Overview
Canada’s relationship with the United States is as important as any that the US has in the world. For starters, the two nations share the world’s longest border, over which a half trillion dollars in trade passes every year. Canada is the most important trading partner the US has, supplying vital amounts of energy for American consumers, including oil, natural gas and electricity. The two nations have long had friendly relations, although that wasn’t the case in the beginning when both were still colonial possessions of England and the American revolutionary army tried to seize parts of Canada and turn it into the “14th Colony.”
But for most of their history, the two countries have never had to militarize their border. In fact, during the Cold War, the Canadian and American military worked together to help warn of any potential attacks from the Soviet Union via long range bombers or missiles. This lack of armed hostility, however, has not meant a lack of political troubles between the US and Canada over the years. Trade disputes and environmental concerns have caused tensions, as has the aggressive policies of the US when it comes to combating terrorism.
In recent years, US security officials have detained two Canadian citizens, one of whom has been held at Guantanamo Bay and another who was shipped to Syria, where he was tortured. High level Canadian officials also got into trouble over leaking a private conversation with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama that created problems for Obama during his contentious primary battle with Hillary Clinton in 2008.
Basic Information
Lay of the Land: Canada occupies most of the northern portion of the North American continent. In the far east of Canada, the Appalachian Mountains extend into the Maritime provinces, creating a hilly, forested landscape with and irregular coastline punctuated by scenic bays and inlets. To the west is a lowlands region stretching from the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes. This is a fertile area of dairy farms, tobacco plantations, and orchards. Also located in this region, where 60% of all Canadians live, are the cities of Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, and Quebec. Further westward are the Canadian prairies, a belt of flatlands running from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains. In this treeless region, wheat fields blanket the land from horizon to horizon. To the north of these regions, the sparsely inhabited frozen Canadian Shield region extends northward from Hudson Bay into the Arctic Circle. Composing one half of Canada's total area, this region is covered by scrub forests, tundra, and swamplands, and includes immense ice- and glacier-coated islands, such as Baffin Island, which is the size of Spain. The Canadian far west is dominated by the Rocky, Coast, and Mackenzie mountains. In the southwestern corner of the nation, there is a relatively warm coastal region, where the cities of Vancouver and Victoria are located.
Population: 33.2 million
Religions: Catholic 44.0%, Protestant (predominately United Church, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, and Pentecostal) 32.7%, Chinese Universalist 2.0%, Muslim 1.7%, Jewish 1.3%, Buddhist 1.2%, Hindu 1.0%, Sikh 1.0%, Baha'i 0.1%, non-religious 14.4%.
Ethnic Groups: British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other (mostly Asian, African, Arab) 6%, mixed background 26%.
Languages: English (official) 52.6%, French (official) 20.6%, other 26.8%. There are 89 living languages in Canada.
History
The Inuit (Eskimo) were the first inhabitants of Canada, before Leif Eriksson visited Labrador or Nova Scotia in 1000 and later John Cabot in 1497. The French were the first to colonize the territory, following the explorations of Jacques Cartier in 1534. Dubbed New France, the French colony built up around Port Royal in what is now Nova Scotia. In 1608, Québec was founded.
While French explorers traveled beyond the Great Lakes to the western prairies and south along the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, the Hudson’s Bay Company of England established itself in Canadian territory. Soon, the English and French began squabbling over fisheries and the fur trade. In 1713, Newfoundland, Hudson Bay and Nova Scotia came under British control. During the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), England extended its conquest, and the Treaty of Paris in 1763 gave England control of all of Canada. At that time the population of Canada was almost entirely French, but in the next few decades, thousands of British colonists emigrated to Canada from the British Isles and from the American colonies.
In 1774 the English Parliament passed the Québec Act, which established the boundaries of Québec (extending as far as the Ohio River valley), recognized the Roman Catholic church in Québec and established French civil law to govern the relations of Canadian subjects in their business and other day-to-day relations with each other. British criminal law was imposed in all matters having to do with public law and order. These provisions by the British won them the admiration of leaders in Québec and the people themselves, even though the right to an elected assembly was not granted.
