CANADA scored a partial victory in last week’s U.S. International Trade Commission ruling on imports of wheat and durum.
But in agriculture and the wider trade picture, Canada’s struggle for fair access to the rich United States market continues. This country must reinvigorate efforts to keep an open border.
The hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales caused by the wheat and durum dispute and especially the border closure due to bovine spongiform encephalopathy highlight the importance of Canada-U.S. trade.
Since the Canada-U.S. trade agreement came into effect in 1989, trade has soared to a daily total of $1.2 billion. Agri-food trade has quadrupled.
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Yet the Canada-U.S. relationship has deteriorated. Churlish name calling by some Canadian politicians and advisers are only the most obvious failures in stewarding the relationship.
Large issues such as trade in wheat and softwood lumber remain unresolved and nagging regulatory and standardization issues have festered.
Since the terrorist attacks of 2001, the U.S. has made security its dominant agenda. Canada has had trouble finding its place within that agenda because its voice lacks clarity and volume.
The deficit battle and a concentration on domestic affairs in the last decade narrowed Canada’s foreign policy outlook and starved its diplomatic presence in the U.S.
This cannot continue.
With other markets far away, and with increasing global competition, Canada’s special relationship with America, the world’s most powerful and wealthy market, is a prized possession.
This doesn’t mean Canada must be a sycophant to the U.S. But differences must be principled, rational and presented in a courteous manner.
There is hope the relationship will soon get needed attention. Prime minister-in-waiting Paul Martin has talked of presenting a new attitude to the U.S. and creating permanent committees of cabinet and the House of Commons to address Canada-U.S. issues.
Several consulates in U.S. cities have reopened, although Mexican diplomats still outnumber Canada’s on the ground.
Canada must do more to raise its concerns in the U.S. and make Americans more receptive to hearing them.
That means having a clear foreign policy on the wider issues that face the world today and a more numerous and forceful diplomatic presence in the U.S. to build personal relationships.
Farm groups should also make efforts to be “on the ground” in the U.S., explaining and advancing Canadian positions. Officials of Canadian farm groups must attend the conventions of their American counterparts, not only on the national level, but also regional and state. Invitations to travel north must be extended to Americans.
Rarely is the bridge between Canada and the U.S. wide.
Talking can narrow it.
