Bush Visits Canada

[Born to Kill]

I wish I could go...I don't know if I would've thrown anything at him though. Seems like a waste of perfectly good pie.

[juanpe]

I just wanted you to read an article related to Bush's visit to Canada, the country of most of you, which has really impressed me...

 

http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article....0&sectionID=102

 

ZNet | Canada

 

Bush in Canada

 

by Justin Podur; November 18, 2004

 

There used to be two mainstream politicians with a spine in Canada. Svend Robinson from British Columbia was a member of the social democrat New Democratic Party (NDP). He visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories and was virtually alone in calling public attention to Israel's atrocities there. He challenged Canada's role in the coup in Haiti. He was critical of US imperial adventures. Activists got in touch with him when they wanted questions raised in Parliament. Then the poor guy stole a ring from an auction, turned himself in immediately, and retired from politics in disgrace, reducing the number of active Canadian politicians with some integrity by somewhere around 50%.

 

Carolyn Parrish is the one who's left. She is from the suburbs of Toronto and is a member of the ruling Liberal Party, although that party's leader, Prime Minister Paul Martin has publicly joked about how he and Bush want to send her to Mars. Carrolyn Parrish appeared on a Canadian political comedy show, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, stomping on a little Bush doll and smiling. She's called Bush 'warlike', said she was 'dumbfounded' that so many Americans had voted for him, and said that "that country is completely out of step with most of the free world."

 

Nothing gets punished in politics like pointing out what is utterly obvious, though. So Martin removed Parrish from the Liberal caucus. The media are full of unflattering pictures of Parrish and accompanying admonishing editorials about her 'anti-American' behaviour.

 

The most craven figures in Canadian politics, found in the Conservative Alliance party, had slimy comments like the one made by Peter MacKay, a Conservative leader: "Think about the businesses in this country that are being affected and the families and the farmers and the forest industry." That is what people should do before they think about the shredding of international law, the widespread use of torture, at least a hundred thousand killed, the desire to unleash new generations of nuclear weapons on the world.

 

Luckily Canada's left political party leader found his spine - oh, no, wait, no he didn't. Jack Layton did the same kind of disappointing politicking that is becoming his trademark, despite integrity being the only thing the NDP could conceivably have to trade on. According to CTV News:

 

'Mr. Layton said he wants to have a meeting with Mr. Bush to raise his opposition to the missile defence shield - although such an audience would be a rarity. "We believe that that's the way to go about it. I don't believe the House of Commons is a place for disrespect," he said. Ms. Parrish's joke film, stomping on a Bush doll, is "sad," Mr. Layton said. "It takes away from the issues that we should be addressing when it comes to George Bush, which is his policies on the weaponization of space, the growing arms race, the trade policy disputes that we have, the Patriot Act and its impact on Canadian privacy. This trivializes all of that, and I think that's unfortunate."'

 

Layton apparently didn't "think it unfortunate" that he couldn't find the words 'Haiti', 'Afghanistan', 'Palestine', 'Iraq', 'Fallujah', or 'Abu Ghraib' in his list of "issues we should be addressing when it comes to George Bush".

 

For the record, it should be acknowledged that Carolyn Parrish and the comedians at 22 minutes showed an appalling lack of imagination. Rather than stomping on the doll, Parrish ought to have assembled a half-dozen naked effigies of Bush and built a human pyramid out of them (that's called 'position abuse', and apparently sexual humiliation really works well on 'those kinds' of dolls). She could also have, say, taken a Bush doll to an evangelical church, covered it with a blanket, and shot it in the head at close range. Or perhaps she could have let the Bush doll walk down the street, perhaps after doing some shopping, and blow it up with a 500-pound bomb.

 

The denunciations from Canadian politicians after those acts would at least have been less boring.

 

And all this in advance of Bush coming to Canada on November 30. No wonder politicians are so scared. They know that the Canadian population is a little less "out of step with the rest of the world" than they are, and they don't want them crashing their chance to smooth things over with the emperor. That's why none of them, not even Layton, dares mention Iraq, and that's why Parrish had to be punished so severely.

 

Canada has a long history of complicity in US crimes. The Vietnam war was the worst example, though Haiti and Afghanistan are more recent and ongoing. Since 9/11, though, as United States foreign policy has gotten more aggressive and blatant in its violations of human rights and international law, it has forced other countries to decide whether they wanted to be vassals or pay some unspecified price. Most of the rich countries have looked on in uncomfortable silence, looking for cheap opportunities to make peace with the US on the bones of helpless peoples like the Palestinians or Haitians. The Iraq war, however, and the crazy nuclear schemes, are less popular even with elites.

