Slapping Canada Around

Was it an unfortunate case of poor timing and clerical errors, or a not-so-subtle dig at our neighbors to the North? Whichever the case, it seems that Canadian Defense Minister Bill Graham (not to be confused with Radical Christian Cleric Billy Graham) was nearly unable to board a flight to the United States this week because his name popped up on the "no fly" list of potential terror suspects.

OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- The U.S. embassy in Canada denied a newspaper story on Wednesday that said Canadian Defence Minister Bill Graham had trouble boarding a plane because his name was on a U.S. no-fly list designed to deter terrorists.

The Globe and Mail article said Graham had to wait while his staff found ways to vouch for his identity and ensure he made it on to the scheduled flight to the United States in January.

The U.S. reaction was one of swift denial. Then again, you can only get so much denial out of the normal "we don't comment on..." Bush chants. (This from a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman)

Asked whether Graham was on the no-fly list, which U.S. authorities also refer to as a watch list, she replied: "We don't talk about watch lists. We don't talk about individual cases."

This is particularly suspicious coming so close on the heels of Canada opting out of our super duper high tech star wars missile defense system. Personally, I thought that the Canadians were quite polite over the entire matter. Never once did they use any phrases like, "... couldn't hit the broad side of a barn" or, "dumping billions of dollars into an endless black hole."

Still, snubbing anything that Bush wants generally produces the same results - the back of the hand. It's a good thing that Canada doesn't have much of a military. Then again, after last night's episode of West Wing, you have to wonder. (In case you missed it, a group of American hunters cross over the border into Canada and wind up being taken hostage by a group of Canadians who begin making release demands.)