Prometheus 6   

Maybe Canada ain't a bad move after all

Chr�tien Leaves at Ease, Even if Bush Is Displeased
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

OTTAWA, Nov. 13 � The departing prime minister, Jean Chr�tien, defended keeping Canadian troops out of Iraq, pushing for gay marriage and liberalizing drug laws in an interview this week that made clear his lasting differences with the Bush administration.

"I don't think a kid of 17 years old who has a joint should have a criminal record," he said flatly on Monday in the broad-ranging interview in his elegant official residence as he prepared to retire after 10 years in office.

While careful not to gloat about his decision not to send Canadian troops to Iraq, Mr. Chr�tien, who is 69, was not apologetic either. "Of course he was not happy," he said, recalling President Bush's obvious displeasure. "I did not expect him to send me flowers."

Democracy would "take time to penetrate in the spirit of the people" in Iraq, he said. In the meantime, he advised giving a larger role to the United Nations, similar to that in Afghanistan, where Canada has 2,000 troops.

Mr. Chr�tien insisted that "relations are not bad at all" with the United States, and he still keeps a photograph of himself and President Bush in the foyer of his residence on the Ottawa River. But his positions left him clearly at odds with Washington on issues defining the core values of the two nations, ranging from Iraq and his support for the Kyoto climate treaty, to his proposed bills to expand marriage rights and decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.

Such stances may well mark Mr. Chr�tien in history as a social activist and a leader who helped define the Canadian character as separate from that of its powerful southern neighbor, a place that even he seemed surprised to inhabit.