Chretien rebukes Vietnam over Canadian's execution OTTAWA - Canada suspended all ministerial contacts with Vietnam yesterday as Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister, delivered a scathing indictment of Hanoi's execution of a Canadian woman convicted of heroin smuggling. The prime minister told the House of Commons that Canada "absolutely condemns" the April 24 execution of Nguyen Thi Hiep, a Toronto-area seamstress who was convicted in 1997 of smuggling 5.4 kilograms of heroin at Hanoi's main airport a year earlier. "We deplore this absolutely unacceptable conduct of the government of Vietnam. We have made all the steps possible to make sure that they understand such actions cannot be acceptable," Mr. Chretien said. Later Maria Minna, the International Co-operation Minister, said Canada had suspended all ministerial-level contact with Vietnam and is reviewing its relations with that country because of the execution by firing squad. "I am also indefinitely postponing upcoming consultations on existing development assistance and future programming in Vietnam," she told MPs. "The Vietnam authorities have not responded to any of the concerns that have been raised by the government and we remain completely unsatisfied with the official pronouncements." The federal government said it will cancel negotiations scheduled for June in Hanoi to discuss future development aid to Vietnam. Canada currently provides about $16-million a year for various programs, which include assistance for technology training, protecting the environment and alleviating poverty. But Ms. Minna conceded that Canada is reluctant to cut off humanitarian aid because it would punish impoverished Vietnamese who are not to blame for Ms. Nguyen's death. Existing programs are not immediately affected, nor is humanitarian aid that Canada donates through international arrangements with other countries, such as providing money for food. Ms. Minna said Canada has also requested that Vietnam return the remains of Ms. Nguyen to her family in Brampton, Ont. Canada has also requested the release of Ms. Nguyen's mother, Tran Thi Cam, who is still in jail. She was given a life sentence. The Canadian government is growing increasingly angry that eight days after Ms. Nguyen's execution, Vietnamese authorities still have not answered Canada's questions on why she was put to death in secret just two months after Canadian authorities sent evidence to Vietnam that she might have been tricked into carrying drugs. In a brief public statement, Vietnam's foreign ministry dismissed Canada's concerns as carrying no legal weight compared to the fair public court hearing that sent Ms. Nguyen to death row in 1997. Despite Mr. Chretien's strong criticism of Vietnam, Peter MacKay, the Conservative House leader, attacked the prime minister for not personally intervening on behalf of Ms. Nguyen. He pointed out that Bill Clinton, the U.S. President, had tried to save the woman's life, and then Mr. MacKay asked: "Why did the prime minister not do the same thing -- pick up the phone and extend a lifeline to a Canadian citizen?" Mr. Chretien did not respond to the direct question but used the opportunity to recount the talks he held with Mr. Clinton over a four-hour golf game in Washington on Saturday. The prime minister said he told the president and Sandy Berger, the U.S. National Security Advisor, about his recent trip to the Middle East and assured the House that the Americans were "very happy" with the 12-day mission. By Robert Fife - National Post - May 2, 2000.