Oh, right, the Canadian election!

Sean McCormackJust about every day, Sean McCormack (left), spokesman for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, holds a Q & A session with reporters who cover the State Department or who have a specific interest in the relationship between the U.S. and one or more countries in the world. And so it was that, at his briefing on Jan. 24, McCormack was asked about the results of the Canadian federal election. The transcript — provided by the State Department — of his remarks follows below. Nothing earth-shattering in it but an interesting exchange nonetheless:

QUESTION: Change of subject? Any parting words for Paul Martin?

 MR. MCCORMACK: You caught me off guard there for a second.

 QUESTION: He's not dead. But he's gone.

 MR. MCCORMACK: Shocking. You know, the Canadian elections have taken place. The
 Canadian people have spoken, and the — I believe that there's going to be a
 new government in Canada led by Mr. Harper. We look forward to working with Mr.
 Harper and his government, just as we would look forward to working with all —
 any Canadian government. Canada is a good friend, a good friend and ally, and
 we look forward to strengthening our already strong bonds, and that we
 certainly wish Mr. Martin well. I believe that he's going to continue to
 participate in political life. We had a good working relationship with the
<!–D(["mb","  Prime Minister. The Secretary went to Ottawa just a short time ago, a couple
 months ago. She had good meetings with him there. And that certainly his voice
 will continue to be heard in Canada.

 QUESTION: But the new government is already — has already spoken openly about
 trying to improve relations with the United States, not that they\'re not great,
 but that of course you can always improve, right? So is that something that you
 believe will happen, that these already strong bonds will be strengthened with
 Mr. Harper\'s arrival?

 MR. MCCORMACK: You know, again, we look forward to working with — working with
 the new government. If there are opportunities to work on areas, resolve areas
 of disagreement, of course we look forward to doing that. That\'s something that
 we worked with Prime Minister Martin\'s government on as well. In any
 relationship that\'s this close and this important, you\'re going to have areas
 of disagreement. We talk in an open manner about those areas of disagreement.
 We talk in an atmosphere of mutual respect about those areas of disagreement.

 And I expect that over the coming months and years there are going to be issues
 which we can work well with the Canadian Government on and there are going to
 be areas where we continue to have differences. So we\'ll see. We look forward
 to working with Mr. Harper\'s government and look forward to building on the
 already strong foundation that we have.

 QUESTION: Do you think the missile defense question may be reopened under a
 Harper government?

 MR. MCCORMACK: We\'ll see. We think that, you know, our views — our views on
 missile defense cooperation are well known. If it\'s something that the Canadian
 Government wants to talk about, I think of course we\'d be open to talking about
“,1]);//–> Prime Minister. The Secretary went to Ottawa just a short time ago, a couple
 months ago. She had good meetings with him there. And that certainly his voice
 will continue to be heard in Canada.

 QUESTION: But the new government is already — has already spoken openly about
 trying to improve relations with the United States, not that they're not great,
 but that of course you can always improve, right? So is that something that you
 believe will happen, that these already strong bonds will be strengthened with
 Mr. Harper's arrival?

 MR. MCCORMACK: You know, again, we look forward to working with — working with
 the new government. If there are opportunities to work on areas, resolve areas
 of disagreement, of course we look forward to doing that. That's something that
 we worked with Prime Minister Martin's government on as well. In any
 relationship that's this close and this important, you're going to have areas
 of disagreement. We talk in an open manner about those areas of disagreement.
 We talk in an atmosphere of mutual respect about those areas of disagreement.

 And I expect that over the coming months and years there are going to be issues
 which we can work well with the Canadian Government on and there are going to
 be areas where we continue to have differences. So we'll see. We look forward
 to working with Mr. Harper's government and look forward to building on the
 already strong foundation that we have.

 QUESTION: Do you think the missile defense question may be reopened under a
 Harper government?

 MR. MCCORMACK: We'll see. We think that, you know, our views — our views on
 missile defense cooperation are well known. If it's something that the Canadian
 Government wants to talk about, I think of course we'd be open to talking about
<!–D(["mb","  it.

 QUESTION: Would you initiate that in any way or ask for a reconsideration?

 MR. MCCORMACK: I\'m not sure that it\'s something that we would raise. I think we
 certainly remain open to talking about that as well as other issues.

 Yes.

 QUESTION: President Bush will meet on Friday with Lebanon member of parliament
 Saad Hariri. Is Secretary Rice expecting to meet with Mr. Hariri and can you
 tell us anything about this visit and the timing of it?

 MR. MCCORMACK: I believe — I have to check her schedule, but I believe she is
 going to be meeting with him. I\'ll double-check that for you.

 QUESTION: Okay. Can I have one more question?

 MR. MCCORMACK: Mm-hmm.

 QUESTION: President Assad of Syria gave an important speech, I think last
 Friday, and he said he will not allow any demarcation of borders between Syria
 and Lebanon because this will serve the interests of Israel. And another issue,
 he said that he will not accept giving an interview to the UN investigating
 team in the assassination of Hariri because the sovereignty of Syria, as he
 said, is more important than or beyond any resolution from the Security
 Council. Do you have any reaction to this?

 MR. MCCORMACK: Well, on the second of those, 1636, which compels Syria to
 cooperate with the UNIIC investigation, is a Chapter 7 resolution. What that
 means is it is required — it\'s not optional — for states under Chapter 7
 resolutions to comply with the terms of those resolutions. We continue to urge
 Syria to comply with all aspects of 1636 an
d 1595. To date, they have not fully
 cooperated. That is, I believe, a source of disappointment, shall I say, among
 the members of the international community.

 Syria has also failed to comply with all aspects of Resolution 1559. There was
“,1]);//–> it.

 QUESTION: Would you initiate that in any way or ask for a reconsideration?

 MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not sure that it's something that we would raise. I think we
 certainly remain open to talking about that as well as other issues.

 Yes.

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