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THE AGE OF OBAMA: Canada and the U.S. David T. Jones, author of Uneasy Neighbo(u)rs: Canada, the USA and the Dynamics of State, Industry and Culture, drew upon his experience as former Minister-Counselor of the U.S. embassy in Ottawa to offer an assessment of President Barack Obama’s February 19 visit to Canada. In the editorial lead to that assessment, Policy Options, Canada’s leading magazine of public policy, described the president’s brief time in Ottawa as establishing “a point of departure, a turning point of a new page in the relationship between Canada and the United States.” In reports of their talks and in their public appearances, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the president revealed that little divided them in regard to the important issues facing both countries. Both favor responding to recession with programs of massive fiscal stimulus and support for ailing industries, particularly automobile manufacturers. Harper also acknowledged that Canada cannot fully recover economically until the United States does. Despite the president’s campaign rhetoric, neither leader seems committed to rewriting the North American Free Trade Agreement or launching a trade war. Nor did they reveal serious disagreement in their response to climate change. Referring to terrorism, the prime minister stated “threats to the United States are threats to Canada,” which suggests that America’s “thickening” of its border with Canada will not likely cause difficulties between the two nations. Even Canada’s announced intention to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by 2011 prompted no objections on the president’s part, and the two leaders agreed to press NATO nations to join them plus the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on the front lines of the struggle with al Qaeda and the Taliban. Though congenial relations between the two nations’ leaders have not always ensured the they will successfully harmonize their policies, the February meeting represents an encouraging move in that direction. |
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