Prime Minister Paul Martin will deliver a firm No to Canadian participation in the U.S. missile defence plan and break a lengthy silence that fomented confusion on both sides of the border. News of the announcement follows a day of confusion on Parliament Hill after Frank McKenna, Martin's choice to be the next ambassador to the U.S., sparked a political firestorm by saying participation in the controversial continental missile defence system is a done deal. The end of Martin's silence will come as an about-face for a prime minister who had repeatedly stated his support for missile defence when he was a Liberal leadership candidate barely a year ago. He voted for it before he voted against it!
The U.S. was informed of the Canada's plans at a NATO summit in Brussels, attended by Martin and President George W. Bush, and the news was also conveyed Tuesday through
How...nuanced.
"The will to participate is no longer there," another government official said several days ago. "I think the internal conflict - the dissension within the party - is now almost insurmountable. This is because of domestic considerations." Public opinion polls have suggested two-thirds of Canadians opposed missile defence.
| Oh, yeah. I oppose it, too. I'm looking forward to seeing a nuclear-tipped missile arriving in Yellow Knife. That's a firm opposition, too. I'm not sure if it's an indefinite opposition... |
| Will somebody tell Harry Potter where that guy is? I'm tired of hearing from him. |