But as more British Loyalists settled in Canadian territory, the English government had to adjust its law so that loyalists weren’t forced to abide by French laws. In 1791 the British Parliament enacted the Constitutional Act, whereby Québec was split into the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. Each of these was governed by a legislative council appointed for life and a legislative assembly elected by the people.
Following the War of 1812, nationalism began to take root among some British loyalists seeking independence from England. Over the next three decades, public protests and calls by leading citizens pressed the issue which led to the passage of the Act of Union in 1840, which granted the right of self-government to Canada. The act joined Upper and Lower Canada under a central government, and the two divisions became known as Canada West and Canada East, respectively. A legislative body was established consisting of an appointed upper chamber, or legislative council, in the new government as well as an assembly composed of the same number of elected members from each of the two old colonies. The seat of government was established at Kingston. After 1844, it was moved to Montréal, then back and forth between Toronto and Québec, and finally to Ottawa in 1865.
In 1869, Canada purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company the vast middle west (Rupert’s Land) from which the provinces of Manitoba (1870), Alberta (1905) and Saskatchewan (1905) were later formed. In 1871, British Columbia joined the dominion, and in 1873, Prince Edward Island followed. The country was linked from coast to coast in 1885 by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
During 1866-1896, the Conservative Party, led by Sir John A. Macdonald, governed the country, except during the years 1873-1878. In 1896 the Liberal Party took over and, under Sir Wilfrid Laurier, a French Canadian, ruled until 1911. By the Statute of Westminster in 1931 the British dominions, including Canada, were formally declared to be partner nations with Britain, “equal in status, in no way subordinate to each other,” and bound together only by allegiance to a common crown.
Newfoundland became Canada’s tenth province on March 31, 1949, following a plebiscite. Canada also came to possess three territories—the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. This new territory included all of the Arctic north of the mainland, after Norway relinquished its claims over the Sverdrup Islands in the Arctic in 1931.
The Liberal Party, led by William Lyon Mackenzie King, dominated Canadian politics from 1921 until 1957, when it was succeeded by the Progressive Conservatives. The Liberals, under the leadership of Lester B. Pearson, returned to power in 1963. Pearson remained prime minister until 1968, when he retired and was replaced by a former law professor, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Trudeau maintained Canada’s defensive alliance with the United States, but began moving toward a more independent policy in world affairs.
Faced with an increasingly violent separatist movement in the predominantly French province of Québec, Trudeau introduced the Official Languages Bill, which encouraged bilingualism in the federal government. He also elevated the status of a French-speaking minister, Jean Chrétien. Both moves increased the power of French-speaking politicians in the federal government.
In 1976, the Parti Québécois (PQ) won the provincial Québec elections, and René Lévesque became premier. The Québec government passed Bill 101 in 1977, which established numerous rules promoting the French-speaking culture, including the use of only French for commercial signs and for most public school instruction. Many of Bill 101’s provisions were later amended to produce a more conciliatory relation between English-speaking and French-speaking citizens. For example, commercial signs can now be in French and English, provided that the French lettering is twice the size of the English.
Québec held a referendum in May 1980 on whether it should seek independence from Canada; it was defeated by 60% of the voters.
In April 1982, Queen Elizabeth II signed the Constitution Act (also called the Canada Act) which officially severed the last legal tie between Canada and Britain. The constitution retained Queen Elizabeth as queen of Canada and kept Canada’s membership in the Commonwealth. All Canadian provinces accepted the new constitution, except Québec.
In the national election on September 4, 1984, the Progressive Conservative Party scored an overwhelming victory, fundamentally changing the country’s political landscape. The Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney, won the highest political majority in Canadian history. The dominant foreign issue was a free-trade pact with the US, a treaty bitterly opposed by the Liberal and New Democratic parties. The conflict led to elections in November 1988 that solidly reelected Mulroney and gave him a mandate to proceed with the agreement.
