Bush to set date for ending beef ban: Pettigrew
CTV.ca News Staff
U.S. President George Bush is expected to announce a timetable to reopen the border to cattle products when he visits Canada, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew told CTV's Question Period on Sunday.
However, his office later in the day issued a statement saying Pettigrew's comments may have been misunderstood.
Speaking on CTV, Pettigrew said he expects Bush to settle the cross-border beef issue when he visits next week, and sounded hopeful that the timetable that emerges could be under six months.
Pettigrew pointed to comments made by Bush at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference summit last week in Santiago, Chile. There, the U.S. President pledged a new timeline for resolving the trade dispute of about five months.
CTV's Mike Duffy asked Pettigrew: "So we'll see that in the president's remarks on Tuesday?"
"Indeed. Very much looking forward to resolving that one. And hopefully we'll be able to make progress on softwood lumber as well," Pettigrew responded.
But later on Sunday, Foreign Affairs spokesman Sebastien Theberge said the government is not expecting an announcement this week on lifting the ban.
Instead, Theberge said the issue remains in the hands of U.S. regulators and that Canada will do all it can to keep up pressure to re-open the border.
Canadian beef producers estimate they've lost more than $4 billion since a BSE-infected cow was found in Alberta back in May 2003.
Bush won't be just talking about Canadian beef. Sources tell CTV News he'll also be eating it, as a special dinner in Ottawa Tuesday night in his honour at Ottawa's Museum of Civilization.
This is Bush's first bilateral visit to Canada. He never made an official visit, but did attend a G-8 summit in Alberta, and a Summit of the Americas in Quebec City during his first term.
When he sits down with Prime Minister Paul Martin next week, the agenda will include not only trade issues, but also border security, the Middle East, and even the Great Lakes.
The talks will take place over a working lunch that will also include key cabinet ministers, such as deputy prime minister Anne McLellan and Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. national security advisor.
Rice is to replace U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell when he steps down in January.
One topic not expected to come up Tuesday is the U.S. ballistic missile-defence system.
However, many protesters are expected to sound off on that issue, as well as many others, during the much-anticipated visit.
Bush will fly to Halifax on Wednesday, where the U.S. President will thank Atlantic Canadians who opened their homes to stranded Americans following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.
Here is a transcript of the exchange between Question Period host Mike Duffy and Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew on BSE:
DUFFY: Speaking of timetables, what about the opening of the border because of the BSE situation?
PETTIGREW: Well, we've been given signals that the President will be proposing a timetable, that it could be less than six months, and with clear commitments on the part of the United States. So hope very much, of course, that will be the good news on Tuesday.
DUFFY: So he would give us a timetable so our farmers and our beef producers would know that on June the 1st or some fixed date rather than just some date in the air.
PETTIGREW: That's what I understand from the Santiago meeting during the APEC meeting.
DUFFY: He said that he would give us a firm date?
PETTIGREW: That's what I understand, a timetable, yeah.
DUFFY: So we'll see that in the President's remarks on Tuesday.
PETTIGREW: Indeed. Very much looking forward to resolve that one, and hopefully we'll be able to make progress on the softwood lumber as well.
Take care.
CTV.ca News Staff
U.S. President George Bush is expected to announce a timetable to reopen the border to cattle products when he visits Canada, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew told CTV's Question Period on Sunday.
However, his office later in the day issued a statement saying Pettigrew's comments may have been misunderstood.
Speaking on CTV, Pettigrew said he expects Bush to settle the cross-border beef issue when he visits next week, and sounded hopeful that the timetable that emerges could be under six months.
Pettigrew pointed to comments made by Bush at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference summit last week in Santiago, Chile. There, the U.S. President pledged a new timeline for resolving the trade dispute of about five months.
CTV's Mike Duffy asked Pettigrew: "So we'll see that in the president's remarks on Tuesday?"
"Indeed. Very much looking forward to resolving that one. And hopefully we'll be able to make progress on softwood lumber as well," Pettigrew responded.
But later on Sunday, Foreign Affairs spokesman Sebastien Theberge said the government is not expecting an announcement this week on lifting the ban.
Instead, Theberge said the issue remains in the hands of U.S. regulators and that Canada will do all it can to keep up pressure to re-open the border.
Canadian beef producers estimate they've lost more than $4 billion since a BSE-infected cow was found in Alberta back in May 2003.
Bush won't be just talking about Canadian beef. Sources tell CTV News he'll also be eating it, as a special dinner in Ottawa Tuesday night in his honour at Ottawa's Museum of Civilization.
This is Bush's first bilateral visit to Canada. He never made an official visit, but did attend a G-8 summit in Alberta, and a Summit of the Americas in Quebec City during his first term.
When he sits down with Prime Minister Paul Martin next week, the agenda will include not only trade issues, but also border security, the Middle East, and even the Great Lakes.
The talks will take place over a working lunch that will also include key cabinet ministers, such as deputy prime minister Anne McLellan and Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. national security advisor.
Rice is to replace U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell when he steps down in January.
One topic not expected to come up Tuesday is the U.S. ballistic missile-defence system.
However, many protesters are expected to sound off on that issue, as well as many others, during the much-anticipated visit.
Bush will fly to Halifax on Wednesday, where the U.S. President will thank Atlantic Canadians who opened their homes to stranded Americans following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.
Here is a transcript of the exchange between Question Period host Mike Duffy and Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew on BSE:
DUFFY: Speaking of timetables, what about the opening of the border because of the BSE situation?
PETTIGREW: Well, we've been given signals that the President will be proposing a timetable, that it could be less than six months, and with clear commitments on the part of the United States. So hope very much, of course, that will be the good news on Tuesday.
DUFFY: So he would give us a timetable so our farmers and our beef producers would know that on June the 1st or some fixed date rather than just some date in the air.
PETTIGREW: That's what I understand from the Santiago meeting during the APEC meeting.
DUFFY: He said that he would give us a firm date?
PETTIGREW: That's what I understand, a timetable, yeah.
DUFFY: So we'll see that in the President's remarks on Tuesday.
PETTIGREW: Indeed. Very much looking forward to resolve that one, and hopefully we'll be able to make progress on the softwood lumber as well.
Take care.
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