Do Think Tanks Matter? by Donald E. Abelson

Author:Donald E. Abelson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MQUP

As Canada’s twenty-second prime minister, Stephen Harper had to learn the most effective and expedient ways to manage bilateral relations with the US, Canada’s leading trading partner. Indeed, for 150 years, Canadian prime ministers have faced similar challenges in dealing with their continental neighbour – finding a balance between representing the interests of the country, and holding onto the support of their caucus, without alienating or infuriating the United States. Walking this tightrope has often required considerable political acumen and diplomacy. It becomes particularly difficult when Canada, relegated as the junior partner in this asymmetrical power relationship, finds itself at odds with US administrations pursuing domestic and foreign policies deemed offensive, destabilizing, and wholly inappropriate by the vast majority of Canadians. As a member of NATO, NORAD, the UN, and other regional and international organizations, as well as a signatory to several bilateral treaties and conventions, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, it is difficult to overstate the number of policy initiatives requiring Canadian and American cooperation. It is also difficult to overstate that US officials have a general expectation that Canada, as America’s most loyal and ardent ally, should simply fall into lockstep with the United States.

When the interests of Canada and the United States do not converge, Ottawa is compelled to think strategically about how best to advance its sovereign interests in Washington, where Canada must compete with hundreds of other countries struggling to make their voices heard. At times, this involves working closely with key members of Congress sympathetic to Canadian federal and provincial concerns and strengthening ties to various government departments at the federal and state level. It may also entail engaging senior officials in the US embassy in Ottawa to stress the importance of keeping the Canada-US relationship intact and on track. But what tends to set the tone for relations between the two countries is not the many discussions with lawmakers that take place in the corridors of Congress or state legislatures, or, for that matter, meetings held in their respective embassies. It is the relationship that forms and evolves between prime ministers and presidents – a relationship that unfolds in full view of the media and millions of onlookers – that helps the electorate and the media gauge the temperature of bilateral relations.1 How well or poorly prime ministers and presidents relate to each other may not dictate the success or failure of various bilateral initiatives. After all, the range of issues that define Canada-US relations extends far beyond the offices of the president and prime minister. Nonetheless, the relationship they form is one of many factors scholars need to consider in evaluating the health of bilateral relations.

Official state visits present a valuable opportunity for the Canadian prime minister and the US president to lay the groundwork for broader policy discussions. When US president Barack Obama made his first official visit to Canada on 19 February 2009, the leaders had much to discuss, from bilateral trade and climate change to border security and fighting the war on terror.

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