News

VANCOUVER – Jean Chrétien says he locked horns with political rivals and the occasional protester but never a private citizen.

The former Liberal prime minister was reacting to aggressive Harper Conservative attack on TD Bank chief executive Ed Clark over his suggestions that raising taxes is the best way to reduce Canada’s huge federal deficit.

Referring to the 1996 incident in which he pushed a protester out of the way during a Flag Day celebration in Quebec, Mr. Chrétien told The Globe today: “You know I took on the politicians and the protesters, and grabbed them by the throat, but I never attacked individuals for expressing economic views. ... I did not do that.”

Mr. Chrétien and his wife, Aline, are here for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games. He was prime minister when Vancouver won its bid; in fact, he travelled at the last minute to Prague – where the bid was being decided – to lobby for Vancouver.

The couple is also hoping to see some figure skating, speed skating and the mogul skiing tomorrow.

The controversy over the criticism of Mr. Clark surfaced this week after the Conservatives reacted to a statements by the highly-regarded bank executive. Mr. Clark said Prime Minister Stephen Harper isn’t listening to the overwhelming view of Canadian CEOs that tax increases are the best way to reduce the record deficit.

The Conservatives sent out an internal e-mail titled “Millionaire Ignatieff Economic Czar Calls for Higher Taxes.” Increasingly, Mr. Harper’s team is trying to link anyone who calls for higher taxes to Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals.

“We can be pretty sure that in the coming months he will use the statements from his well-heeled economic advisers to justify his plans for massive new tax hikes on working- and middle-class Canadians,” the Tory e-mail said, adding that Mr. Clark earned $11-million in 2009. “He can afford higher taxes. Can you?”

Mr. Ignatieff has ruled out raising taxes. And he has asked the Prime Minister to apologize to Mr. Clark, criticizing the Tories for attacking private citizens.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chrétien said that although his government did it, it’s not easy to bring federal finances back into the black.

“We managed to balance the books when I was prime minister and to reduce the deficit and have surplus and reducing taxes … So I hope he will try to do as well as we have done."

“But it’s not easy to go there, he will find,” Mr. Chrétien said, adding that he is “out of [politics] so I don’t want to criticize him.”

“We’ll see what he does and after that we’ll tell you,” he said. “It is his problem, it’s not mine.”

Mr. Chrétien noted that his government, in fighting the deficit, had to make deep cuts and “let go 60,000 bureaucrats.”

Those decisions weren’t without controversy, he added, but “we survived and we won the election.”

Still popular after having retired from politics in 2003, it took Mr. Chrétien more than 30 minutes to get out of the Vancouver airport as he kept being stopped by well-wishers.

(File photo: Reuters)