FOREIGN AFFAIRS CRITIC STOCKWELL DAY SLAMS GOV’T BASHING OF U.S. OVER CRIMINAL COURT

OTTAWA, July 16, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Stockwell Day, Foreign Affairs Critic for the Canadian Alliance, questions where the Federal Government draws its battle lines. Day’s comments concerned Canada’s Ambassador leading the UN attack on the United States because of its request for a twelve-month exemption from the International Criminal Court for its peacekeepers in Bosnia.  “Our government supported Prime Minister of Great Britain Tony Blair in his successful request for an International Court exemption for soldiers from Great Britain and 19 European countries involved in the Afghanistan mission,” Day said. “It makes no sense to attack the US for making a similar request, especially after they have shown willingness to compromise.”“Our federal government still has not made progress with the US on the ongoing trade disputes in softwood lumber and agriculture,” Day observed. “A chorus of anti-US rhetoric at the UN isn’t likely to help our closest ally see these trade disputes from a Canadian perspective.” He wondered why we wouldn’t work with the US for a solution instead of a standoff. Day also noted that one of Canada’s foremost soldiers, Major-General Lewis Mackenzie, shared some of the US concerns related to the International Court and that Mackenzie himself is under a politically motivated warrant for his arrest in Sarajevo.