Summary
Clinton's spokesman says a newly surfaced memo proves that Obama's campaign issued false denials about sending a private message to Canadian officials to disregard his criticisms of NAFTA. The Obama camp says it's all a misunderstanding, and the Canadian embassy in Washington says it regrets the whole thing.
Is this "NAFTA-gate" as the Clinton campaign would like Ohio voters to believe when they vote in the March 4 primary? Or is it, as the Obama camp describes it, just a botched description by a low-level official in Canada's Chicago office of a meeting with a senior Obama adviser?
It's now clear that a Canadian news report that started this flap wasn't accurate. No evidence has surfaced to show that any Obama "staffer" telephoned the Canadian ambassador in Washington, and all concerned deny that any such conversation took place. But it is equally clear that Obama's senior economic adviser did visit Canada's consulate in Chicago on Feb. 8, and that NAFTA was one of the several topics discussed.
Wednesday, March 5: The Canadian Press news agency reports that the whole controversy originated with a remark to several journalists by the prime minister's chief of staff, Ian Brodie. He allegedly said that a representative of the Clinton campaign had called the Canadian embassy in D.C. to say her anti-NAFTA comments shouldn't be taken at face value.
Thea Lee, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. policy director, said that the workers federation would have preferred “more definitive” language on addressing key labor concerns, but that it was understandable for a new administration to start its review with a less confrontational approach.
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