CONDI AND PETE VISIT HALIFAX
Yesterday was the five year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. PM Stephen Harper made a speech last night to remember those attacks and the current Canadian war effort in Afghanistan. The transcript of Harper's speech is below. Meanwhile, here is Nova Scotia United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited with federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay.
As I left school yesterday I was sitting in traffic for an unsual amount of time without moving and finally came to the realization that it was probably because Condoleezza Rice was on her way into the city and they have traffic all blcoked off... and I was right. I turned on the radio and heard the voice of a guy who was at the front of all this and he said that her motorcade was on Bayers Road heading for downtown. It's not too often you can use the US Secretary of State as the reason for you being late for work.
While I was sitting in traffic I began thinking about her reasons for being here. Publicly it was announced that her reason for visiting for Nova Scotia was to thank us for our contributions directly after the 9/11 attacks and for our help in Afghanistan. Some critics have also said that she is here to garner some support for the efforts in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Whatever her motives are, and I'm sure that there is a little of both in there, it is good to see her here.
Most Canadians are very cynical of the American government and George Bush, myself included, and we are eager to point out their flaws. Jean Chretien and Paul Martin never had very good relations with the American president or the government and this is not a good thing. Just because we don't agree with the War in Iraq and some of the other policies they have doesn't mean we should have cold relations with our number one trading partner. Stephen Harper has begun to improve our relations with our neighbours to the south but that does not make him George Bush's "cheerleader" as Jack Layton likes to put it. Good relations with the United States can only mean good things for us as Canadians and that does not mean we are going to join them in Iraq or ban same-sex marriage.
Probably the one thing that would hurt as most, short of the Americans decalring war on us, would simply be for the government to close the border between us. As much as I hate to say it we rely heavily on the Americans and we cannot afford to let that dwindle. So while Condoleezza Rice is sipping on some Timmie's coffee in Stellarton with Peter MacKay remember that she is here to thank us for our help in Afghanistan... a United Nations supported mission.
- DM
Yesterday was the five year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. PM Stephen Harper made a speech last night to remember those attacks and the current Canadian war effort in Afghanistan. The transcript of Harper's speech is below. Meanwhile, here is Nova Scotia United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited with federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay.
As I left school yesterday I was sitting in traffic for an unsual amount of time without moving and finally came to the realization that it was probably because Condoleezza Rice was on her way into the city and they have traffic all blcoked off... and I was right. I turned on the radio and heard the voice of a guy who was at the front of all this and he said that her motorcade was on Bayers Road heading for downtown. It's not too often you can use the US Secretary of State as the reason for you being late for work.
While I was sitting in traffic I began thinking about her reasons for being here. Publicly it was announced that her reason for visiting for Nova Scotia was to thank us for our contributions directly after the 9/11 attacks and for our help in Afghanistan. Some critics have also said that she is here to garner some support for the efforts in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Whatever her motives are, and I'm sure that there is a little of both in there, it is good to see her here.
Most Canadians are very cynical of the American government and George Bush, myself included, and we are eager to point out their flaws. Jean Chretien and Paul Martin never had very good relations with the American president or the government and this is not a good thing. Just because we don't agree with the War in Iraq and some of the other policies they have doesn't mean we should have cold relations with our number one trading partner. Stephen Harper has begun to improve our relations with our neighbours to the south but that does not make him George Bush's "cheerleader" as Jack Layton likes to put it. Good relations with the United States can only mean good things for us as Canadians and that does not mean we are going to join them in Iraq or ban same-sex marriage.
Probably the one thing that would hurt as most, short of the Americans decalring war on us, would simply be for the government to close the border between us. As much as I hate to say it we rely heavily on the Americans and we cannot afford to let that dwindle. So while Condoleezza Rice is sipping on some Timmie's coffee in Stellarton with Peter MacKay remember that she is here to thank us for our help in Afghanistan... a United Nations supported mission.
- DM
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