OTTAWA -Jean Chrétien will interrupt his 11-day trip to Africa to lead the Canadian delegation to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother next Tuesday.
Mr. Chrétien and his wife, Aline, who is also on the African tour, will be flown by a Defence Department Challenger jet from South Africa, either next Monday or Tuesday, to London for the Westminster Abbey funeral. It is expected they will return to Ethiopia to resume the trip the same day as the funeral, or early the next, officials in the Prime Minister's Office said.
However, they will have to drop the Mozambique portion of what was to be a seven-nation tour. They will visit Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia and South Africa.
John Turner, the former Liberal prime minister, will represent Canada at the memorial service for Princess Margaret in London on April 19. Mr. Turner was a friend of the Princess, who died in February.
Mr. Chrétien, who hopes to make African aid the centrepiece of June's G8 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., will meet today in the Moroccan capital with Abderrahamane Youssoufi, the country's Prime Minister.
Mr. Chrétien is seeking support for a G8 plan to create a "most-favoured" list of African countries that would be rewarded with more aid money for introducing democratic and financial reforms.
"He has been very clear as to how we see the action plan working, and he does not hesitate to say that those who make the short list of 'best countries in Africa' will benefit," said a PMO official. "The intent is to suggest that if you believe you are not among those, you have to make the necessary changes so that you make the short list of those who will get beneficial treatment. He is clear, it is a question of human rights, justice, governance, good management of finances."
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