Bush deviated sharply from the formal agenda of his first official visit to
Canada by baldly requesting Canadian participation in a continental missile defence program that successive Liberal governments have been ducking for years.

"I hope we'll also move forward on ballistic missile defence co-operation to protect the next generation of Canadians and Americans from the threats we know will arise," Bush said during a speech that delivered a blueprint for American foreign policy over the president's second term.

With Paul Martin sharing the podium at Halifax's Pier 21, the president couched his demand in the wartime rhetoric of former prime minister Mackenzie King, who said Canadians must confront their enemies before they reach our shores.

"'We cannot defend our country and save our homes and families by waiting for the enemy to attack us,"' Bush said, quoting comments King made early in the Second World War.

"'To remain on the defensive is the surest way to bring the war to Canada.'

"Mackenzie King was correct then and we should always remember the wisdom of his words today," added Bush, who seemed to pause for applause that didn't come from the 350 assembled guests and dignitaries.

His exhortation for a more aggressive Canadian foreign policy didn't appear to sit well with the prime minister.

"We are a sovereign nation and we will make the decisions about our airspace," Martin told a news conference after Bush's speech.

When asked point blank if Canada would get involved in a missile system, Martin dodged the question.

"I don't know what kind of project he's talking about," he said in French, adding at another point that the defence system "wasn't a priority."

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, who was in Halifax for the speech, said Bush's message seemed to be that Canada should "get more realistic about its approach to international affairs."

He said the president is looking for a quick decision on missile defence, and a more defined Canadian role in Iraq.

But Bush may have been looking for more.

White House officials let it be known in advance that Bush's Halifax speech was to be a significant policy marker. The president is to tour western Europe in the new year with a similar message.

That new foreign policy doesn't look terribly different from the old.

"America always prefers to act with allies at our side," Bush said Wednesday. But multilateral mechanisms, including the United Nations, must have as their objective "collective security, not endless debate."

Bush said there "is only one way to deal with enemies who plot in secret and set out to murder the innocent and the unsuspecting. We must take the fight to them."

A day earlier in Ottawa, the president told a news conference that he was the "kind of fella who does what I think is right and will continue to do what I think is right."

Some elements of Bush's path were made clear in the speech.

• Aggressive promotion of secular democracies in the Middle East:

"If 20 years from now, the Middle East is dominated by dictators and mullahs who build weapons of mass destruction and harbour terrorists, our children and our grandchildren will live in a nightmare world of danger," the president said to stony silence.

• Multilateral efforts to mop up the quagmire in Iraq:

"There's more work to be done together. Both Canada and the United States and all free nations have a vital interest in the success of a free Iraq."

• Israeli-Palestinian peace based on two sovereign states:

"That destination can be reached by only one path: the path of democracy and reform and the rule of law."

It was a heavy-handed foreign policy prescription that left the friendly crowd clamouring for a return to the president's lighter, humorous opening remarks.

Bush, who was in Halifax for less than three hours before flying home to
Washington, also used his speech to thank Atlantic Canadians for helping thousands of American air travellers who were stranded after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

"You opened your homes and your churches to strangers . . . and you asked for nothing in return," Bush said to open his half-hour speech.

About 250 aircraft carrying 44,000 passengers were diverted to 17 Canadian airports in the moments after the attacks on Washington and New York.

"How does a person say thank you to a nation? Well, that's something a president can do," said Bush.

"So let me say directly to the Canadian people and to all of you here today who welcomed Americans. Thank you for your kindness to America in an hour of need."

Bush made no mention of the protesters heavily represented in the large crowd that showed up near Pier 21, a museum on the site of Canada's famous immigrant gateway from Europe.

At first, police said 7,000 had gathered but they later dropped that estimate to about 4,000.

As in Ottawa a day earlier, the crowds were for the most part well behaved. There were no arrests in Halifax, but there were 21 in Ottawa, where 5,000 protesters greeted Bush near Parliament Hill.

While the weather in Halifax was gloomy - overcast with temperatures hovering just above freezing - protest organizers said they were thrilled with the size of the crowd in the port city.

Samuel Martin, a college student, held a placard that said: When Bush comes to shove, shove back.

The protester said Canadians shouldn't allow "this tyrant to push us around any more. At least Canada can say, 'We're sorry Mr. President, you've gone too far.' "

There were also a number of Bush supporters along the route. Paul Kaulback said he came from Bridgewater, N.S., to lend his support to the president.

"I just admire the courage of President Bush and I wanted to show my support."