This was the lead story in the Saturday, February 26, 2005 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
(Note this previous post discussing the transboundary waters issue in the overall diplomatic context of current relations between the U.S. and Canada. See also this less than dispassionate CBC article.)
A razor-sharp buzz saw, tipped with teeth shaped like patriotic maple leafs, cut into U.S. Sen. Max Baucus the minute he stepped into Fernie, B.C., on Friday.
Baucus, a Montana Democrat, traveled to Fernie to discuss a Canadian coal mine proposal, a plan he said would "have no economic benefits - only environmental consequences - for Montana."
But what greeted Baucus was a crowd of more than two dozen irate Canadians, all waving their national flag and shifting the focus from coal to softwood timber tariffs, from mining waste to cattle imports and, perhaps most of all, to what not a few called "American arrogance."
By day's end, however, Baucus appeared to have outlasted his critics and achieved much of what he came for - namely the beginnings of a transboundary coalition that would serve as an information conduit between the two countries.
Read the entire article . . .