To date, Stephen Harper has been an astute manager of Canada-U.S. relations.
He’s struck the right balance. A case in point is his two-pronged strategy on trade. The American market is in bad shape. It may never be what it once was. It makes sense therefore to diversify trade, as the Conservatives are now trying to do. It is also a given that, despite any decline, the U.S. will remain Canada’s largest trading partner. It makes sense therefore for the Prime Minister to secure that market as best he can. He will, therefore, sign the new Beyond the Border agreement, or perimeter accord, with President Barack Obama on Wednesday.
This comes after Washington’s pushback on the Keystone XL pipeline and its moves to invoke Buy America measures in its economic stimulus programs. In each case, Mr. Harper has had harsh words for the administration. That works politically because, again, it’s the balanced approach. History shows that Canadians like prime ministers who take on the Americans half the time and support them half the time. Read more here.
