JOHN IVISON ON A BROMANCE WITH BENEFITS
On taking office, every Canadian prime minister is faced with three dilemmas — growing the economy, protecting national unity and getting on with the Americans.
It is an added bonus if the latter can be done while preserving the nation’s self-respect.
There are then, few greater triumphs than standing shoulder-toshoulder with an American president on the White House lawn and being treated as an equal.
Justin Trudeau did just that Thursday and can commend himself on having had a very good day indeed.
His relationship with Barack Obama borders on mutual reverence.
As the president said during their Rose Garden press conference: “From my perspective, what’s not to like?” Trudeau kept referring to “my friend Barack.”
The much- vaunted special relationship may not survive the incoming president, particularly if it is Donald Trump.
But as Obama pointed out, there is often more continuity between administrations than campaign partisanship might suggest. “What you discover is that, for all the differences between political parties, when you are actually in charge, you have to be practical and do what is needed to be done,” he said.
The day began with a welcome address on the sun-kissed South Lawn, in front of crowds of wellwishers, some of whom, like Melissa Martinez from Toronto, had driven to Washington to see “a prime minister who we love.”
As the supporting cast arrived — Canadian cabinet ministers and U.S. administration heavyweights like Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice — the ostentation was punctured by the Marine Corps band breaking into the theme from Monty Python’s Flying Circus (yes, yes, in reality John Philip Sousa’s Liberty Bell March).
The two leaders took to a podium and were greeted by a 21-gun salute, a colour guard from every branch of the U. S. military and a large, fawning crowd.
“I’ve never seen so many Americans excited about a visit by a Canadian prime minister,” the president riffed in his opening remarks. In truth, this was a localized tremor of interest — CNN didn’t show the arrival live and U.S. journalists were more interested in the presidential election, the imminent appointment of a new Supreme Court judge and Obama’s visit to Cuba than the precocious visitor.
But that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the large crowd. There was a cry of “Oh my God,” as the two men passed a section of American schoolchildren.
There was a communal feeling to the visit — not surprising since the prime minister has brought his mother, his in-laws, his chief fundraiser and the president of the Liberal party to the state dinner (while leaving two-thirds of the cabinet at home). It was as if they were on a trip to Disneyland, not a serious attempt to unblock logjams in the commercial relationship.
Like good house guests, the Canadians brought gifts for the president (an aboriginal stone carving), his wife Michelle (a beaded cape), their kids (scarves) and their dogs (all-weather doggie boots).
The affection was reciprocated by the Americans — all except the security guard who upbraided me for stepping on the president’s putting green.
The warmth expressed by the president was not just for the Trudeaus, or the Liberal government. It was an apparently sincere acknowledgment that the U. S. is fortunate in having a steadfast ally and friend on its northern border. “We haven’t always expressed how much we treasure our alliance,” he said.
There was much talk of Flanders fields, Normandy beaches and Afghanistan, but the two leaders also invoked shared values on more recent policy fronts — climate change, health care, diversity and human development around the world.
Does it matter if the two leaders seem to be auditioning for roles in the sequel to the bromance movie, I Love You, Man?
It certainly can’t hurt. The list of “deliverables” was not as farreaching as some of the speculation might have suggested.
Pre-clearance at Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport and Quebec City’s Jean Lesage International will increase traffic from both.
Rail service from Montreal and Vancouver will also be pre-cleared by U.S. customs, at the Americans’ expense.
Border agents will now exchange basic biographic information, including entry information at the land border.
All of these things are designed to create a “thinner” border and aid more efficient movement of people and goods.
Given Trudeau was pushing against an open door, there probably should have been more. Canada’s Building Trades Union was calling for greater workplace mobility for skilled workers, a concession from the U.S. that would have allowed some of Alberta’s unemployed skilled workers to find employment in the U.S. temporarily.
There was scant mention of the softwood lumber dispute, which threatens to erupt into open trade warfare unless resolved.
Yet, as a remarkably laconic Obama said, this is an issue that will be settled “in some fashion.”
“It will be fine,” he said. “It’s a long-standing bilateral issue but it hardly defines the U.S.- Canada relationship. It’s being looked at by smart people and they’ll find a way to resolve it.”
The prospects of that are greatly increased when the president of the day believes his prime ministerial counterpart has “instincts that are sound.”
The Conservatives will complain that much of what was achieved Thursday builds on their existing work.
All true, but in Obama’s words, partisanship ends at the border, and a smooth working relationship with the president is in Canada’s national interest.
The smartest and most entertaining account of the Canada-U.S. relationship can be found in Storm Signals, the diaries of our former ambassador to Washington, the late Charles Ritchie.
In his day, under presidents Kennedy and Johnson, “consultation with allies” meant briefing allies, lecturing allies and sometimes pressing allies. “The idea of learning anything from allies seems strange to official Washington thinking. The word comes from Washington and it is homemade.”
The highest praise that can be granted to the Trudeau visit is that Canada has been engaged in genuine consultation with its giant, often overbearing, neighbour.