> Ottawa says Bush 'Texans' tried to bully G8 host

> 'In your face with a boxing glove'

>

<http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id={5CC39E73-A239-4A2E-9F5E-AA0

> 0AA900FF5}>

> Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief National Post

>

>

> OTTAWA - Canadian officials say George W. Bush's entourage at last month's

> G8 summit in Alberta behaved like bully-boy Texas cowboys as they tried to

> take control of the agenda set by Jean Chrétien.

>

> Officials said the Americans got into shouting and swearing matches with

> their Canadian counterparts over everything from photo-ops to the topics

to

> be discussed by the leaders of Canada, the U.S., Britain, France, Germany,

> Japan, Italy and Russia.

>

> One official said he began to take it as a "compliment to be called a

> 'f------ Canadian' by the Americans" after resisting countless U.S.

> demands, including special access to Kananaskis for the White House press

> corps.

>

> The Prime Minister wanted African development to be the centrepiece of the

> summit, but Mr. Bush's advisors tilted the agenda to the President's

> Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and a U.S. scheme to safeguard Russia's

> nuclear weapon stockpiles, officials say.

>

> "They wanted control of the sessions. They wanted to change the agenda.

> They just wanted to orchestrate everything," said an official, speaking on

> background.

>

> The Canadians were frustrated at the "very nasty" attitude of the

Americans

> because all the countries had agreed in advance about the Africa agenda

and

> the organization of the two-day meeting in Kananaskis.

>

> But a week before the leaders arrived, U.S. officials arrived at

Kananaskis

> and began to insist on changes to the agenda and special arrangements for

> White Houses journalists covering the President, officials say.

>

> Officials described the Bush team as "mostly Texans" who displayed an "in

> your face with a boxing glove approach" in demanding special privileges

for

> the U.S. delegation.

>

> Under the rules agreed to by all countries, only a limited pool of

> reporters from each of the G8 countries was allowed at the summit site,

> while the rest were kept in Calgary. The Americans wanted the entire White

> House press contingent to stay in Canmore, a nearby community, and be

bused

> in daily to the Kananaskis lodge, where the leaders stayed.

>

> Canadian officials rejected the U.S. demands and fought other requests

> dealing with photo opportunities and use of the press conference

> facilities, but not without bitter resentment on both sides.

>

> Yesterday, the U.S. embassy in Ottawa had no comment on the Canadian

> complaints. The official responsible for the G8 summit at the White House

> could not be reached for comment.

>

> The G8 dispute highlights tensions between the Republican President and

the

> Liberal Prime Minister, who had a warm relationship with Bill Clinton, Mr.

> Bush's predecessor.

>

> Just before the summit began, Mr. Chrétien dismissed the President's trade

> subsidy policies as "stupid" and said he would never let him push Africa

> from the top spot on the G8 agenda.

>

> It has been reported Mr. Bush refers to Mr. Chrétien as "dino" -- as in

> dinosaur -- and that he has not forgiven him for derogatory remarks he

made

> about his father, George Bush Sr., the former president, when Brian

> Mulroney was in power.

>

> Canada is one of the few major U.S. allies whose leader has never been

> invited to stay at either Blair House, the U.S. government's official

> residence reserved for world leaders visiting Washington, or at the

> President's ranch in Texas.

>

> Tony Blair of Britain, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Crown Prince Abdullah of

> Saudi Arabia and Mexico's Vicente Fox have stayed at the President's Texas

> ranch.

>

> At the G8 summit, Mr. Chrétien tried to keep the focus on promoting

> democratic and economic reforms in Africa in exchange for large infusions

> of aid from the West. Mr. Bush decided to focus instead on the Middle East

> crisis and the policy he had put forward immediately before the summit.

>

> Mr. Bush had his way on the first day with the Middle East dominating the

> talks. Part of the second day was spent on a U.S. plan to keep Russian

> nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists.

>

> Mr. Chrétien managed to focus part of the final day's talks on African

> development, when the leaders announced an action plan calling for

> corruption-free governments in Africa. But the African Action Plan fell

far

> short of a commitment sought by Mr. Chrétien, who could not convince the

> U.S. President to earmark 50% of new development aid to the continent.