12 May 2005

A U.S. perspective: Our relationship is too good to risk

The following article, by Lee Hamilton, former chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, is extracted from the 12 May 2005 edition of “globeandmail.com”. Mr. Hamilton is currently a director of the Wood Wilson Center in Washington.

It is time for Canada and the United States to get past the disagreements of recent years. That means renewed attention to Canada-U.S. relations in both capitals….

The importance of Canada and the U.S. to one another cannot be overstated. The two exchange more than $1-billion (U.S) in trade every day -- the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world. For 39 of the 50 states, Canada is the largest export market. Indeed, there is more daily trade across a single bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor than total annual U.S. exports to Japan.

Canada -- not Saudi Arabia -- is the single-largest exporter of energy to the U.S. The two nations have close military ties, including NATO, and NORAD, which guards North America's skies. Canada has contributed troops to the war in Afghanistan for more than two years, and has stepped up co-operation with U.S. counterparts in securing our vast border….

Yet there has been a disturbing chill in Canada-U.S. relations. There are noticeable differences between Canadians and Americans in attitudes toward government, religion, and authority at home, and the role of international institutions, the resolution of conflict, the assessment of threats, and the use of force abroad.

Trade irritants pose particularly persistent problems. Canadians have been incensed by billions of dollars in duties imposed by the U.S. on imports of Canadian softwood lumber; the U.S. counters that Canada unjustly subsidizes its lumber industry. Canadians have also vigorously disputed a U.S. ban on imports of Canadian beef imposed in the wake of a discovery of mad-cow disease in Canada, and extended -- over Bush administration opposition -- by a ruling from a federal judge in Montana.

It is tempting for both countries to throw up their hands and condemn the other side. But that is ill-advised. These industries account for billions of dollars in annual trade. Trade irritants may be inevitable, but without sufficient attention to finding common-ground solutions, these irritants can serve as a cancer on the broader Canada-U.S. relationship.

Border security also poses potential problems. U.S. plans to require new secure travel documents at border crossings have concerned Canadians, 90 per cent of whom live within 200 miles of the border. Whereas the U.S. worries chiefly about security, many Canadians value the free cross-border flow of people and goods that fuels the Canadian economy -- as do Americans who live near the border. The goal must be to balance these concerns: standards for identification to ensure people crossing the border are who they say they are, joined with initiatives to ensure efficiency and the free flow of goods. We need not choose one or the other….

A starting point should be greater public awareness. Canadians and Americans must understand how much they benefit from Canada-U.S. relations -- one need only look at most of the map of the world to understand the enormous benefit of sharing a border with a friend rather than a foe. It would be tragic if Canadians and Americans allow a set of disagreements to corrode one of the most successful bilateral relationships in the history of the world. Reinvigorating that relationship is a task for our governments and citizenries alike.