CALLS TO BOYCOTT A U.S. BASH.
OTTAWA • You know there’s something amiss when a handful of high-profile Ottawa journalists and politicians wilfully — publicly, even — decide to miss out on free refreshments.
On Canada Day, the government’s retaliatory tariffs, which come in response to the United States levying new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum imports, come into effect. And just three days later, on American Independence Day, some of Ottawa’s chattering class have decided to make a political statement of their own — by declining invitations to attend a bash hosted by the representative of President Donald Trump.
The invitations, touting Kentuckian hospitality in honour of Ambassador Kelly Knight Craft’s home state, say guests can come to her residence and enjoy Kentucky bourbon. As CTV Ottawa’s chief news anchor, Graham Richardson, noted in a tweet he has since deleted, which explained his reason for skipping the party, American whiskey is specifically targeted by the new Canadian tariffs.
“I politely declined because I’m not happy with the direction of the American government and their constant attacks on our country,” Ottawa mayor Jim Watson said at city hall Wednesday, before later adding in a television interview with CTV, “I would encourage other people to think long and hard about whether they should go as well, given the poor way we have been treated by what is traditionally a friend of our country and our people.”
Catherine Clark, the daughter of former prime minister Joe Clark and president of Catherine Clark Communications, said she has regularly attended for more than a decade, though she didn’t receive an invitation this year.
“This year, I spoke with several people who are high profile in the community, all of whom have attended in the past, and we agreed that, were we to be included, we would politely decline the invitation,” she said. “This was not because we were trying to be rude, but because it would be disingenuous to accept the hospitality of a country that has, amongst other things, taken recent stands that will hurt Canadian industry and hurt Canadians.”
An official from the Prime Minister’s Office, who would only provide information under the condition that they not be named, said the prime minister is not attending — he didn’t last year, either — and cabinet ministers were “all deciding for themselves if they’re going to go.”
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Adam Austen, confirmed she won’t attend because she is travelling, but said her parliamentary secretary for Canada-u.s. relations, Andrew Leslie, will be there. He’s the main government representative, the PMO official said. Neither Trade Minister François-philippe Champagne nor Transport Minister Marc Garneau, the “guest of honour” at last year’s party, are attending, their offices said.
Conservative Party MPS including deputy leader Lisa Raitt and foreign affairs critic Erin O’toole plan to attend. Raitt said on Wednesday that she was making a point to travel back to Ottawa specifically for the event. “I did it because now is the time to have open lines of communication with our friends in the United States,” she said. No NDP MPS are going, a party press secretary said, but she couldn’t confirm if any of them had been invited.