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[A pathetic tail pretending to wag the elephant. But if sending Canadian legionaries to Afghanistan, the Balkans, and other farflung reaches of the US-NATO empire has "earned us some credit" with our master to the south and, more to the point, will gain us points on a softwood lumber dispute, then "we should be happy with that." So get busy with the machine guns and bombing raids. Oh, Canada.] War role beneficial for Canada, Manley says The Globe And Mail By SIMON TUCK Monday, March 18, 2002 OTTAWA -- Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan has helped this country score points in its negotiations with the United States on softwood lumber and other issues, Deputy Prime Minister John Manley says. "The fact that we have been there, and we've done really impressive service within our capacity as part of the campaign against terrorism, it's earned us some credit," Mr. Manley said on CTV's Question Period. "And we should be happy with that." Canada has had plenty of room to disagree with its superpower neighbour to the south, Mr. Manley said, but taking a position contrary to the United States on the war against terrorism would have created a serious rift between the two countries. "I don't think there's any doubt about that," he said. A Canadian trade official close to the negotiations in Washington, however, said he does not believe the war in Afghanistan has played a role in the softwood lumber talks. "It's definitely not a linkage for us." There's no linkage for Canada, either, Mr. Manley said. Regardless of any peripheral gains from the two countries' similar foreign policies since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Canada joined the war in Afghanistan because it was the right thing to do, he said, not because of any benefit or potential damage to its bilateral relationship with the United States. The costly softwood lumber dispute remains far from over. The quarrel, which can be traced back more than a century, has caused the loss of thousands of jobs in the Canadian forestry industry in the past year and is responsible for the loss of an estimated $1-billion a year in sales. British Columbia, which was already suffering economically, is absorbing about half of the burden caused by the dispute. Mr. Manley's comments were made public yesterday, while the two countries were negotiating a temporary export charge on Canadian softwood, which would fluctuate with market prices. No agreement was reached late last night. Prime Minister Jean Chr�tien and U.S. President George W. Bush said last Thursday they want the $10-billion dispute resolved by this week. After meeting with Mr. Chr�tien at the White House, Mr. Bush said he told his officials to push hard to reach a deal before punishing U.S. duties on Canadian lumber are finalized. "Our negotiators, as a result of the Prime Minister's insistence and my assistance, are working overtime to achieve an agreement by March 21," Mr. Bush told reporters. The long-standing dispute gained new energy last year when the United States slapped preliminary duties on Canadian softwood that totalled 32 per cent, alleging that Canada heavily subsidizes its lumber. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
