THE POWER OF CANADA'S 'BLUNT' CRITIC

The power of Canada's 'blunt' critic
U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci has Bush's ear, and as Bruce Garvey writes, he's given the president more than an earful when it comes to defence.

Bruce Garvey
The Ottawa Citizen

Tuesday, January 13, 2004
U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci and President George W. Bush have close political and personal ties that date back more than 20 years.

When Prime Minister Paul Martin and President George W. Bush sit down today over their huevos rancheros in Monterrey, there'll be a no-nonsense Yankee influence hanging over the breakfast table.

And as Mr. Martin attempts to chart an improved course for strained relations, he'll know the man who probably holds more sway with the president on this issue has been Canada's bluntest critic over the past two and a half years.

U.S. ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci, who has spearheaded American dismay over the federal government's refusal to join the war against Iraq, slipped quietly into Monterrey this week and is almost certain to be the adviser Mr. Bush turns to on dealing with the new prime minister.

There's a range of irritants on the table, from softwood lumber and mad cow disease, to joint missile defence and the deportation of Syrian-Canadian Maher Arar, but long before the coffee is finished, Iraq and the need to remove the friction of Jean Chretien's last two years in office will be the main course.

There's also little doubt that despite a shared interest in improving relations and keeping the border open to trade, the president's views on defence and terrorism won't deviate from the line Mr. Cellucci has been hammering at Canadians at every opportunity.

Urging Canada to step up its efforts in homeland security and almost demanding that the federal government increase its paltry spending on defence, Mr. Cellucci has become the most combative ambassador the U.S. has ever sent north of the border.

"Certainly he's one of the most outspoken of ambassadors and in the upper echelon of vocal ambassadors," says Fen Hampson, director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, "He's very, very blunt -- state politics blunt. It's a case of governor-speak rather than diplomat-speak. Historically, of course, there has always been American concern about Canada's contribution to defence. It's not so much what he's said as how he's said it."

The fact that Mr. Cellucci was hand-picked for the job in the spring of 2001, before the 9/11 attacks, the war on terrorism, and Iraq, only add weight to his insistence that Canada isn't pulling its weight on the homeland security front.

In the days before the war on terror, Mr. Cellucci was hailed as an inspired choice. As governor of Massachusetts, he had an intimate knowledge of the huge cross-border trade and energy relationship and the traditional ties between Boston and the Atlantic provinces. He vacationed in Nova Scotia and his daughter Anne was engaged to (and has since married) Craig Adams, a Calgary hockey player with the Carolina Hurricanes.

His repeated demands for more Canadian spending on its shrunken military forces had antiwar Liberals joining NDP leader Jack Layton's denunciation of Mr. Cellucci's comments.

This was no polite suggestion that a strengthened defence might be appreciated -- and the acrimony flowed both ways. If there's one recurring adjective applied to Mr. Cellucci, it's "blunt." And there's nobody PMO staffer Francie Ducros' characterization of Mr. Bush as a "moron" would have infuriated more than his old buddy.

"It was an aggravation and it was noticed," says former foreign minister and deputy prime minister John Manley. "Some comments and remarks by at least one cabinet minister made things more difficult for the president and the prime minister personally."

Although the ambassador never mentioned the "moron" comment to him, Mr. Manley said Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge made it "quite clear" that the administration was aware of it.

As minister responsible for Canada's efforts at improved security, Mr. Manley worked more closely with the ambassador and Mr. Ridge than anyone else.

Although less social than his two immediate predecessors, Mr. Cellucci possessed the "key ingredient for a successful ambassador -- access," he said.

Nobody ever doubted for a minute that what Mr. Cellucci said was an accurate reflection of the view in the Oval Office.

On the matter of defence spending, Mr. Manley said the issue had been raised by Mr. Cellucci's predecessor, Gordon Giffin.

"We tend to be very sensitive about it. Canadians don't want the U.S. telling us what to do. Particularly on Iraq there was a sensitivity there -- American lives were being put at risk and we weren't."

Mr. Manley said that despite the friction, the integrated economic relationship enabled Canada to emerge without "significant repercussions."

"Although we were not members of the coalition there was a perception that broadly speaking we were being helpful. We had our ships in the Gulf and we sent troops to Afghanistan."

Equally helpful, he said, was a network of influential Americans including Mr. Ridge, Mr. Cellucci, and White House Chief-of-Staff Andrew Card, with a long and intimate knowledge of Canada and cross border politics. Mr. Cellucci's political and personal ties to the Bush family, dating back more than 20 years, were invaluable, as were the rapport between governors of Great Lakes states and Canadian leaders such as former Ontario premier Mike Harris.

Alongside this old boys' network is the coincidence that Mr. Cellucci's "sparkling" wife Jan, Michelle Ridge, and Laura Bush were all career librarians, a not incidental plus in the world of politics.

Mr. Cellucci's candid criticism was no surprise to Rob Gray, a close Massachusetts political associate and friend for more than two decades.

"Our view is that he's acquitted himself quite well. From afar it would appear that he's carried on in a similar fashion as he did as governor.

"He's extremely loyal, certainly he's acted in such a way to President Bush, and not scared to be blunt when the situation calls for it. The messages from Washington to Canada in terms of defence spending and the fight against terrorism are evidence of that."

Although it succeeded in alienating plenty of Liberals, Mr. Cellucci's campaign was almost welcomed by many Canadians who for years have been pressing to halt the decline in military funding and reform immigration and refugee policies.

"He has been nagging us to do things we should have been doing," said John Thompson, president of the Mackenzie Institute. "He had to bring us up short on some comforting illusions. This is not a time for peacekeeping any more, we have to pay our freight. I don't bear any grudge over that.

Chris Sands, head of the Canada Project at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that Mr. Cellucci's campaign for more Canadian defence spending has had a "healthy" effect.

"It's a perennial issue but Mr. Cellucci's version and his creative phrasing has obviously hit a tender spot," he said. "But he has helped keep the border open and ensure that Canada's core interests get a hearing. He's also informally been very forthright with Martin during the long march to power."

With the average ambassadorial appointment lasting 18 months, speculation has already begun about the future.

A return to Massachusetts politics; a place in a second term Bush cabinet, perhaps succeeding Mr. Ridge; a challenge to John Kerry's seat in the senate?

Or perhaps an extension here in Ottawa.

"He's a huge fan of Canada," Mr. Gray says. "I wouldn't speculate, but he enjoys the job very much, has enjoyed the challenge.

"Terrorism, softwood lumber, the border, mad cow, to me he's very interested in those issues and furthering the partnership and I haven't seen any signs he's losing interest.

"I'm not so sure he may stay on and finish the job."

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