- Reaction score
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- 210
PUBLICATION: National Post
DATE: 2005.03.02
EDITION: National
SECTION: News
PAGE: A1 / Front
BYLINE: Scott Stinson
SOURCE: National PostPOLICY; <CANADA>; UNITED STATES
ILLUSTRATION: Black & White Photo: U.S. <Navy>, The New York Times / AnAries target missile lifts off from Kauai, Hawaii, in a 2002 missile-defence test that saw it intercepted three and a half minutes later by a missile launched from a U.S. warship.
NOTE: [email protected]
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The closer we get, the farther apart we are: Report warns of rising tide of U.S. 'anti-<Canadianism>'
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<Canada> and the United States are at their most acrimonious point in recent history, despite being more reliant on each other than ever, an assembly of 70 high-profile citizens of the two countries warns.
"It is by now evident that <Canada> is losing influence in Washington," says the report, the product of the American Assembly, a series of meetings last month in New York.
"At the same time that <Canada> has lost clout in Washington, U.S. leadership's judgment post-9/11 has been met with skepticism and even hostility by <Canadians>."
The report notes the relationship has been strained at other times over the past century, but "we are witnessing something new: the emergence on the right of a troubling anti-<Canadianism> ... that regularly contrasts American values with those of a soft and self-indulgent <Canada>."
"This misguided impulse pales beside the disturbing and persistent currents of anti-Americanism in <Canada>," the study says.
The group included Allan Gotlieb, <Canada's> former ambassador to the U.S.; James Blanchard, former U.S. ambassador to <Canada>; Quebec Premier Jean Charest; former prime minister Joe Clark; and leaders from business, academia, labour and the media.
One of the assembly's major findings was that <Canada> should participate in ballistic missile defence. Although the report was released yesterday, that conclusion has been overtaken by the Liberal government's decision last week not to participate.
Douglas Goold, president and chief executive of the <Canadian> Institute for International Affairs, a think-tank that co-sponsored the assembly, said yesterday that among the 70 attendees an "overwhelming majority thought it was in the best interests of both countries for <Canada> to go ahead [with ballistic missile defence], and if they were all sitting in the room today they would be extremely disappointed with the decision Paul Martin took last week."
Mr. Goold said in an interview it was generally agreed that the North American Aerospace Defence Command is one of the most successful examples of co-operation between the nations, and that its mandate should grow in the coming years to include new aspects of shared defence.
"There was also a sense that we should not just renew [NORAD], we should expand it. Far from wanting to cut back, the sense was that <Canada> had to play a more vigorous part" in defence.
Some of the reasons for the strained relationship between the two countries can be traced to structural reasons, such as the end of the Cold War, which eliminated a sense of mutual purpose in the face of a common threat, Mr. Goold said.
But he also noted some of the unease can be attributed to the post-9/11 U.S. focus on security issues, both at home and overseas. "What the people at the assembly said was <Canada> has to recognize and accept that security is a priority for the United States," Mr. Goold said. "We just have to recognize it and accept it and move forward."
Paul Cellucci, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to <Canada>, was a keynote speaker at the American Assembly, and he told the participants that "security trumps trade, while we must keep trade flowing."
The report also noted how <Canada> and the U.S. have become increasingly bound to each other, despite political disagreements.
"<Canada> and the United States are linked by a vast and largely effective network of formal and informal government arrangements and the federal, provincial and state levels. The networks of collaboration and trust are a vital asset," it said.
DATE: 2005.03.02
EDITION: National
SECTION: News
PAGE: A1 / Front
BYLINE: Scott Stinson
SOURCE: National PostPOLICY; <CANADA>; UNITED STATES
ILLUSTRATION: Black & White Photo: U.S. <Navy>, The New York Times / AnAries target missile lifts off from Kauai, Hawaii, in a 2002 missile-defence test that saw it intercepted three and a half minutes later by a missile launched from a U.S. warship.
NOTE: [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The closer we get, the farther apart we are: Report warns of rising tide of U.S. 'anti-<Canadianism>'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<Canada> and the United States are at their most acrimonious point in recent history, despite being more reliant on each other than ever, an assembly of 70 high-profile citizens of the two countries warns.
"It is by now evident that <Canada> is losing influence in Washington," says the report, the product of the American Assembly, a series of meetings last month in New York.
"At the same time that <Canada> has lost clout in Washington, U.S. leadership's judgment post-9/11 has been met with skepticism and even hostility by <Canadians>."
The report notes the relationship has been strained at other times over the past century, but "we are witnessing something new: the emergence on the right of a troubling anti-<Canadianism> ... that regularly contrasts American values with those of a soft and self-indulgent <Canada>."
"This misguided impulse pales beside the disturbing and persistent currents of anti-Americanism in <Canada>," the study says.
The group included Allan Gotlieb, <Canada's> former ambassador to the U.S.; James Blanchard, former U.S. ambassador to <Canada>; Quebec Premier Jean Charest; former prime minister Joe Clark; and leaders from business, academia, labour and the media.
One of the assembly's major findings was that <Canada> should participate in ballistic missile defence. Although the report was released yesterday, that conclusion has been overtaken by the Liberal government's decision last week not to participate.
Douglas Goold, president and chief executive of the <Canadian> Institute for International Affairs, a think-tank that co-sponsored the assembly, said yesterday that among the 70 attendees an "overwhelming majority thought it was in the best interests of both countries for <Canada> to go ahead [with ballistic missile defence], and if they were all sitting in the room today they would be extremely disappointed with the decision Paul Martin took last week."
Mr. Goold said in an interview it was generally agreed that the North American Aerospace Defence Command is one of the most successful examples of co-operation between the nations, and that its mandate should grow in the coming years to include new aspects of shared defence.
"There was also a sense that we should not just renew [NORAD], we should expand it. Far from wanting to cut back, the sense was that <Canada> had to play a more vigorous part" in defence.
Some of the reasons for the strained relationship between the two countries can be traced to structural reasons, such as the end of the Cold War, which eliminated a sense of mutual purpose in the face of a common threat, Mr. Goold said.
But he also noted some of the unease can be attributed to the post-9/11 U.S. focus on security issues, both at home and overseas. "What the people at the assembly said was <Canada> has to recognize and accept that security is a priority for the United States," Mr. Goold said. "We just have to recognize it and accept it and move forward."
Paul Cellucci, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to <Canada>, was a keynote speaker at the American Assembly, and he told the participants that "security trumps trade, while we must keep trade flowing."
The report also noted how <Canada> and the U.S. have become increasingly bound to each other, despite political disagreements.
"<Canada> and the United States are linked by a vast and largely effective network of formal and informal government arrangements and the federal, provincial and state levels. The networks of collaboration and trust are a vital asset," it said.
