John Manley, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This is a partial transcript from Your World with Neil Cavuto, September 25, 2002, that was edited for clarity. Click here for complete access to all of Neil Cavuto's CEO interviews.
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NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Well, they are our neighbor and ally to the north, but they are by no in lockstep with the U.S. on many economic and foreign policy issues, including Iraq. Joining me now for a very rare interview, Canada's deputy prime minister and finance minister John Manley.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Welcome, Minister, very good to have you.
JOHN MANLEY, CANADIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.
CAVUTO: All right, let's talk about Iraq first, since that seems to be a bone of contention between us. What is the deal there?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MANLEY: Well, you know, it's not really a bone of contention. When the prime minister and President Bush met in Detroit a couple of weeks ago, we certainly urged on him to use the United Nations as the basis for action in Iraq. Canada was in the Gulf War. We sent troops to the Gulf War. We have been supportive of the enforcement of the no-fly zones for all these years. We've supported all of the U.N. resolutions. And the president's speech to the United Nations was very well-received by our government.
CAVUTO: Was it enough received or well-received enough, I should say, to get you to change your mind?
MANLEY: Well, there is no mind to change at this point, Neil.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CAVUTO: Well, you are against participation unless we get U.N. approval, right?
MANLEY: No. We are supporting you in trying to get a strong resolution from the Security Council. And we're urging.
CAVUTO: And if we do not get that?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MANLEY: Well, I think that is another if that we will have to deal with at the time. But in the meantime, we think it is important to use the international framework of law as a basis for this kind of intervention. After all, without it, what you do is you create precedent for other countries intervening in other states at other times when they may have a reason that people in America or elsewhere think is less plausible.
CAVUTO: Is it so bad, minister, the talk was that after Gerhard Schroeder was re-elected in Germany, our president didn't even call him to congratulate him because he was so ticked off about Germany's lack of support on Iraq. Is it that bad with us and Canada?
MANLEY: Absolutely not. The prime minister and the president had a very good meeting in Detroit just a couple of weeks ago. And I think we've been very constructive in trying to urge on other members of the Security Council. We're not on the Security Council at the moment, but urging a strong resolution to come forward. And that then gives the U.S. and it gives other allies the tools that are needed to first try to get inspectors in, that would be a useful first step, but secondly to enforce the resolutions if that is what it comes to.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CAVUTO: All right. Let's talk a little bit about the Canadian economy. People ignore it in this country and they don't realize the changes that are going on just north of us. Does that bother you?
MANLEY: Doesn't bother me. You just keep buying the goods that we produce and I am happy.
CAVUTO: Well, we still have that currency differential where a dollar is so much stronger than yours that a lot of Americans go there just for the sake of that.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MANLEY: I know, and they're very welcome. You have come on.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Many, many a time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MANLEY: You're very welcome. It's a great place. And the dollar is only 63 cents right now which means it's a real bargain for you. But at the same time, we've seen real growth in the Canadian economy, even in the slowdown last year in the U.S. We didn't go into recession. We had a net job growth even in the slowdown year.
CAVUTO: And you are not in the serious funk that we are in. You are holding up economically and market-wise better than we are by comparison, what do you think that the deal is there?
MANLEY: Well, I think that there are a number of factors that are there. I think that the U.S. was more profoundly affected in, I guess you might call it psychological terms, by two things. One is 9/11 and the other is the crash in the stock markets. I think that's had a more profound affect here. I think at the same time we are definitely aided by the fact that our exports are relatively cheap going into the United States because of the exchange rate, that is not an advantage you can rely on indefinitely, but it happens to be there at the moment. And finally, I think we've been making real gains in increasing productivity, lowering taxes, building an economic climate that's helped our economy to grow.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CAVUTO: All right. Am I looking at a future prime minister here?
MANLEY: Of Canada?
CAVUTO: Yes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MANLEY: Well, you never know.
CAVUTO: Yes. John Manley, thank you very much, the Canadian deputy prime minister, finance minister and who knows?
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