. Ford “wants to give the abortion pill to our schoolchildren.”
Some analysts say both ads reflect major concern the party could lose the seat left open by retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist that would normally go Republican.
Mr. Ford, says Newsweek, is just the kind of charismatic centrist that could tip the balance in the Senate, where Democrats need six seats to gain a majority.