 

Canada's elite has always been split between a really craven bunch who want to become part of the US (Peter MacKay's comment is indicative, as is his Conservative Alliance party or the daily newspaper The National Post on any given day) and a more ambivalent group who thought they could do better on their own. The independent-minded elite gets weaker by the day, but there are still strains of it even in the Liberal Party, where some know that even the most eager imperial stooges will have a hard time convincing Canadians to sign up (although now that Fox News is coming to Canada, maybe things will get easier for Bush boosters in Canada).

 

When elites are divided and unsure, protests can make a big difference. There is not a lot of time to mobilize, but people, unlike politicians or the media, don't have selective amnesia and are capable of remembering strange concepts like 'Iraq', 'Haiti', and 'occupation'. The bigger and more spirited the protests, the better. The United States is the most dangerous force in the world right now. Canadians know that, and will be sympathetic to protesters on this, as they were during the anti-globalization protests in the late 1990s. Canada signing on to the US project publicly and unconditionally, as Bush will try to get Martin to do, will strengthen US ambitions and help break the international isolation that is one of the only things that can weaken the US onslaught against the world right now. Canada moving away from its cozy complicity, on the other hand, and publicly distancing itself from the US, would be a significant help to beleaguered people in Iraq, Palestine, Haiti, Afghanistan.

 

Bush and Martin have handed us an opportunity. There's not a lot of time, but there are a lot of people within a few hours of Ottawa (including Americnas, who are of course welcome!) who don't want Canada participating in massacres and imperial adventures.

 

Various groups from Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal, and from the vigil to the more confrontational, are mobilizing to meet Bush in Ottawa on November 30/December 1. If you can be there, be there!

 

Meet Bush in Ottawa Resources (updated daily)

 

Justin Podur will see you in Ottawa in a week and a half. His blog is www.killingtrain.com

[Dan #2]

That's a great article. I agree that the stomping gave no real point.

 

"

I think that every protestor in ottawa should wear a turban and hold signs that say "Am I next?"

"

 

I think the war crimes is a good idea too. Why has it taken dickhead 4 years to visit his fucking neighbour? I hope Martin isn't a pussy about everything.

 

You know what would be hilarious? If the Martin Cabinet invited Bush in, and circled him and threw pies on him. That would be the funniest thing EVER!!!!

[juanpe]

... or even just have Bush in the Cabinet and all the members turning their backs on him... just to show their and your country's rejection...

[ok_go_570]

i personaly dont want bush comeing here...

 

i hope martian has some backbone and will stand up to him

[juanpe]

Fortunately, Bush has had his "piece of rejection" in the latest international convention in Chile... I hope this is the beginning of a more international rejection all over the world he visits:

 

Published on Saturday, November 20, 2004 by Reuters

Anti-Bush Protesters Battle Police at Chile Summit

by Jason Webb

 

SANTIAGO, Chile - Hooded anti-American marchers protesting an Asia-Pacific summit in Chile Friday hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at police who retaliated with water cannons and tear gas.

 

A large march against the weekend meeting of 21 leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum turned violent when a few dozen youths broke away from the main group to attack police.

 

About 100 people were arrested and four were injured, police said.

 

President Bush arrived late Friday for a visit that has been a lightning rod for protests.

 

Tens of thousands of people streamed through central Santiago carrying banners and chanting slogans against the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, including "Fascist Bush is a terrorist."

 

The area hit by the violence was small and had no effect on pre-summit bilateral talks between APEC leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Hu Jintao. All 21 leaders meet Saturday and Sunday.

 

Ministers paving the way for the weekend meeting have discussed ways to revive global trade talks launched in Doha three years ago. Cooperation against international terrorism is also on the agenda, at the urging of countries including the United States and Russia.

 

The nuclear arms programs of North Korea, one of few Asian-Pacific countries not part of APEC, will be one of the main security topics in bilateral meetings such as Hu's talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Friday and the Hu-Bush summit Saturday.

 

'MUTUAL DISTRUST'

 

"Everyone is very clear that the extreme mutual distrust between the two major parties -- the U.S. and the DPRK (North Korea) -- is the biggest barrier" to resolving a two-year-old impasse, said Chinese foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan.

 

China's Hu has taken advantage of his South American trip to guarantee supplies of key commodities for his booming economy. He launched free-trade talks with Chile, the world's largest copper exporter, and agreed to begin work on a market-opening pact with New Zealand.

 

China also promised investments during Hu's visits to soy-producing Brazil and Argentina.

 

Police estimated the number of marchers at 25,000, but protest leaders said the real number was 70,000.

 

"The turnout is much bigger than we'd expected. This is a polite response to Bush's barbarity," said Ernesto Medina, a march organizer.

