Canadian MP Won't Recant Remarks

An 'Idiots' Defense
Liberal MP sticks to guns on anti-American remark
By MARIA McCLINTOCK -- Sun Media
OTTAWA -- Outspoken Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish rejected a call from Prime Minister Paul Martin that she retract her "coalition of the idiots" remark. Instead, Parrish who got into hot water last year for calling Americans "bastards" -- stood by the anti-American, anti-missile defence rant she delivered at a Parliament Hill rally Wednesday.
"I respect (Paul Martin) incredibly. I gave it a great deal of thought but I won't be withdrawing (the comments)," Parrish said yesterday.
"The word has a proper definition. It's ignorance, it's lack of knowledge, it's lack of common sense. With this project called missile defence, we only have George Bush's word for it -- that it's even on the drawing board and would possibly ever work ... why would you enter into something like that? I don't think the word is that strong."
Parrish's comments prompted a backlash from Liberal cabinet ministers.
WON'T ZIP HER LIPS
Immigration Minister Judy Sgro said Parrish should have "kept her mouth shut."
Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew agreed, calling the comments "completely unacceptable."
But Parrish said that zipping her lips is not "something that 28,000 people in my riding elected me to do."
For the second straight day Martin called the comments unacceptable -- especially when the federal government is in negotiations with the U.S. over Canada's involvement in the missile defence program.
"I think they should be withdrawn but the fundamental fact is that this is too important a debate to be derailed by those kinds of comments," Martin said, adding he spoke to Parrish Wednesday.
Conservative MP Stockwell Day said Parrish's comments are another black eye for Canada-U.S. relations. "Mr. Martin made a promise to improve Canada-U.S. relations. This is his first big test," said Day, the party's foreign affairs critic. "Unless Paul Martin can show Canadians and our friends in the U.S. that he is serious about ending these attitudes in the Liberal Party ... he sends a message that he shares those attitudes."

maria.mcclintock@tor.sunpub.com