Virtual meeting signals end to our U.S. nightmare

Traditionally, the first foreign visit of a new president of the United States is to Canada. It honours our importance as friend, neighbour and partner.

Not always, though. George W. Bush went first to Mexico, which he knew well as a Texan. That foreshadowed his address to Congress months later, when he forgot to mention Canada among the nations that lost citizens or helped the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

Barack Obama visited Ottawa early on, learning that he and the dour Stephen Harper had little chemistry (which may be why Harper has just one thin line in his memoir.) Donald Trump avoided a formal visit, knowing he was unwelcome.

And so it was with some relief that Joe Biden met Justin Trudeau on Tuesday. Biden would have come to Canada had the COVID-19 pandemic allowed; he made a visit in December 2016, among the last of his vice-presidency. He likes Trudeau.

Their virtual meeting had a predictable warmth and familiarity, like siblings rediscovering each other after their abusive father moves out. Biden called Trudeau “Mr. Prime Minister,” to which the Americans long ago added the unnecessary “Mr.” Trudeau called him “Joe,” which was presumptuous even to the folksy, avuncular commander-in-chief.

Their remarks were immemorable. Biden reaffirmed that there is nothing we two peoples can't do together, as if Americans and Canadians are Democrats and Republicans. Trudeau recycled “strengthening the middle class, helping those working hard to join it” in his opening statement. He repeated it in his closing, as if his high-school speechwriters ran out of ideas.

Lord, how we've fallen from the eloquent declarations of undefended borders and continental destiny by FDR and JFK, and of elephants and allies by Pierre Trudeau and Lester Pearson.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland had to talk because Vice-President Kamala Harris did. Marc Garneau sat masked and mute at the end of the sofa, looking like the getaway driver.

No matter. The mood was cheerful. Trudeau was the first foreign leader to call Biden after his election. It was a diplomatic bold stroke, like the world's first government to recognize a newly independent colony. This, Candidate Biden much appreciated.

For Canada, Biden represents a return to normalcy. There will be differences over “Buy America.” There will be a U.S. ambassador in Ottawa after too long without one. And when Trudeau visits the White House, he won't go as supplicant.

Beyond the bonhomie are hard national interests. Biden didn't worry about Canada when he cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office. While Trudeau dutifully protested, environmentalists cheered.

A gesture from Biden might have been nice, such as a gift of a million doses of vaccine. Or tangible help freeing our “two Michaels” in China. Neither is imminent.

But this was a meeting of minds, of two progressives, the most philosophically aligned since Lester Pearson and Lyndon Johnson. In both countries, they built the 1960s social welfare state.

Abroad, the Democratic restoration in the United States is a reaffirmation of the liberal internationalism that Trump mocked. It means a return to collective security and NATO; a belief in free trade and open markets; a commitment to humanitarian immigration; an embrace of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear deal.

And most of all, a respect for the multilateral system that the U.S. built in the postwar era, with Canada, beginning with the United Nations and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The subtext of this summit: Canada is less alone as a voice of moderation in an authoritarian world. We can no longer say, as Freeland did in 2017, that we are “an essential nation” by virtue of an isolationist America staying home. We have to succeed through the power of our diplomacy, the generosity of our aid and the power of our arms, all of which we have criminally neglected. Not by default.

Now we have a soulmate again. Our long American nightmare is over.