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Only in Canada, eh?

By: Richard Cleroux, Law Times (CN ON), 08/25/03

Politics in Ottawa is often hardball; you have to watch every pitch and swing of the bat.

On July 8, several Liberal backbenchers, who fiercely oppose the decriminalization of marijuana and happen to support Paul Martin's leadership campaign very strongly, did something very stupid. They went to the American embassy in Ottawa to talk to them about defeating their government's own marijuana legislation.

Dan McTeague, Roger Gallaway, and Brenda Chamber-lain were joined by a few other MPs, no more than a handful.

They happen to be virulent critics of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and all his works, and by extension, his justice minister Martin Cauchon - that includes big ticket issues such as marijuana, same-sex marriage, gun registry, and just about everything else the Chrétien government proposes.

They met secretly at the embassy with Barry Crane, the No. 2 man on narcotics in the United States, deputy director for supply reduction at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Crane came up from Washington especially for the get-together.

A Canadian Foreign Affairs official who sat in on the meeting, and took notes, later wrote that the MPs had tried to enlist the help of the Americans, a foreign power, to defeat their own government's marijuana legislation.

McTeague vehemently denies this. He says they were only exchanging information with the Americans, not asking the Americans to put the squeeze on Chrétien.

This is one time, at least, ambassador Paul Cellucci, known for his enduring interest in Canadian affairs, appears to be blameless.

Cellucci's people told Foreign Affairs ahead of time about the meeting, as proper protocol requires of diplomats of a foreign power accredited to Ottawa when they meet elected Canadian representatives.

Foreign Affairs could easily have tipped off the Prime Minister's Office, which could have nipped the meeting in the bud or at least warned the MPs they were on dangerous ground.

But no, this was too juicy, too good an opportunity for the Chrétien people to miss. "We chose to give them a little rope, to see what they would do," said one source close to the PMO.

Foreign Affairs sent over a couple of note-takers to report back on the meeting, as protocol allows. But McTeague recognized one of them, and had him removed from the room. McTeague must have wanted to feel more at ease "exchanging" information with the Americans. It surely couldn't be because he would be saying things he didn't want to get back to Foreign Affairs.

McTeague apparently didn't realize there was a second official still in the room, taking down everything.

The note-taker wrote that the "apparent aim of the meeting" was to "solicit the help of U.S. officials to defeat the cannabis bill."

The report said McTeague wanted the Americans to "be clear with Canada about the consequences of this action." That could mean things such as long traffic line-ups at the border, body searches, automobile impoundment, overnight stays in jail, difficulties in getting bail - the whole works, American justice style.

Chamberlain wanted top U.S. officials "to tie trade and border issues" to the legislation.

For the Chrétien people, this report was pure gold - a chance to nail the anti-marijuana people and Martin's "little darlings" at the same time. But how to do it? In Ottawa, as in baseball, timing is everything.

Chrétien's people could have leaked the report the next day. But no, they sat on it . . . and waited.

And lo, the report (with the name of the government note-taker conveniently blacked out) was leaked to the Globe and Mail's Ottawa bureau reporter Brian Laghi (a highly respected reporter writing in a most reputable newspaper - 'Who Could Ask for Anything More?') appearing in print on the very same morning Dan McTeague was to later make a speech against Cauchon's same-sex marriage legislation, leading a backbench revolt at the Liberals' North Bay caucus meeting.

In baseball that's called a home run. But no, it gets better. The Globe followed it up with an editorial calling the McTeague gang's conduct "highly inappropriate."

They should not have turned to the U.S. for help in "thwarting" the Canadian government, the Globe editors wrote. "Increasingly reckless behaviour on the part of the rebels," the Globe thundered, as only it can. "They looked like sneaks, and deserved to be criticized."

Only Paul Martin's name was missing. Then it would have been a grand slam for the Chrétien boys in the Langevin Block. Talk about good fortune on a day without light.

The McTeague gang is lucky they are operating in Canada where the rule of law prevails.

In some countries their case would have been settled in "extra-judicial" style, with a loud "bang" rather than a leaked memo to a newspaper.

Richard Cleroux is a freelance reporter and columnist on Parliament Hill.