The issue of separatist sentiments in French-speaking Québec flared up again in 1990 with the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. The accord was designed to bring Québec into the constitution while easing its residents’ fears of losing their identity within the English-speaking majority by giving it status as a “distinct society.”
In the early 1990s, the Canadian economy was mired in a long recession that many blamed on the free-trade agreement. Brian Mulroney’s popularity continued to decline, causing him to resign before the next election. In June 1993 the governing Progressive Conservative Party chose Defense Minister Kim Campbell as its leader, making her the first female prime minister in Canadian history. This was short-lived, as the national election in October resulted in the reemergence of the Liberal Party and the installation of Jean Chrétien as prime minister.
Another Québec referendum on secession in October 1995 yielded a narrow rejection of the proposal (by 54,000 votes out of 4.7 million), and separatists vowed to try again. Since then, however, the Québec Liberal Party has replaced the Bloc Québecois as the ruling party.
On April 1, 1999, the Northwest Territories were officially divided to create a new territory in the east that would be governed by Canada’s Inuits, who make up 85% of the area’s population.
In July 2000, Stockwell Day of the new right-wing Canadian Alliance Party unexpectedly emerged as the leader of Canada’s opposition. But this didn’t stop Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of the Liberal Party from winning a landslide victory in November 2000 for a third five-year term.
In recent years, Canada has introduced some of the world’s most liberal social policies. Medical marijuana for the terminally or chronically ill was legalized in 2001; the country began legally dispensing marijuana by prescription in July 2003. In 2003, Ontario and British Columbia legalized same-sex marriage; and more provinces and territories followed in 2004. In July 2005, Canada legalized gay marriage throughout the country, becoming one of four nations (along with Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain) to do so.
In December 2003, Chrétien stepped down, allowing the new leader of the Liberal Party, former finance minister Paul Martin, to become prime minister. In June 2004, Martin was reelected prime minister, but the Liberal Party lost its majority in parliament, which it had dominated for 11 years. In 2005, a scandal involving the misappropriation of government funds by the Liberal Party threatened the stability of Martin’s government even though Martin was not implicated in the scandal. In the January 2006 parliamentary elections, Conservatives won 36% of the vote, ending 12 years of Liberal rule. Conservative leader Stephen Harper became prime minister in February.
In June 2006, police arrested 17 suspected Islamist terrorists in Toronto who were suspected of planning a major terrorist attack on the country. In February 2007, Canada’s Supreme Court struck down a law that permitted foreign terrorism suspects to be detained indefinitely without charges while waiting for deportation. The court then suspended its ruling for one year to allow the government time to rewrite the law.
Canadian History (University of Washington)
History of U.S. Relations with Canada
Early relations between these two North American giants were marked by military encounters before either nation was officially established. During the American Revolution, the colonial army sent forces north into Canadian territory to capture Québec and turn it into the “fourteenth colony,” according to Canadian historians. An American army led by Richard Montgomery captured Montréal, while another led by Benedict Arnold laid siege to a fortress in Québec. During ensuing battles, Montgomery was killed and Arnold wounded, and the Americans eventually retreated and gave up their campaigns in Canada.
More fighting occurred during the War of 1812 along the US-Canadian border between British and American armies. Early in the war the United States had hoped to drive the British entirely from North America, but these hopes were dashed by a series of defeats at the hands of British regulars and Canadian militia forces. Fort Michilimackinac, at the entrance to Lake Michigan, was captured by the British soon after the outbreak of fighting and was not recaptured during the remainder of the war. An American attack across the Detroit border was not only forced back but was turned into a disastrous defeat. The army defending Detroit was forced to surrender, and the fort itself fell into British hands. Later that same year, the United States launched an attack on the Niagara frontier, which also resulted in defeat.
