Canadian Paper Stands By Story Criticizing Obama On NAFTA

CTV:

Allegations of double talk on NAFTA from the Obama and Clinton campaigns dominated the U.S. political landscape on Thursday. On Wednesday, CTV reported that a senior member of Barack Obama's campaign called the Canadian embassy within the last month saying that when Senator Obama talks about opting out of the free trade deal, the Canadian government shouldn't worry. The operative said it was just campaign rhetoric not to be taken seriously....

...Sources at the highest levels of the Canadian government -- who first told CTV that a call was made from the Obama camp -- have reconfirmed their position.

Read the whole story: CTV

Comments

[abot]

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200802/POL20080228b.html

Canada Says TV Story on Obama NAFTA Deception is 'Untrue'
By Terence P. Jeffrey and Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Editor in Chief and Senior Editor
February 28, 2008

CNSNews.comm) - A Wednesday evening report on a Canadian television network that said a "senior member" of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign had called Canada's ambassador to the U.S. to advise him that Canada should not take seriously Obama's attacks on the North American Free Trade Agreement was "untrue," the Canadian government told Cybercast News Service.

"I can categorically say that no one has contacted our embassy or our ambassador," said Canadian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andre Lemay. "None of our officials at the embassy discussed anything with the runners up in the presidential campaign. We realize that one of the Canadian networks mentioned yesterday that such a call had been made. The report is untrue."

When asked whether Ambassador Michael Wilson, the Canadian emissary to the U.S., had received a call from anyone in the Obama campaign, Lemay said he had not.

Wilson "was not contacted by anybody," said Lemay. "Nor was any official in our embassy."

"We are saying the story is untrue," Lemay reiterated.

[rollingdivision]

Who said what to whom on the proposal to unilaterally abrogate treaties with our two biggest trading partners is unimportant. What is important is Obama is going around promising to repair the Bush administration's supposed alienation of our friends around the world. And this is how Obama plans to do it? By dealing with our neighbors and trading partners in Canada and Mexico with threats and ultimatums? What if the Canadians and Mexicans refuse to bend to Obama's dictates on Nafta and rightfully demand the US live up to the legal signed agreement? Cut off trade? Impose economic sanctions? Impose extreme tariffs? Break off all cooperation? Military action? What Senator Obama is your plan for the day after you command Canada and Mexico to bend to your commands on Nafta? Ready, Fire, AIM!

[damnadamson]

No need to worry about it ! Bush will be pulling off a last minute 911 effort to hold on to power ... then introduce the long planned police state so all of this hot air by any 'future leader' is all just poppycock as grandma used to say !

[charley0008]

You don't know much about Canada do you? Not sure the writer of this article does either. CTV is a TV Station not a paper although the Toronto Globe & Mail are owned by the same.
First, don't kid yourself, lots of Canadians would love to re-negotiate NAFTA and a fair number of them would like to opt out. That does not include at the moment our less than popular minority Conservative government who has very close ties to the Republicans. So don 't be surprised if the 'anonymous' story teller (if there is such a person) is also a conservative hack with close ties to the Republicans.
But let me say this about CTV, it would not be the first time they went out on a limb chasing smoke.
This whole story lacks credibility and not surprisingly few in Canada are buying it.
If Obama has shown himself to be anything, it is not stupid nor careless. He would have no reason to call the Canadian Embassy, because Canadian discontent with NAFTA is common knowledge. Have you all been asleep while the softwood lumber debacle was going on?

[SwingStateVeteran]

NAFTA-gate? Goolsbee-gate? Definitely not dead nor debunked.


"While I suppose it's possible for Barack Obama to have not known that his senior economic adviser Austan Goldsbee was telling the Canadian government, it is rather disconcerting to see him denying that any conversation took place so emphatically, now that both the Canadian consulate and Goolsbee are no longer denying the conversati­on."


These are the opening lines of an article today at NRO.


The story continues to advance despite the best (worst) efforts of the Obama crowd to jump on it and stuff it into a dark crevice before every voter in Ohio learns of Obama's duplicity. At this point I am waiting to hear:


1. Now that the people who were denying the conversation have been identified and have admitted to it, what exactly was said? Is it as reported? (At this moment, the people who were lying to cover up the story don't really get credibility points so it is likely accurately reported at the outset.)


2. We don't really have to ask why Barack (or his campaign) decided to try to squelch the embarassing story -- he didn't want to be totally blown out of the race. Lying to American voters is bad. Telling a foreign government that you are going to beforehand is suicidally stupid.


3. I suppose extracting an apology isn't going to happen either.


4. Perhaps someone with some balls will ask Obama why he didn't just throw Goolsbee under the bus at the get-go. If he had done that, this story would have been over in done instead of slowly eating and building like a cancer. Mark of a rookie, for sure.


