Canadians sound off against Clinton

Canadians sounded off against Clinton this weekend after she irked them about three issues during her visit last week: 1) urging Canada to include abortion in its global-health plan to improve maternal mortality, 2) appealing on TV for Canadian troops to stay in Afghanistan after their planned 2011 withdrawal date, and 3) criticizing Canada’s failure to invite indigenous groups and some Scandinavian countries to a meeting about the future of the Arctic.

The Toronto Star, for example, ran a series of angry letters to the editor under the headline “Hillary reprises ‘Ugly American’ at G8 summit,” and a letter in the National Post accused Clinton of hypocrisy on the issue of government funding of abortion overseas.

Well, Clinton at least appears to enjoy Canada’s maple-syrup toffee, which she savored with Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband on March 30 in  Gatineau, Quebec, as shown below. (In the photo above, Clinton and Miliband are thoughtful listeners during a March 30 news conference of G-8 foreign ministers at the Château Cartier.)