PM summit-bound without any amigos

After nearly a decade of the Conservatives in power, why are Canada’s relations with the United States and Mexico so chilly?

It’s a question that will haunt Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he attends a summit later this week of more than 30 nations in the western hemisphere.

Harper travels to Panama City Friday for a two-day Summit of the Americas, which brings together leaders of countries from the Organization of American States (OAS).

For the first time, Cuba’s president, Raul Castro, will be at the table — a symbolic development that comes after a rapprochement last December between his country and the United States.

Cuba’s attendance will garner much media attention. But what should really concern Canadians is whether Harper is able to spend time with the two political leaders who matter the most to this country: U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

In recent years, relations between Canada and its two North American neighbours have been — to put it charitably — strained.

Harper’s government is furious with the treatment Canada has received from the White House on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The Canadian government is particularly miffed at what it perceives to be an almost cavalier attitude from Obama in dismissing Canada’s concerns about delays in deciding whether to give the pipeline the regulatory green light.

Meanwhile, Mexico is furious with the Canadian government’s decision in 2009 to impose visa requirements on Mexicans who wish to travel here. Similarly, Mexican officials are miffed at the seemingly dismissive response from Canada to this complaint.

Harper was supposed to host the North American leaders meeting (also known as the “Three Amigos” summit) in Canada this past February. But it was postponed until later in the year – after the Oct. 19 election.

That prompted widespread speculation that Harper was worried that an embarrassing summit spat with Obama and Pena Nieto would hurt him at the polls.

Michael Kergin, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. from 2000 to 2005, said Monday that Harper’s decision to postpone the summit sends a signal. “It indicates obviously with two of your large trading partners that you don’t have a very solid relationship. You can’t find things positive to talk about,” he said in an interview.

Carlo Dade, an international public policy expert who works at the Canada West Foundation, said Monday that part of the problem stems from Obama.

“When he came into office he had no sense of appreciation for foreign policy and more largely for the privileged place that North American relations play in U.S. foreign policy. That has been evident throughout his term.”

Obama has only made one bilateral visit to Canada, in February of 2009, that lasted just a few hours and did not include a speech to Parliament.

Dade said Harper’s Conservative government hasn’t helped matters by closing Canadian consulates in the U.S.

Dade said he understands why Harper postponed this winter’s Three Amigos summit. “No leader facing the prospect of an election is going to invite his two closest neighbours into his house to take turns having one hold his arms and the other one punch him.

“So from a sheer political calculation, the prime minister really had no choice but to postpone. On the other hand, when things are important, leaders make them a priority and make them happen.”

By comparison, Dade said the Pacific Alliance — composed of Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico — is advancing an ambitious trade agenda and when the leaders can’t meet in person they do so by video conference. “That says something about North America and where we are. The three leaders don’t feel the same sense of urgency.”

Canadian, American and Mexican leaders should attach the same importance to working together because they must compete globally as a North American bloc, said Dade.

Officials in the federal government insist that under Harper’s leadership, Canada has made great strides forward in the western hemisphere: tackling new trade deals with other countries in the region and negotiating the Beyond the Border Agreement with the U.S. to improve security and speed up border crossings.

“Under Prime Minister Harper, Canada will continue to advance our economic, trade and security relationship with the United States and Mexico,” Stephen Lecce, the prime minister’s director of media relations, said in a written statement Monday.

Still, experts say the bilateral relationship has seen better days.

Kergin said that part of the problem with the Canada-U.S. relationship is an apparent lack of communication between Harper and Obama. “I think we haven’t had a situation where the telephone lines have been quite as quiet for a long time.”

There have been bad personal relationships in the past: Lyndon Johnson grabbed Lester Pearson by the lapels in 1965 and complained “you pissed on my rug” by criticizing the Vietnam War. Pierre Trudeau was disliked by Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

But Kergin pointed to former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, who liked to “shmooz” and worked hard at forging strong relations with presidents Reagan and George Bush Sr.

“You always have problems with the Americans. But you’re the junior partner. Like it or dislike it. We’re one-tenth their size.

“If you want to move the files, it really helps to have a reasonable relationship with the president, in the sense that you can pick up the phone and say, ‘Look, I’ve got a political problem.’ If the president is prepared to have his officials look at the issue, that’s a good start.”

Kergin said Harper and Obama seem to share similar personality traits.

“They’re probably pretty cerebral, very smart. They’re not big on EQ. They’re not strongly people’s persons.”

“So you’ve got perhaps a bit of a double whammy here where both men prefer to use their ministers or just let things ride, rather than smooth things over in conversations which may not have immediate results but set an atmosphere which at some point in the future might help in dealing with the file.”

Harper might not have helped his cause through some controversial comments he made about Keystone during trips to the U.S.

At first, he described Keystone as a “no-brainer” and later — following more delays on a decision from the White House — he told an audience in New York City that “you don’t take no for an answer” and the pipeline would someday become a reality.

Kergin said that undiplomatic language appeared to help Obama’s Republican opponents in Congress.

“That obviously doesn’t endear you to the Democratic incumbent in the White House.”