Condoleeza Rice to visit Canada

Copyright
Canadian Press
Monday, October 17, 2005

OTTAWA -- Under the cloud of unabated violence in Iraq and a battle with Canada over softwood, Condoleezza Rice is coming to Ottawa next Monday for her first official visit as U.S. secretary of state.

Rice's Oct. 24-25 visit is not about damage control, insisted Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

CLICK HERE for the entire Canadian Press report on the visit of US Secretary of State Rice to Canada.

Michael McCafferty comments:

The state of relations between Canada and the USA is poor. There was a time when our two nations were the two friendliest neighbours in the world. That day and age is over.

Canada can no longer be expected to be a 'yes man' kind of neighbour to the USA.
Canada is a free and independent nation and as such our autonomy should not be questioned by the US Secretary of State.

While I would expect the Prime Minister of Canada to stand up for Canada I hope he does so in a firm but 'diplomatic' manner. Simply stated I hope Secretary of State Rice has a positive visit to Canada. And at the end of the day we see progress towards the start of a new era in Canada USA relations.