There were times during the War of 1812 when the US was poised to capture a large portion of Canada, but in the end defensive battles by British and Canadian forces turned the tide against the Americans. Among the most important engagements were those at Chateauguay and Crysler’s Farm in the autumn of 1813 at a time when United States forces were threatening to capture Montréal and cut off the only supply line to Upper Canada. At Chateauguay French Canadians fought alongside their English-speaking countrymen, and the victory contributed to the growing national pride of Canadians in both Upper and Lower Canada.
Once Canada gained its sovereignty and British forces left the country, no further military battles were waged with Americans. In fact, relations between the two countries have been friendly for almost two hundred years. The US opened its first consulate, in Halifax, in 1833. The first US minister to Canada took his position in Ottawa in 1927. The legation in Ottawa was upgraded to an embassy in 1943, and the two countries fought together in Europe during World War II. Military cooperation grew after the war, as the US and Canadian governments feared the rise of the Soviet military threat as the Cold War progressed. The Permanent Joint Board on Defense was established in 1940 to provide policy-level consultation on bilateral defense matters between the US and Canada. The two countries were also founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), founded in 1949. American and Canadian military forces began working intimately together in 1958 to create a continental air defense to protect both countries from attacks. This system, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), continues to this day. US and Canadian forces also fought together during the Korean War.
During the Vietnam War, US-Canadian military relations took on a different stripe as many American draft dodgers fled to Canada to avoid being prosecuted by the US government. This flight of Americans to Canada has taken place this decade as well, although smaller in number and those fleeing aren’t avoiding the draft (which has not been in effect since 1973), but having to return to duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. Nevertheless, the Canadian government adopted stricter laws on immigration to make it tougher for American military personnel to seek refuge in Canada. At the same time, the United States has toughened its own immigration laws, requiring Canadians wishing to visit the US to present passports under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
While travel across the US-Canadian border has become more restricted, trade has become easier. In January 1994, Canada, the United States and Mexico launched the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), forming the world’s largest free trade area. Under NAFTA, trade barriers were eliminated between the US and Canada, making it easier for businesses on either side of the border to export goods and services. The two countries are also party to the North American Energy Working Group, which was established in 2001 to foster communication and cooperation among the energy sectors of Canada, the US and Mexico. Canadian and American consumers have equal access to oil produced in either country under NAFTA. Chapter 6 of NAFTA states that Canada is only able to restrict oil exports to the US under circumstances that may threaten its national security.
Current U.S. Relations with Canada
The United States and Canada are more intertwined than the United States is with any other nation in the world. The border between Canada and the United States is the longest border in the world. Officially known as the International Boundary, it stretches 5,522 miles (8,891 km) long, including the 1,539 miles (2,477 km) shared by Alaska. Bilateral efforts are made through the Smart Border Declaration, a 30-point action plan that facilitates the legitimate flow of people and goods through this border.
Canadian forces signed on as an ally of the United States shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 2002, they joined Operation Anaconda, a multinational coalition effort headed by the US military to destroy Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Canada’s expanded role in the US war with Afghanistan was frowned upon by the New Democratic Party and many Liberal leadership candidates because these actions were not consistent with Canada’s historic role in international relations. Contemporary polls show that the overwhelming majority of Canadians strongly objected to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and relations with the US were strained when Canada refused to join in the American invasion.
Canada, home to an abundance of natural resources, is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of energy. Almost all of Canada’s energy is exported to the US, while Canada is the largest foreign source of American energy imports. In 2006 Canada exported to the US 41.2 billion kilowatthours of electricity (1% of U.S. supply), 3.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (16% of the US supply), and 2.3 million barrels per day of oil and petroleum products (11% of the US supply).
Environmental issues have been an area of increasing concern in bilateral relations. A recent example is the Devil’s Lake Outlet, a project instituted by North Dakota that angered the citizens of Manitoba because of the unacceptable levels of pollution it is expected to cause in the water.
