Under the Maple Leaf: Canada's Iraq pitch

True to its reputation as an international peacekeeper, Canada is quietly working behind the scenes to broker a new deal for Iraq.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien has been burning up the phone lines, pitching the proposal to his counterparts in Germany, Russia, France and Mexico.

All four countries sit on the United Nations Security Council, but Canada does not.

Mexico, which holds similar views on the Iraq crisis, would reportedly present Ottawa's proposal to the council.

The plan would set a mid-April deadline for Iraq to disarm, and clearly define the consequences if it doesn't.

Chretien's hope, it seems, is to stop the United Nations from tearing itself part while faced with the looming threat of war.

"It is obvious to him that the U.N. is pretty damned divided," a senior Canadian official told the Globe and Mail newspaper, "and the consequences of this division, if it persists, is going to be very, very serious."

Chretien is expected to discuss the issue further when he meets Mexican President Vicente Fox in Mexico City next week.

But the Canadian proposal may be sidetracked by Washington's call for the United Nations to adopt a second resolution on Iraq. It's also expected next week.

Chretien's Liberal Party, meanwhile, may soon need a peacekeeping effort of its own.

A would-be candidate to replace Chretien after he steps down next year is accusing his main rival of essentially rigging the party's leadership campaign rules.

Finance Minister John Manley is upset with Liberal rules that limit the number of new members any candidate can sign up at one time.

He didn't name former finance minister Paul Martin as the culprit, but Martin supporters control many levels of the party's organization and are apparently resisting a rule change.

Manley is now suggesting the federal elections watchdog should oversee what could be an undemocratic leadership race.

Political peacekeeping would certainly be a new role for Elections Canada, Ottawa's version of the U.S. Federal Election Commission.

Both Manley and Martin have yet to officially launch their leadership campaigns, but the spat is a sure sign of a nasty party split likely to worsen in the months ahead.

The Liberals will choose their new leader at a convention in Toronto November. 15. Chretien won't step down, though, until February 2004.

Another province, another threat to separate?

Well, maybe.

The Alberta government dropped a minor bombshell this week when it opened the new session of the legislature, claiming the province's "ability to be a partner in Canada is compromised by the current federal government."

Ottawa, the government added in its traditional Speech from the Throne, "often does not listen to the people of this province."

Strong words, indeed.

But Premier Ralph Klein says anyone who interprets the remarks as a threat to separate is "taking a lot of poetic license or is reading a lot into it that simply isn't there."

Still, Klein admits some members of his provincial Conservative Party want to raise the idea at its convention next month.

Alberta separatists have drafted a resolution calling for a referendum on issue, but party executives are trying to stop it from being debated at the convention.