Canada Government Officials

Canadian Ambassador Derek Burney in Los Angeles Tuesday called for prompt approval by Congress of a new clear air act, including a provision on acid rain, which he described as "the most divisive issue" between the United States and his country. Burney told The Times that congressional failure to enact a clean air act or a presidential veto of the measure would be a setback for the environment and relations between the United States and Canada.

It was the kind of faux pas disastrous to some politicians--or one that could, at minimum, assure ridicule for months. Prime Minister Jean Chretien was visiting Canadian troops on U.N. peacekeeping duty in the former Yugoslav federation last June when he was photographed striding purposefully through the ranks--wearing his regulation blue helmet backward. The gaffe, however, only seemed to endear the popular Chretien further to the Canadian public.

Liberal Party leader Jean Chretien took office as Canada's 20th prime minister Thursday and immediately set to work on economic problems that drove the Conservatives from power. He scheduled his first Cabinet meeting hours after being sworn in by Governor General Ramon John Hnatyshyn and hinted that one of his first tasks will be renegotiating terms of a North American free trade zone. He also canceled contracts for British-Italian military helicopters worth $4.8 billion Canadian ($3.

No solution to Canada's growing constitutional and linguistic problems emerged Monday as Prime Minister Brian Mulroney completed a second day of make-or-break talks with this country's 10 provincial premiers. Months of debate over a package of constitutional amendments has awakened such sharp bitterness over language issues in Canada that some analysts fear the country could finally split into French and English-speaking sub-states, as it last threatened to do 10 years ago.

The mood in Canada has swung from hope to discouragement and even cynicism as the nation's top leaders Friday wrapped up a full week of closed-door talks on its constitution with little yet to show for their efforts. Late Friday evening, premiers emerged from yet another marathon session claiming they had an agreement in principle--but they added that there were still some stumbling blocks, and hopes were dashed once again, as they already have several times this week.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien abruptly forced the resignation Friday of his beleaguered defense minister, David M. Collenette, ostensibly for having inappropriately interfered with an immigration case. Chretien said he was extremely sorry to accept the resignation of his longtime friend and political ally but added: "I told him that I hope soon I'll be in a position to take him back into my Cabinet."

U.S. failure to force Gen. Manuel A. Noriega from power in Panama has destroyed Central American nations' confidence that Washington can protect the region and solve its problems, a former speaker of Canada's House of Commons said Thursday. John Bosley, former leader of Canada's ruling Progressive Conservative Party, was one of six members of a Canadian parliamentary committee that recently visited six Latin American countries in search of ideas to promote peace in the region.

Key talks on reshaping the Canadian constitution were on the brink of collapse at the end of a marathon session Thursday, as Quebec's provincial Premier Robert Bourassa announced that he would no longer participate in any discussion of Quebec's "distinct" role within the nation. The so-called distinct-society constitutional clause has been a central element of this week's talks, and it is hard to see how the other negotiators can proceed without Bourassa.