Monday, January 12, 2009
Canada will host the first official state visit by President Barack
Obama after his inauguration. This is an honor that underscores that
American NAFTA-bashing is code for Mexico, not Canada.
The
vast mineral wealth and political stability of Canada is a gigantic
plus for the United States as is American know-how, innovation and
marketplace opportunity a plus for Canada.
Mexico, on the other hand, is the laggard among the three amigos and a sore spot to organized labor for obvious reasons and to immigration reformers because of the huge illegal Hispanic worker population, estimated at 12 million. Mexico is also conducting a war against drug cartels who likely were behind the jet crash on Obama's election day that killed the President's successor and top enforcement officials. Some 4,000 officials have been murdered in the past year.
(Mexico’s President met with Obama today, but Canada has been given the honor of the first full-court visit.)
Liberal Land to the north
Canada
is also a model to American liberals because we are the Sweden of the
western hemisphere. Canada is equivalent to ten “blue” {American for
liberal} states whose residents, polls show, would vote overwhelmingly
for Democrats if given the chance. Canada is the only other democracy
with the rule of law in the hemisphere and, for Democrats like Obama, a
model of healthcare and educational equality -- both of which are still
missing south of the border.
Obama and his team also understand the importance of Canada’s oil and other resources to the American economy as well as other synergies in the auto sector and in terms of socio-economic links. No two countries are more economically integrated than Canada and the U.S. We are one another’s biggest foreign direct investors, suppliers and customers.
And there are personal
connections. One of Obama’s brothers-in-law, married to his younger
sister, is from Burlington, Ontario and a ranking member of his inner
circle is Canadian-born Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm.
It's about the oil too
There
are also important strategic concerns. Canadian governments have
proportionately committed with Washington to try and rescue 
Detroit. More importantly, North America, (see my NAFTA Solution)
has the potential to be energy self-sufficient. Alberta’s vast oil
sands is the Saudi Arabia of the west and, with American capital and
scientific innovation, can cleanly and efficiently fuel the North
American industrial machine for decades to come. Carbon sequestration
and other innovations can greenify the oil sands, thus meeting
environmental as well as economic objectives.
On top of that, the development of the oil sands into its full potential is also smart foreign policy and could eliminate American dependency on oil from hostile or unstable regimes in the Middle East and South America.
My bet is that Obama will visit northern Alberta to view the oil sands and underscore the importance of responsible development.
I hope that the two governments discuss the following initiatives:
1.
The U.S. and Canada should sign a sweeping continental energy agreement
to develop the oil sands through a mechanism of floor pricing to assure
projects proceed while, at the same time, creating major public-private
partnerships to improve environmental technologies such as carbon
sequestration and innovative refining processes.
2. The U.S. and Canada should sign an agreement to bring Alaska and Canadian arctic natural gas to markets. Gas is the most benign of fuels and a cornerstone of economic development for both countries.
3. The U.S.
and Canada should negotiate the formation of a customs union by erasing
the border when it comes to labor, goods or services.
4.
The two should agree to reduce regulatory red tape, and eliminate
border bottlenecks, while retaining the integrity of trade and security
needs.
5. The two must agree to work closely, as they have been, on
the troublesome economic meltdown files from currency to credit,
banking and manufacturing issues.
Other areas of mutual
engagement should not be contentious. Canada is doing some heavy
lifting in Afghanistan and, I suspect, will continue to do so beyond
the 2010 limits now discussed. Washington will continue to counteract
unreasonable protectionism that surfaces mostly in the House of
Representatives.
What Obama’s announced visit underscores, importantly, is that he understands that the business of America must be North America.
(Photos: Getty Images -- Mexican border fencing; an oil pumpjack and arctic pipelines)
Diane Francis, Editor-at-Large for the National Post is well known across the country for her hard-hitting newspaper columns. She also blogs on the Huffington Post, is a broadcaster and author of nine best-selling books. In addition she is a sought-after speaker, host of events and participant in conferences around the world. She has been honoured with many prestigious awards from associations, publications and universities across the country. Renowned for her columns which appear thrice weekly in the Financial Post section of the National Post, and in the Fall of 2007, Diane expanded her column online by launching her blog, which deals with North American political and business issues.
She has been a Media Fellow at the World Economic Forum in Davos for many years and was a Shorenstein Fellow in fall 2006 at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. In fall 2007, she became Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson University's Rogers School of Management, Canada's largest business school, a role she'll continue with into 2008.
In addition to her work as a financial journalist, Diane Francis is the author of: Immigration: The Economic Case; BRE-X: The Inside Story; Fighting for Canada; Underground Nation; A Matter of Survival; The Diane Francis Inside Guide to Canada's 50 Best Stocks; Contrepreneurs and Controlling Interest - Who Owns Canada.
Diane Francis has served on the advisory boards of York University East/West Enterprises and CANFAR, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS research as well as on the board of directors for CARE Canada, the George Brown College Foundation Board and was Chair of the successful $22-million campaign for Ryerson University's Community Health Centre which was opened in fall 2002.
She is a director of Aurizon Mines of Vancouver, listed on the Toronto and American Stock Exchanges, is a partner in the world's largest conference website, Confabb.com, and on the advisory board of a private healthcare company
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