5. Meanwhile the Liberals in Canada are up in arms about it. They are accusing the Tories of deliberately planting the story to discredit Obama -- interfering in the election. Very nasty and weird conspiracy theories! So this story is getting much hotter just now north of the border.


6. Hillary's campaign put out a press release on it today, i've copied it below. As did allies and surrogates who believe that these questions need answering.


Clinton Campaign Statement on New Developments Regarding Austin Goolsbee and CTV NAFTA Report

For several days, simple questions have been posed to the the Barack Obama campaign:

Has anyone associated with their campaign met with Canadian officials? Has anyone associated with their campaign offered private assurances to Canadian officials downplaying Obama's anti-NAFTA rhetoric?

In response, the Obama campaign has offered several carefully parsed non-denials.

But this evening new information has come to light: Senator Obama’s top economic advisor admitted to meeting with the Canadian consul general but has refused to deny that he discussed NAFTA in this meeting.

This raises a host of additional questions: Now that it is clear that this meeting occurred, what was discussed? Did Austin Goolsbee or any Obama official downplay Senator Obama's anti-NAFTA rhetoric to Canadian officials? Why have they have been trying to give the impression that no conversation ever occurred?

Voters deserve more than empty rhetoric and Senator Obama and his campaign should finally come clean and answer these questions.

ABC News Report, 2/29/08:

On Thursday, Goolsbee told ABC’s Jennifer Parker that Canada's consul general in Chicago contacted him "at one point to say ‘hello’ because their office is around the corner."

Goolsbee refused, however, to deny whether he downplayed Obama’s anti-NAFTA rhetoric.




So there it is. Definitely not dead. Definitely not debunked.


Here are a few of the most popular youtubes and even a "fun" Obama bashing survey poll for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LtbLEKHsi0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMpbpov-HcA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAJYMgX4JuU
http://vet4hill.googlepages.com/surveyindex.htm

Other references:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=6275
http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/
http://www.eastottawa.ca/article-cp10689015-Liberals-accuse-Tories-of-undermining-Obama-with-leak-on-NAFTA-talks.html

[dawgfan1]

WE KNOW HILLARY SUPPORTED IT SAYING IT WAS GOOD FOR NEW YORK AND OUR COUNTRY AND WE KNOW BILL PUSHED IT AND GOT IT PASSED ENOUGH SAID VOTE OBAMA

[Mattie]

do you have a brain, just wondering!

[BOfever]

Does anyone here know what clauses are actually in the NAFTA agreements?

Canada guarentees the USA's oil supply in that agreement and if you didn't know, they are the largest supplier of oil to the USA. Tearing up that agreement would not be a good idea given the current oil situation, hopefully Obama knows this much.

[BOfever]

Has anyone looked at this story and said: Hey, this looks like the same thing the NY Times did last week to McCain!

No evidence, no facts & secret sources.

[NYC07]

If this is true than why isn't the Clinton Campaign using it . I would think I could hear Bill and Hillary screaming about this all the way here in NYC , all the way from Ohio and Texas. So why don't I ????

[BOfever]

My guess is that she will, even though she will have no intention of changing NAFTA either, there are some very important clauses in there that supply the USA with massive amounts of movies.

[IronMikeHouston]

We agree. I don't think the three stooges (McCain, Hillary or Barack) will do anything about NAFTA. It is all talk to get votes. Is this talk coming from a politicians mouth?

We the sheeple desire this lying. I especially like it when Barack is talking out of both sides of his mouth (saying one thing to the stupid voters and another thing to the Canadian government).

[janvoght]

in checking this reference on cnn and msnbc, nothing is found....i have followed up many rumors to this end. nothing will be made of this until it is actually an issue, and probably not until the general election. until then, go obama '08!!!!

[BOfever]

cnn & msnbc love obama, just a quick fyi.

[specultr]

as do the majority of Democratic voters so far.

[suec03]

This post is very suspicious. First, CTV is a commercial television network in Canada, not a newspaper. The item does not bear the name of the reporter, but only refers to CTV.caa News staff" meaning someone who writes squibs for the website, with no proof it was written by a trained journalist who fact checked it sufficiently. I see that the CTV item suggests it is a senior economic advisor to Sen. Obama who allegedly spoke with the "Canadian Consulate General" in Chicago. This is suspicious. There is a Canadian Consulate (a consular office in a building), but a consul general would be the person in charge of a consulate. So the item is unclear as to whether this Obama campaign advisor had a chat over coffee in Chicago with an unnamed person who works at the consulate? Or with the consul general? The CTV post mashes up the name of an institution with the title of an individual. Which is it? A reputable journalist would not make such a mistake. So the item is a post by an unnamed staff writer on the website of a TV network unfamiliar to most American voters, which does not explain to whom at the consulate the economic advisor was speaking, and whether the economic advisor was speaking for himself and not in an authorized capacity for the campaign. Meanwhile, the official website of the Canadian Embassy denies any contact by any US presidential campaign to the Canadian Ambassador, who works in Washington, DC at the Canadian Embassy, not in Chicago at the Consulate. The consulate in Chicago is an outpost for the convenience of Canadians and non-Canadians, regarding visas, business, etc. The consulate is not the place for a US Senator or his campaign to contact to talk to the Canadian government about US-Canadian relations. That kind of a contact would go to the Canadian Ambassador to the US at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC. The Canadian Embassy in Washington denies any such contact. The original post is so full of holes it is Swiss cheese!