The US and Canada signed a Pacific Salmon Agreement in June 1999 that settled differences over implementation of the 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty. In 2001, the two countries reached agreement on Yukon River salmon, effectively realizing coordinated management over all West Coast salmon fisheries. The US and Canada recently reached agreement on sharing another trans-boundary marine resource, Pacific hake. The two countries also have a treaty on the joint management of albacore tuna in the Pacific, and closely cooperate on a range of bilateral fisheries issues and international high seas governance initiatives.
Another US-Canada issue is the decades-long softwood lumber dispute over the taxes imposed and paid on softwood lumber.
Canada is a significant source of marijuana and synthetic drugs (methamphetamines, ecstasy) reaching the US, as well as precursor chemicals and over-the-counter drugs used to produce illicit synthetic drugs. Strengthening of regulations in Canada and increased US-Canadian law enforcement cooperation have helped reduce trafficking in synthetic drugs, but cannabis cultivation remains a thriving industry.
Another point of contention is the Kyoto Accord, intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Unlike the US, Canada ratified the agreement. But then the Canadian government announced in 2006 that the country would not be able to meet its original Kyoto Protocol commitments. In April 2007, the Canadian Government announced a new regulatory framework for air emissions that, when implemented, should lead to significant decreases in emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants as early as 2010. The US is a signatory to the agreement, but it has never ratified it, thanks to the unwillingness of the Bush administration to submit the plan to Congress.
There are 647,276 Canadians living in the US. Before the restrictive immigration laws enacted in the early 1960s, Canadians constituted 12% of total immigrants to the US. The states with the highest Canadian populations are California, Massachusetts and New York.
In 2006, 13.9 million Americans visited Canada. The number of Americans visiting Canada has been decreasing intermittently since 2002, when 16.2 million Americans traveled north. Sixteen million Canadians visited the US in 2006, 7.6% more than the 14.9 million that went south in 2005. More Canadians have been visiting the US nearly every year since 2002, when 13 million came to the United States.
US-Canadian Relations (CBC News)
U.S. Department of State: Background Note: Canada
U.S. Warns Canada Against Easing Pot Laws (CBC News)
Where Does the Money Flow
The trade relationship between the United States and Canada is larger than that between any two countries in the world. In 2007, total trade between the two countries exceeded $560 billion. The two-way trade that crosses the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario equals all US exports to Japan. Canada is the leading export market for 36 of the 50 US States and ranked in the top three for another 10 States. In fact, Canada is a larger market for US goods than all 27 countries of the European Community combined, whose population is more than 15 times that of Canada.
The United States’ leading imports from Canada are crude oil and natural gas. In 2007, the US imported $38 billion worth of oil and $22.3 billion worth of natural gas from Canada. Other major imports include passenger cars ($36.8 billion), Bauxite and aluminum ($7.5 billion), lumber ($5.2 billion), plastic materials ($5 billion), pharmaceuticals ($4.8 billion), civilian aircraft ($4.8 billion), meat products ($4.02 billion), telecommunications equipment ($3.4 billion), paper ($3.09 billion) and bakery and confectionary products ($3 billion).
American exports to Canada are much lower in numbers—$248 billion versus $313 billion in imports. After automotive parts ($24 billion), the most valuable exports are passenger cars ($15 billion), trucks, buses and special purpose vehicles ($12.5 billion), industrial machines ($7.3 billion), engines and engine parts ($6.7 billion), electric apparatus ($6.1 billion), plastic materials ($5.6 billion), iron and steel mill products ($4.9 billion), industrial engines ($4.8 billion) and finished metal shapes ($4.7 billion).
The US is Canada’s leading agricultural market, taking 55% of its agro-food exports in 2007. However, US imports of Canadian livestock products, particularly ruminants, fell drastically after the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease) in early 2003. Shipments of most Canadian beef to the US were resumed in late 2003, and trade in live cattle under 30 months resumed in July 2005. All remaining US restrictions affecting bilateral beef trade were lifted in November 2007. Canada is the largest US agricultural market, primarily importing fresh fruits and vegetables and livestock products.
