WE CAN'T WIN TERROR FIGHT ALONE: ENVOY

'Moron' Comment About Bush Not Very Damaging, U.S. Ambassador Says: To Do
Its Share, Canada Must Boost Military Spending, Cellucci Says

OTTAWA - Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, said yesterday
President George W. Bush will not back off his firm insistence that Canada
has a duty to dramatically increase its defence spending despite strongly
worded criticism from the Chretien government.

Mr. Cellucci said the United States needs Canada and its Western allies to
beef up military spending in the U.S.-led global campaign against
international terrorism, which threatens the North American continent.

"We cannot win this war against terrorism alone. We cannot defend North
America alone. We need a strong viable Canadian military. That's why we
have pushed and we will continue to push. The President is urging not just
Canada but other NATO allies to do their part," he said in an interview to
be broadcast tomorrow on Global Sunday.

"So we will continue to respectfully urge the Canadian government to do this."

At last month's NATO summit in Prague, John McCallum, Canada's Defence
Minister, lashed out at the President and Mr. Cellucci for their public
stand in calling on Canada to increase defence spending, including the
purchase of heavy-lift aircraft to transport troops.

Mr. McCallum said he was fed up with the Americans hectoring Canada about
its low defence expenditures even though he himself has been publicly
lobbying for greater military spending. Liberal MPs have also echoed Mr.
McCallum's views.

The Americans are unhappy that Canada has the third-lowest military budget
in the NATO alliance after Luxembourg and Iceland, which does not have a
military.

Mr. Bush has asked Canada and its NATO allies to increase spending on
special forces, better precision weapons and more modern command structures
in order to combat global terrorism and challenge rogue states, such as Iraq.

Lord George Robertson, the NATO Secretary-General, as well as the
Liberal-dominated defence committees of the House of Commons and the Senate
have also deplored Canada's $12-billion military budget, which represents
only 1.1% of gross domestic product spending, half the NATO alliance
average of 2.13%.

Officials close to Mr. Chretien say he is reluctant to approve a
substantial boost in spending for Canada's armed forces, preferring to pump
money from the federal surplus into health care and infrastructure
improvements for cities in the upcoming federal budget.

The U.S. ambassador echoed a warning by U.S. drug czar John Walters on
Thursday that border security could become a major irritant if the Liberal
government proceeds with the decriminalization of of marijuana, saying it
could lead to clogged borders that could seriously harm the Canadian economy.

A Commons committee has recommended the possession or cultivation of less
than 30 grams of marijuana be decriminalized.

"The fact is that already there is quite a bit of marijuana drugs coming
into the United States from Canada. We don't think that is a good thing,"
Mr. Cellucci said.

In the interview, Mr. Cellucci said Jean Chretien's relationship with Mr.
Bush has not been damaged by denigrating remarks made by the Prime
Minister's former communications director.

Francoise Ducros described Mr. Bush as a "moron" at the NATO summit, an
incident that Brian Mulroney, the former Conservative prime minister, has
said damaged Canada-U.S. relations.

But Mr. Cellucci said he respectfully disagreed with Mr. Mulroney's
assessment, although he acknowledged that Mr. Mulroney is a close friend of
Mr. Bush's father, the former president. Earlier this week, Mr. Mulroney
met with President Bush in the Oval Office along with Dick Cheney, the
Vice-President, Condoleezza Rice, the National Security adviser and Andrew
Card, the President's chief of staff.

"I don't think it was very damaging. It became a big news story here in
Canada and it got a little play on some of our cable shows back home, but I
know with the President and with the administration, it really hasn't had
any impact on the relationship," Mr. Cellucci said.

Despite claims from critics that Mr. Chretien has a frosty relationship
with the President, Mr. Cellucci insisted the two leaders are friends. He
accused the Canadian media of fabricating stories to suggest the two do not
get along.

"The chemistry is good. I know from talking with the President that he
likes Prime Minister Chretien. To me, this is just something that has been
fabricated by the media here and no matter what the facts are, they are
going to continue to say the opposite," he said.

Mr. Cellucci acknowledged the President has not invited Mr. Chretien to
either his Crawford, Tex., ranch or the Camp David presidential retreat in
Maryland, unlike other leaders such as Britain's Tony Blair, the Crown
Prince of Saudi Arabia and Mexican President Vicente Fox. But the
ambassador explained there are strategic reasons behind the invitations.

"I don't know why there is such a focus on whether you get invited to the
ranch or you get invited to Camp David. I mean, the President doesn't get
to the ranch that often and I think when he does, there may be some
strategic reasons for whom he decides he would be meeting with there," he said.