[wyorange]

Is an article entitled "CTV Sticks by Story" by Blake Dvorak on Real Clear Politics:

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/02/ctv_sticks_by_story.html

Sort of looks like the Obama campaign is not handling this very quickly nor clearly.

[suec03]

Note that Blake Dvorak quotes from the CTV piece and then afterward adds his own observation: "What's missing here is whether Goolsbee was relating his personal opinion or the campaign's­."

[Zhonni]

This is much ado about nothing. Obama said it was not true. I believe him over some right-wing conservative hack in Canada who can't supply the name of the person(s) they talked to.

All you people spewing venom without facts sound like morons. Just like those who believed Obama was a muslim or that some crack head called larry sinclair had anything to do with him. All turned out to be lies.

[Mattie]

of course you believe him, no matter what he does, he gets a pass

[Zhonni]

Until he's proven wrong.

[BOfever]

Sounds to me like the same situation that the NY Times pulled last week.

[hank48188]

Obama says it's not true? You sound like a moron, of course it's true, that is why the Obama team is ducking the press. Obama has Hannity talking about Obama's friendship and connection to WEATHERMEN TERRORISTS William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. They were part of the WEATHER UNDERGROUND that would bomb Gov't buildings like the PENTAGON in the 70's. Obama sought them out for their support when he was running for State Senate. Do you really think America will elect someone as their President that belongs to a Church that Honors Louis Farrakhan as a GREAT MAN and has DOMESTIC TERRORISTS as friends? And lets not forget the TONY REZKO TRIAL starting on Monday. The jury will be going by the Obama House for a viewing, this is the House Rezko helped Obama buy. I think all you OBAMABOT MORONS better start looking at all these stories yourselves. All this stuff is true and real, stop living in denial!

[samboo]

umm ctv is a news channel not a paper

[Zhonni]

The canadian government is known for being very conservative and are rooting for the Republicans. Obama said it is not true. Whose to say that a Republican did not call them and say he was part of Hillary or Obama team.

If they are so sure, they ought to give us the names of those who called them from the Clinton and Obama camp.

[wyorange]

Article cited provides a name of Obama campaign official:

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/02/ctv_sticks_by_story.html

[trailrunner9]

The name is Austan Goolsbee, Obama's senior advisor on economics.

[Zhonni]

Even though the article is dated today, it is talking about something that happened Wednesday. Obama said(today) it is not true that his campaign talked to anybody in the Canadian government.

It had already been denied.

"On Thursday, the Canadian embassy in Washington issued a complete denial. […]

But just yesterday, one of the primary sources of the story, a high-ranking member of the Canadian embassy, gave CTV more details of the call. He even provided a timeline. He has since suggested it was perhaps a miscommunication. [Right — stepping back is part of a diplomat’s maneuvers.­]"

Wow can people read? On Thursday the Canadian embassy denied it COMPLETELY but it concludes "BUT JUST YESTERDAY"­...but just yesterday?????

Who cares what he said he said yesterday or the misuderstanding that happened yesterday. It had been DENIED by Obama and the Canadian http://noquarterusa.net/blog/log/

This story is being pushed by people who are trying to paint Obama as untruthful. It said that

[trailrunner9]

Clinton campaign issued a complete denial and and free access of Candian Broadcast to check into it any way they want with the campaign and no person has been uncovered. Canadian Broadcasting did uncover Austan Goolsbee, senior economic advisor to Obama. We'll see. If it's got legs, it will be in the mainstream news eventually. Very disturbing though considering the message of his campaign being giving a voice back to the people if he's out there schmucking the voters while schmoozing with the insiders (special interests). And too, if this is true, he unequivocably lied in that debate, especially to the voters of Ohio that care so much about what NAFTA has done to their community.

Hillary Clinton once supported NAFTA. We know that. This is about Barack Obama - supposed a different kind of politician???