Canada and the US have one of the world’s largest investment relationships. The US is Canada’s largest foreign investor. Statistics Canada reports that at the end of 2007, the stock of US foreign direct investment in Canada was $289 billion, or about 59% of total foreign direct investment in Canada. US investment is primarily in Canada’s mining and smelting industries, petroleum, chemicals, the manufacture of machinery and transportation equipment, and finance.
Canada is the fifth largest foreign investor in the US. At the end of 2006, the US Commerce Department estimated that Canadian investment in the United States was $159 billion. Canadian investment in the US is concentrated in finance and insurance, manufacturing, banking, information and retail trade and other services.
Bottlenecks at the border are taking a toll on U.S.-Canada trade (by Frank Bentayou, Cleveland Plain-Dealer)
Controversies
Canadian Supreme Court Rules US Violated Citizen’s Rights
In May 2008, the Canadian Supreme Court determined that the United States violated the human rights of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who has been held at the Guantánamo prison since he was 15 years old, and that the Canadian government shared culpability by allowing its intelligence agents to interview Khadr and share that information with US authorities.
Khadr has been detained in Guantánamo Bay detention center for almost six years. He has been charged with various offenses, including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade during a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan that killed US Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Speer.
In February and September 2003, Canadian officials, including Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) agents, interviewed Khadr at Guantánamo and shared that information with US authorities. Khadr’s attorneys have long argued that these interview records are critical to his defense.
The court found that, at the time Canadian officials interviewed Khadr, “the regime providing for the detention and trial of Mr. Khadr …constituted a clear violation of fundamental human rights protected by international law.”
The justices concluded that Canadian officials participated in a process that violated Canada’s international human rights obligations, and that Khadr is entitled to invoke his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As a remedy, the court ordered that Khadr be given access to all records of interviews conducted by Canadian officials with him in 2003 at Guantánamo Bay.
In February and September 2003, Canadian officials, including Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) agents, interviewed Khadr at Guantánamo and shared that information with US authorities. Khadr’s attorneys have long argued that these interview records are critical to his defense.
The court found that, at the time Canadian officials interviewed Khadr, “the regime providing for the detention and trial of Mr. Khadr …constituted a clear violation of fundamental human rights protected by international law.”
The justices concluded that Canadian officials participated in a process that violated Canada’s international human rights obligations, and that Khadr is entitled to invoke his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As a remedy, the court ordered that Khadr be given access to all records of interviews conducted by Canadian officials with him in 2003 at Guantánamo Bay.
The Omar Khadr Case: A Teenager Imprisoned at Guantanamo (Human Rights Watch)
Omar Khadr (Wikipedia)
Canadian Ambassador Accused of Leak that Hurt Obama
During the 2008 Democratic primary, Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson was accused of leaking a private conversation between Barack Obama and Canadian officials regarding his position on the North American Free Trade Agreement. At issue was whether Wilson told a Canadian television reporter that Obama had reassured Canadian officials that the Democrat’s critical remarks about NAFTA were “just politics.” The revelation surfaced prior to the Ohio primary, which Obama ultimately lost to rival Hillary Clinton. The story said that an Obama official assured Canadian officials the Democrat was not serious about threats to tear up NAFTA, which he blamed for the loss of American jobs. Members of Canada’s Liberal Party accused Conservative Party members of trying to cover-up the high-level leak deliberately orchestrated to embarrass Obama.
Dion suggests cover-up by Tories (by Richard Brennan, Toronto Star)
Ambassador Wilson and Ian Brodie Must Step Aside (Canadian Liberal Party)
Envoy's role in leak questioned (by Tim Harper, Toronto Star)
US Ambassador Tells Canadian Leaders to Lay Off America
In a December 2005 speech to the Canadian Club at Ottawa’s historic Chateau Laurier Hotel, US Ambassador David Wilkins blasted Canadian officials for using the United States as a whipping boy during the Canadian national election campaign. “I understand political expediency, but the last time I looked, the United States was not on the ballot for the Jan. 23 election,” Wilkins told the crowd. “Just think about this: What if one of our best friends criticized you directly and incorrectly almost relentlessly? What if that friend’s agenda was to highlight your perceived flaws while avoiding mentioning your successes? What if that friend demanded respect but offered little in return?”