 

APEC officials were far away in their hotels or in a convention center overlooking the foothills of the Andes on the outskirts of Santiago.

 

Protest organizers from leftist, indigenous and environmental groups said the rights of workers and the need to protect the environment were being ignored in the free-trade agreements promoted by APEC members.

 

A violent minority pulled shirts over their faces and started throwing rocks when the march ended in Santiago's Bustamante park. They smashed park benches and burned a U.S. flag.

 

Police doused them with water cannons and fired tear gas from armored vehicles at protesters who dodged behind trees.

 

Chile's government canceled all police leave and decreed a public holiday in Santiago Friday as part of the strict security.

 

Additional reporting by Katie Burford, Ignacio Badal and Paul Eckert © Copyright 2004 Reuters

 

Picture: Chileans protest against U.S. President George W. Bush with an Iraqi flag that reads, 'Resist Falluja,' as hundreds of demonstrators marched through downtown Santiago, November 19, 2004. Leaders of the 21 member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathered here for their annual meeting as activists took to the streets to show their opposition. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

 

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1120-05.htm

[THE MAN]

I doubt he will say anything that negative. Martin seems like a bit of a wimp.

[ok_go_570]

thats what im afraid of

[Nerual Neptune]

hello. was searching as i have been for the past couple of days for a way to ottawa for the 30th. a bus or ride that ppl are putting together. i'd pay whatever. i have no care for money. much care for freedom and peace.

 

i found this site. and this discussion. it's nice to know so many other ppl have a voice against bush's violence.

 

im not the most computer savvy. so would anyone possibly have any advice for the girl looking for the path to ottawa?

 

thanks

.Nerual.

 

 

 

ps. i agree martin does come off very push over ish toward bush. which is kind of scary.

[Crusader]

I was surprised to find us in secound place for "bush visits canada" on google. But anyways, welcome aboard. You could try contacting your local "star wars" group or maybe see if Greenpeace or Amnesty is doing anything about it.

[Devil On Rollerskates]

Now that he's coming to Halifax I might have a chance to protest Bush. Apparently he wants to thank Maritimers for their help after 9/11. His thank you is three years too late I'm afraid. This is all obviously designed to make him look good. He gives a speech to the people in a small city rather than parliament to engage us with his "folksy charm". It's all very transparent.

[juanpe]

Canada Prepares To Welcome George W. Bush

 

by Derrick O’Keefe; www.SevenOaksMag.com; November 21, 2004

 

http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article....706&sectionID=1

 

George W. Bush is making an official visit to Canada November 30-December 1, in what will mark both his first trip to our capital -- that’s Ottawa, not Toronto, as I assume someone has briefed George -- and one of his first international visits since the November 2 election. People across the country are looking forward to giving the American President the welcome that he deserves. Hopefully we can make it a welcome worthy of the memory of the tens of thousands of Iraqis and one thousand plus American soldiers whose lives have been taken by Bush's immoral war for oil.

 

Earlier this month, reports speculated that Bush’s visit would take place in early January, shortly before his inauguration. The reason for the scant notice of the official visit – barely two weeks – is pretty clear. John Ibbitson, writing in the November 17 Globe and Mail (“Can PM silence Parrish”), notes the cynical reason for the timing while taking a cynical shot of his own at anti-war activists:

 

One reason for the rushed announcement might be to limit the ability of social and peace activists to mobilize. With only a fortnight to prepare, and with the temperatures getting nippy, the various coalitions in solidarity with each other will have a difficult time putting together anything truly impressive.

 

Despite Ibbitson’s sneering implication, the various grassroots anti-war coalitions are clearly representative of public opinion in Canada, both towards Bush and towards the war in Iraq. Activists across the country have already set about making plans for an impressive mobilization. (I don’t know about truly impressive, though, since Ibbitson fails to define what he hopes we fail to do.) The Ottawa No to Bush Committee put out a call within hours, casting a wide net indeed, rallying under the slogan, “Freedom, Justice, Equality: No to Bush!” The Canadian Peace Alliance has put out a call for actions in cities across the country, and in Toronto at least, buses are already being organized to get people up to Ottawa.

 

Perhaps the desire to minimize protest was the reasoning behind not only the short notice, but also behind the choice to make Canada an early post-election foreign visit for Bush. One could imagine that a visit to a European or Latin American capital might be likely to generate a more vociferous protest. For instance, this week’s APEC summit in Chile, which Bush is attending, is being greeted with mass protest and the accompanying state repression. Despite the tendency of the North American Right to rail against Canada as a socialistic holdout (and a tendency of a good chunk of the Left to glorify our relative egalitarianism and tolerance), we lag sadly behind much of Europe and our brothers and sisters in the South in terms of an oppositional political culture.

