Ambassador to Canada chosen: report
The next U.S. ambassador to Canada will have the North American Free Trade Agreement at the top of their priority list when making the move to Ottawa, one expert says.
“The fate of Canada is so intertwined with what happens in Washington that the appointment of the ambassador at this juncture is perhaps the most critical in modern times,” according to Elliot Tepper, a distinguished senior fellow with the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa.
“The most pressing issue is the revision to NAFTA, on which so many jobs and industries in Canada rely. The highly successful campaign by the Trudeau government prior to the bilateral meeting (with U.S. President Donald Trump) seems to offer some hope, but not necessarily protection,” Tepper said.
The next U.S. ambassador to Canada, who Bloomberg reported Wednesday will be Kelly Knight Craft, will have big shoes to fill.
Tepper said the previous ambassador, Bruce Heyman, was a “highly effective ambassador” who was wellliked in Ottawa.
While the next ambassador will need to get to know the who’s who in Canada’s capital, that will go both ways, Tepper said.
“The movers and shakers in the capital will need to meet the new ambassador and to provide the educational moments about Canada’s position on all the issues,” he said.
Craft accepted the nomination and is completing the paperwork process required before Senate consideration, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter, who reportedly asked not to be identified because the appointment hasn’t been announced publicly. Craft declined to comment when reached by phone Wednesday.
Craft’s financial disclosure filings may be complex because her husband, Joseph Craft III, is the chief executive of Alliance Resources Partners LP, a publicly traded coal company based in Tulsa, Okla.
The appointment is the first of several likely to be made in the coming days as Trump fills dozens of ambassadorial posts that have remained empty since he took office on Jan. 20.