Wilkins went on. “Wouldn’t that begin to sow the seeds of doubt in your mind about the strength of the friendship? It may be smart election-year politics to thump your chest and constantly criticize your friend and your No. 1 trading partner. But it is a slippery slope, and all of us should hope that it doesn’t have a long-term impact on the relationship.”
Wilkins said he feared this “constant attitude” would hurt the Canada-US relationship unless “all of us make a concerted effort to simply tone it down.”
US Kidnaps Canadian Citizen
On September 26, 2002, Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who worked as a telecommunications engineer, was traveling back to Canada after a family vacation in Tunisia, when, while changing planes at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, he was grabbed by U.S. agents. He was questioned for thirteen days, primarily about his relationship with the brother of a man with whom he had worked. Arar was then placed in handcuffs and leg irons, placed on a private jet and flown, via Washington, Maine, and Rome, to Amman, Jordan. He was then driven to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured until he confessed to anything he was asked to confess to. A year later, after the intervention of the Canadian government, Arar was released from custody and the Syrian government conceded that he had no links to terrorism. Although Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology to Arar, he remains on the American terrorist watch list.
Arar vs. Ashcroft (Center for Constitutional Rights)
Canada's Ambassador to the U.S.
Doer, Gary
A longtime politician and former labor leader, Gary Albert Doer assumed his responsibilities as Canada’s ambassador to the United States on October 19, 2009.
Born March 31, 1948, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Doer attended St. Paul’s High School. He studied political science and sociology at the University of Manitoba for one year, and then dropped out to become a corrections officer at the Vaughan Street Detention Centre. He later rose to become deputy superintendent of the Manitoba Youth Centre.
Doer became involved in organized labor and politics in the 1970s, when he joined the New Democratic Party (NDP). He discontinued his membership in 1975 to preserve the neutrality of his union, and was later courted by both the New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives to run for public office.
He led the Manitoba Government Employees’ Association as president from 1979-1986. He also held prominent positions with the Manitoba Federation of Labour and the National Union of Provincial Government Employees, served as a director of the community-owned Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team, and became a governor of the University of Manitoba.
He rejoined the NDP in 1986, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the northeast Winnipeg division of Concordia. He joined the government of Premier Howard Pawley in April 1986 as minister of urban affairs, and was given additional responsibilities as minister responsible for the Manitoba Telephone System.
In February 1987, Doer was made minister of crown investments and was later named as minister responsible for the Accountability of Crown Corporations and minister responsible for the Liquor Control Act.
He became head of the Manitoba NDP in 1988, at a time when the party had low popularity. He served as leader of the opposition during most of the 1990s, but gradually helped rebuild his party’s reputation.
In the 1999 elections, the NDP was swept back into power, and Doer became premier of Manitoba. For the next 10 years, until he resigned to became ambassador to the U.S., he worked with American governors to enhance Canada-U.S. cooperation on trade, agriculture, water protection, climate change and renewable energy.
His cultural interests range from the theater to professional football, supporting both the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears. He and his wife, Ginny Devine, have two daughters.
- Table of Contents
- News
- Overview
- Basic Information
- History
- Newspapers
- History of U.S. Relations with Canada
- Current U.S. Relations with Canada
- Where Does the Money Flow
- Controversies
- Human Rights
- Debate
- Past Ambassadors
- Ambassador to the U.S.
- Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
- Comments
- Leave a Comment
U.S. Ambassador to Canada
Jacobson, David
Some of President Barack Obama’s choices for U.S. ambassador have touched off foreign concerns over nominees being better known as FOOs (friends of Obama) or big-time fundraisers, but that’s not a problem for David Jacobson. Yes, he was one of Obama’s bundlers who hauled in a lot of cash for the 2008 campaign, but officials in Canada consider it a prerequisite that the U.S. ambassador to Ottawa have the president’s ear, and Jacobson has that as a member of Obama’s inner circle.
