Condoleeza Rice arrived in Ottawa yesterday for a long-delayed visit (she cancelled earlier because Canada wouldn't play ball on the missile defence "shield"). I am delighted to report that she was greeted with an earful on the US theft of $5 billion dollars from Canada, lax American border security that is allowing guns to be smuggled into Canada, and the US plans to require passports at land borders. More below the fold.
Softwood Lumber
Resident Canada geeks (not to mention Canadians!) will know that this remains the key irritant between the two countires. In 2001, flouting NAFTA, the US imposed an 18% tarrif on Canadian softwood lumber coming into the US. To date, 5 billion dollars has been collected. The US trade ambassador said that the tarrifs would continue until Canada imposed its own taxation on Canadian producers. Canada refused.
Instead, the Canadian government went to NAFTA for a ruling. NAFTA ruled that the tarrifs should be removed and the money returned to Canadian producers. The US responded by refusing, and Sen. Max Baucus proposed legislation that would distribute the stolen money to US lumber producers. Canada then went to the WTO which ruled - yep, you guessed it - in Canada's favour. The US responded by appealing NAFTA's decision. The NAFTA panel again decided in Canada's favour. The US response has been to ignore the ruling, and Canada has now threatened to take the US to court in its own country.
Ms. Rice told reporters on her flight from Washington, "I don't think the time for negotiation is past. We would like to see a negotiated settlement." Translation - Canada should capitulate. At a news conference, Mr. Martin insisted that Canada is owed the $3.5-billion that a North American free-trade agreement adjudication panel has ruled that the United States collected illegally. Paul Martin's response was blunt. "That is not negotiable," he said. "We are not going to begin with a negotiation on a whim. We won that and we will pursue our course of action in the courts if necessary."
There has been much talk in Canada of responding by using our massive oil and natural gas exports to the US as a lever to punish the Americans. This reflects the attitude of some, like Canada's industry minister David Emerson, who has said that just as hockey goons do, "we've got to take their number." A recent poll, however, suggests that there is little stomach for that.
The poll taken by the Globe and Mail (Toronto's paper of record <snark>) shows that most Canadians want to take action that reflects our frustration with the cheating Yankee bastards. While 46% want a solution to be negotiated with the US; another 33% want Canada to seek new markets in China or India for Canadian oil and gas that is currently sold to the US, and 16% want retaliatory tarrifs imposed. This cautious approach reveals Canadian fears about the economic might of our neighbour, to whom three-quarters of our exports flow.
It also reflects the frustration, anger, and rage many Canadians feel toward the United States and toward theAmerican people, quite frankly, who seem not to know or care that their government is stealing billion dollars of Canada.
The Border
For all its vaunted concern over border security, the US government sure doesn't care what flows out of their country! Prime Minister Paul Martin put part of the blame for gun crime in Canada on the United States yesterday, just before a visit with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A senior Canadian official said he told Ms. Rice during their working dinner that gun smuggling from the U.S. is a growing problem and that Ottawa needs Washington to help stem the deadly illicit traffic. Martin has said that estimates are that one half of the gun crimes in Canada are committed by people with guns that have been illegally brought into Canada. This is especially a problem in Toronto, which has seen sixty-four homicides this year (an epidemic by Canadian standards).
Martin said, "the Americans ask us to protect the borders. The Americans say there are things they do not like that come from Canada. Well, there are things that come from the United States that we don't like. And if we have a responsibility to them, they have a responsibility to us."
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said later that a cross-border strategy could include enhanced police-intelligence teams and unspecified "law-enhancement reforms." He also said the federal government wants the provinces to explore the possibility of passing laws that would make it possible to file lawsuits for damages if U.S. gun manufacturers' practices are found to contribute to gun crime.
Passports
A third irritant has been the US plan to require passports for Canadians travelling to the United States. Martin has objected to this as being unaffordable for many and could create a false sense of security. There are fears the measures could discourage tourist traffic, with potential economic impacts in both countries. Frank McKenna, the Canadian ambassador to Washington, has predicted the loss to Canada alone could reach $2-billion.
Travelling Americans would also need passports and it's unlikely either country could even provide the necessary documents by the deadline on Dec. 31, 2007. Only about 20 per cent of Americans currently have a passport. About twice as many Canadians have one.
Top U.S. politicians have opposed the passport plan, including New York Gov. George Pataki and Senator Hillary Clinton, saying it would hinder trade and the frequency of casual travel for shopping, visits and hockey games. "We have no quarrel at all with the U.S. preoccupation with security," said McKenna. "But we have serious questions about whether the suggested approach will meet the objectives that have been laid out . . . Why would we create this whole house of cards that might not provide any more security."
Conclusion
America bashing has been a fun sport for Canadians from time immemorial - one way our small country has of asserting its independence and difference. But as the cultures and goals of the countries have drifted apart since the Reagan era, that tone has taken on a sense of earnest. Canadians are really angry at the United States government, appalled at George Bush (for these and many other reasons). More concerning is that - for the first time - this anger is beginning to spill over to Americans themselves who are increasingly perceived as unconcerned or unaware of their government's punitive actions against its supposedly closest ally, even to the extent of re-electing the administration which imposed them and which has nakedly persued US economic hegemony throughout the world, by military force if necessary