 

We also have a tendency to hold U.S. administrations to closer scrutiny than our own regimes in Ottawa. While Jean Chretien’s announcement that Canada would not send troops to Iraq was widely applauded, ongoing Canadian involvement in the occupations of Haiti and Afghanistan has been overwhelmingly ignored and unreported. Hopefully, then, the demonstrations that accompany Bush’s visit will also be aimed at the war-making policies explicitly or tacitly supported by Paul Martin and the Liberal government. And the issue of Canada’s participation in the misnamed National Missile Defence program -- rather than being denounced in isolation as leading to dangerous “Star Wars” weaponization of space -- should be linked to the overall strategy and efforts of the U.S. empire-builders to wield first-strike nuclear capability as part of their drive to maintain unrivalled military (and thereby economic) dominance.

 

And so the anti-war movement in Canada faces an important challenge and responsibility. The world will be watching for us to make a strong, principled, and visible stand against Bush and against the daily outrages that are being perpetrated in Iraq. The latest crime, of course, is seen in the appalling footage of a U.S. soldier killing a wounded and helpless Iraqi, caught by the cameras of NBC and now broadcast throughout the world. Like with Abu Ghraib, we can imagine that the camera has only shown us the tip of the iceberg.

 

The war in Iraq was rejected by world public opinion, and this was reflected with millions in the streets before the war. The occupation, with all the now absolutely routine atrocities, torture and death it has engendered, deserves to be rejected with equal force throughout the world. And what better opportunity to get back in the streets than George Bush’s first official visit to Ottawa. Welcome George. The U.S. election may be over, but the war in Iraq isn’t. And Canada’s demonstrations will only be the tip of the iceberg.

 

Derrick O’Keefe is a founding editor of the weekly on-line journal www.SevenOaksMag.com and a member of Vancouver’s StopWar coalition.

 

For a full listing of demonstrations in Canada, visit the Canadian Peace Alliance site at www.acp-cpa.ca.

[Crusader]

http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/NOBUSHBuses.htm

[Devil On Rollerskates]

I'm sure his visit to Canada has nothing to do with the mad cow disease outbreak in the States (which they're downplaying of course). So fucking transparent.

[Mr. Chips]

O god damn he's here.

[Ravenous Yam]

Early anti-Bush demos fizzle in Canada

 

 

OTTAWA : Hopes for early mass protests in the streets of Ottawa on the eve of Tuesday's visit by US President George W. Bush fizzled out, as journalists outnumbered demonstrators.

 

A loose coalition of groups opposed to just about everything Bush supports had promised two demonstrations hours before Bush was due to jet into Ottawa Tuesday aboard Air Force One.

 

 

 

The first demonstration -- of Palestinians and sympathisers of the Palestinian cause opposed to Washington's support of Israel -- attracted less than 40 demonstrators.

 

According to a quick head count by journalists, the protest attracted 39 demonstrators, 42 journalists and television crew members and three police officers.

 

A second, ostensibly larger, demonstration scheduled for the midst of the evening rush hour -- was called by a group calling itself Students Against Bush.

 

Nobody turned up. Further protests however were expected on Tuesday.

 

Efforts to contact protest organizers were unsuccessful, with the phone numbers listed by organizers remaining unanswered.

 

- AFP

 

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../119862/1/.html

[rosie]

I just came back from the Halifax protest, and it's still going strong.

[Crusader]

The police had it sealed off in Ottawa. Though in Halifax they were a lot nicer and let the protestors through.

 

 

Vancouver:

 

Sharpshooters:

 

Halifax:

 

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...s_name=&no_ads=

 

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...4_92?hub=Canada

 

More Pictures...

[Matt]

Anyone watch "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night? They showed a reporter's question when one asked about how Canadian decriminalization of pot would affect the U.S.? And they basically edited the clip to show him um-ing, and smiling away...

[Scot]

i'm more worried about paul martin to tell you the truth.

 

when asked about supporting the americans with nuclear arms in space, martin ducked the question three times before a journalist finally asked him whether he would support it. to that he said he would not in any way. we'll see. i think he's lying.

 

asked about the gross domestic product and the rising dollar, martin shrugged and stated that as finance minister he never answered that kind of question, so he wasn't about to start now.

[Moonlight_Graham]

the protests in Ottawa were pretty pathetic. Yeah there were some adults attending, but most of the protesters were punk teenagers trying to cause trouble. They'd likely protest a fart if they could.

 

All the arrests i saw were of young punks who likely flunked out of high school and can't name who was our PM before Chretien.

 

And these were the people the world saw on their late-night news. Proud to not be a punk am I.

 

Anti-war protesters who cause violence amuse me. Its the ultimate irony.