Jacobson grew up in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. After receiving his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in 1973, he attended Georgetown University’s law school, where he was the administrative editor of the Georgetown Law Journal and received his J.D. in 1976.
Jacobson worked briefly at a prominent New York law firm before accepting a job at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP, an international law firm with operations in Europe and the United States, including a lobbying office in Washington, DC, that worked on behalf of failed insurance giant AIG. Jacobson reportedly took the job in part to be closer to his mother, who was ill at the time.
While working as an associate at Sonnenschein, Jacobson met his wife, Julie, who was interning at the firm before her senior year of law school at New York University.
Jacobson ended up making partner at Sonnenschein and spending 30 years at the firm, specializing in complex commercial, class action, securities, insurance and business litigation, including E-commerce. His clients included prominent companies like Prudential, Allstate, Travelers, The Chicago and North Western Railway, and General Motors.
Earlier this decade Jacobson started the Chicago networking event known as First Tuesday, a monthly cocktail-hour get together for tech entrepreneurs, financiers, and corporate executives. He also founded AtomWorks, an organization to bring together corporate, civic and academic leaders in order to foster nanotechnology in the Midwest.
Jacobson has served as a member of CEOs for Cities, a national bipartisan alliance of 75 mayors, corporate executives, university presidents and nonprofit leaders organized to advance the economic competitiveness of cities. He also has served on the boards of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and the Better Boys Foundation.
His decision to get involved in politics was reportedly triggered by the death of his father in the 1990s. Before meeting Obama Jacobson raised money for Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. He was introduced to Obama by Sonnenshein partner, and best-selling author, Scott Turow, who was hosting a party at his home on Chicago’s North Shore in August 2003.
Jacobson did not immediate ally himself with Obama. In fact, he supported Biden during the early days of the Democratic primary campaign. After joining the Obama camp, Jacobson forged “Lawyers for Obama” and became deputy finance chair for the national campaign. He helped raise between $50,000-$100,000, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Following the presidential transition, Jacobson joined the White House in January as a special assistant to the president for the Office of Presidential Personnel. His focus was on filling slots on executive branch boards and commissions.
After Jacobson was announced as the next ambassador to Canada, Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson said a key criteria for the position is having a personal relationship with the U.S. president. “They’ve all been able to pick up the telephone and reach the president.”
Jacobson has been described as being “a whip-smart lawyer” with legendary skills on the golf green and a penchant for fine clothing.
Chicagoan David Jacobson, Obama Fund-raiser Tapped for Canadian Ambassador (by Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times)
Obama Fundraiser Touted as Ambassador to Ottawa (by Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service)
Obama Faults Bankers' `Greed and Irresponsibility,' Takes Cash (by Jonathan D. Salant, Bloomberg)
Putting Chicago on High Tech's Map (by Roger Crockett, BusinessWeek)
David Jacobson Bio (Spoke)
morePrevious U.S. Ambassador to Canada
Wilkins, David
A native of Greenville, South Carolina, David H. Wilkins served as US Ambassador to Canada from June 29, 2005, until 2009. Wilkins received his undergraduate degree from Clemson University and his law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. After service in the Army, he returned to Greenville, where he practiced law for more than 30 years.
Before becoming ambassador to Canada, Wilkins served 25 years in the South Carolina House of Representatives, beginning in 1980, as a Republican. He rose through the ranks in the House, serving six years as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and two years as speaker pro tem before being elected speaker, a position he held for 11 years. He was the first Republican elected speaker of any legislative body in the South since the 1880s and retired as one of the longest serving speakers in the country.
A strong supporter of President George W. Bush, Wilkins served as state chairman of the Bush–Cheney ’04 campaign and as co-chair of the campaign in 2000. He was appointed by the President to the Board of Visitors to the United States Academy at West Point in 2002 and served for three years.
Comments