[uberlefty]

Its very disturbing indeed! The notion that someone would be so concerned about how we are perceived by the Canadians that they would call and let them know its all just politics. I am sure that the Canadians were taking a collective sigh of relief. This story is SO stupid that it tests the intelligence of anyone who repeats it. This is the kind of story that is impossible to deny and appeals to the kind of person who believes they are really intelligent. In fact they are actually kind of dim and frequently spoken laughingly of behind their backs. If anyone can demonstrate any credible motivation I might think that some rogue staff member made a call. I find it just as likely that someone from the McCain/ Clinton campaign called to create a scandal that appeals directly to the dim. By the way I am currently watching Hillary on the News Hour talking about "3 AM" and I have to say it is exactly the kind of stuff that appeals to the dim. This convinces me that this whole thing was her " little brain child ". Lets talk about real issues in this country not this BS.

[smustaro]

This is not Obama's first lie nor will it be his last. When he's busted, he justs says "it was boneheaded" smiles & walks on. I find it disturbing, on it's best spin.
Take this "FEAR" mongering Hillary is being accused of. Please, she runs a non-negative ad & he makes it negative. It's pathetic. Worse yet, he's got Mama Obama out giving Civil Rights inspired speeches about "fear" because his Muslim name was said. But they know that the 2 "dears" will get lumped together thus making his stupid toying with the "big-Boys" of the Republican parties to Hillary's ad & it will become HER problem with his name.
I'm sick to death of this mass lunacy defending him with the insane lengths these "mental slaves of Obama" go. He's crooked & dishonest. You people are electing a POLITICIAN. Get a clue!!!

[suec03]

This post concludes with a misleading ellipsis. Who are these unnamed sources at the highest levels of the Canadian government who are flatly contradicting the statement of the Canadian Embassy? Are these sources in Ottawa who are spreading hearsay about an alleged contact by the Obama campaign to the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC? A lot can get mangled between Ottawa and Washington. I checked the Canadian Embassy website, and they are still denying that any US presidential candidate's campaign has contacted them. The Canadian Embassy in Washington is NOT confirming the CTV story, but is instead refuting it.

[Mattie]

I agree, and I'm one democrat who won't be supporting this man. I've read many other Clinton supporters say the same. His supporters spew hate and trash and than think we will turn around and vote for Obama in the general. I don't think so, anyone who can inspire the kind of hate in people that Obama has, can't be a good person. Obama supporters insult first, last and always. Let's see how they do without the Clinton supporters, not so well I'm guessing.

[specultr]

I've never read so much vile, racist hatred as I have on Taylor Marsh's site. It's a good thing only about 25 people post there.

[ndolomar]

as much as anti-obama people want this story to be true. i highly doubt that in an age when information is available at the click of a mouse, rumors (or facts) can be spread across the world in a matter of minutes, gotcha politics are practiced as a general rule, and anyone in the world can infiltrate or be bought off -- that someone who is under 50, a harvard graduate and constitutional scholar, not to mention lawyer, would be so dumb as to tell someone in his campaign or even vocalize it (that is, if he actually does hold those beliefs and ctv is correct). if a call were placed and something did happend, it's not out of the realm of possibility that a rival campaign (or just an anti-obama person) made the call in an effort to mar his character. for, it seems weird to me that up until now the most damage anyone has done is repeating his middle name. it's not unlikely that his rivals would do whatever they feel is necessary to make obama look bad, even make up things. it's quite possible he's been vetted, and that there just isn't anything to "find."

[AnninCA]

LOL*......

The story named its source, and the source, from the US Canadian embassy reaffirmed the conversation.

And you want me to believe you're not another Obama fan who just can't believe your "God" lies?

[treadway123]

The trueth is easy . If it's not all over the media,new york times and etc. It is not true. No one would let a story this good go. Man look how fast and far they ran with him showing up in african garb on just a visit all senators do! You can bet this would be a big deal, makeing a big splash if this was true. So let's go to the next subject can we. Maybe how bad he dance's, or how good he can spar with mccain on the war. Maybe, how Clinton useing Bush's book of terrorist fear in her ad's to scare people into voteing for her. Or maybe how they are keeping bill out of public eye, and it's about time.

[wyorange]

RealClearPolitics has this article which names the Obama campaign official involved:

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2008/02/ctv_sticks_by_story.html

Don't know as I would quite as far as you about Obama followers. They certainly seem very unwilling to admit that is like our other politicians; i.e., certainly not perfect and has made mistakes and apparently has used his position in elected office for his benefit.

[nancy50]

The media sucks. I can't find anything on MSNBC or CNN on this topic. I want to know the truth - is Obama speaking out of both sides of his face or what? I think the voters in Ohio and Texas have a right to know before Tuesday. As of now I'm putting more faith in Canadian journalists than American propagandists.

[Mattie]

The main stream media in the US will never speak out against Obama, you will have to find another source for the truth

[BOfever]

The Republicans will let it all hang out, Obama will have to answer questions sooner or later.