Being wrong doesn't mean she's not right, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday as she refused to apologize for saying that five Pakistani immigrants may have slipped in from Canada because of lax border security.
A U.S.-wide security alert for the five men was called off when it turned out the whole brouhaha was a hoax.
Ms. Clinton, in a statement released yesterday, ignored demands from Canada's Immigration Minister Denis Coderre that she apologize for saying the five men may have entered New York state from Ontario using false documents.
Instead, Ms. Clinton insisted that because of "real deficiencies in security along our northern border, . . . this hoax seemed all too believable."
Mr. Coderre had complained that Ms. Clinton and others had "unfairly tarnished" Canada's reputation and demanded an apology from "those who didn't check their facts."
But an unrepentant Ms. Clinton, who has long demanded tighter security and more border guards along the Canadian-U.S. border, said: "I will continue to do so.
"As a member of the U.S. Senate representing New York, I take very seriously my responsibility to speak out about the U.S. government's responsibility to allocate increased resources to the protection of our northern border," she said. Among other measures, Ms. Clinton wants U.S. President George W. Bush to appoint a northern border czar to deal with Ottawa on border issues.
A widespread perception persists among Americans that terrorists use Canada as an easy route to enter the United States despite significant joint efforts to exchange information and tighten controls at crossing points since the terrorists attacks of Sept 11, 2001. None of the 19 suicide hijackers in those attacks had entered from Canada.
Ms. Clinton has praised recent Canadian-U.S. border efforts but says more are needed.
"Anyone who knows upstate New York is aware there are many, many places that are unpatrolled, unsupervised," she said on New Year's Eve as a nationwide dragnet was under way for the five men who had supposedly infiltrated the United States.
"A serious terrorist intent on doing us harm could cross our border in many, many places."
Yesterday, Mr. Coderre criticized her refusal to apologize.
"She doesn't get it," he said. "If she doesn't want to apologize to Canadians for tarnishing the country's image, that's fine. I've said what I have to say. The issue is this: We need to be sure we are dealing with facts and not spinning our wheels chasing down misperceptions."
He said Ms. Clinton is feeding the perception in the United States that Canada is the weak link on the North American security perimeter.
"The time has come to stop fuelling myths. It is vital to Canada's interest to maintain a safe and secure border," he said. "That's why we have invested $600-million since 9/11 on border security."