Is Canada Getting too Cozy with the United States?

Let me start today by saying that I’m not anti-American as a rule and though some people may see it that way, this is not an attempt at U.S. bashing. The fact is I actually like our neighbors to the south for the most part. I don’t always agree with many aspects of the U.S. government’s foreign and domestic policies, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the American people in general. Having said all of that, I don’t however want to be an American myself and I certainly don’t want to live in a Canada that’s being governed from Washington.

I’m a born and bred, no holds barred, dyed in the wool Newfoundlander, so I have a hard enough time feeling like I even belong in Canada sometimes. Can you just imagine how uncomfortable it makes me feel to think we may now be living in America Lite? Hell, if Newfoundland wanted to be an American state it could have worked toward that in 1949 instead of joining Canada. It didn’t.

How does the shift toward the south our Country has taken lately make you feel, or have you even noticed? If you haven’t, or if you don’t believe me, just take a look around at what’s been happening.

First, George Bush and Stephen Harper travel to Mexico together for talks and the next thing you know news reports are trumpeting the vastly improved relationship between the two countries. This excursion is quickly followed by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay’s visit to Washington and meetings with Secretary of State Rice (the two looked just like old school chums in the news coverage, I believe Condelezza actually almost smiled at one point. Can you imagine?).

Next the throne speech from Ottawa singled out the United States of America and spoke of our close friendship with the Country. Don’t get me wrong, friendship isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but specifically singling out one individual country for mention in the throne speech is certainly not something I would have expected. It makes me wonder if the relationship hasn’t become something more than the average Canadian might want. The character of this new relationship is still unclear, but it was hinted at during a recent visit to Newfoundland when Prime Minister Harper chose sides in a squabble between the Province and U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobile. He supported Exxon.

Since taking power in Ottawa Harper has increased troop commitments and extended timelines indefinitely in Afghanistan. This allows Canada to take over the leadership role in that conflict but it also relieves U.S. forces there freeing them up to help bolster the effort in Iraq.

To add to this Harper has now adopted the White House tactic of controlling media coverage of events. He did this by putting a gag order on Cabinet Ministers, only allowing them to speak with reporters after approval by his office. He followed this move by denying news cameras access to photograph or video tape flag draped coffins returning from Afghanistan (ala George Bush) and then (though they have since been denied) rumors surfaced that Harper was demanding approval of all speeches to be delivered by Canada’s top Military leader, General Rick Hillier.

The latest move by Harper has even gone a step beyond anything the Bush government has ever done, at least to the best of my knowledge. His government has now put into jeopardy the idea of artistic expression in Canada. He has done this by questioning the contents of a movie produced by a private citizen. This citizen is just like you and me in that he is not employed by, or working with, the government of Canada. His two sins are that he is married to the Governor General and that his film may contain scenes that Ottawa believes could be offensive to the U.S. or more specifically, to George Bush.

According to one quote out of Ottawa on the subject:

“…Canada has a profound, deep and committed relationship with the United States of America.”

I have to say, that sounds like a lot more than friendship to me. I know married couples who might have trouble defining their relationship in those terms. It is statements like those that really make me wonder exactly how far into bed we’ve climbed with our neighbor. (Please, no jokes about who is physically bigger or who’s on top)

Listen, I don’t mind Canada’s government working with Washington on issues of common concern. I don’t mind a friendly relationship with our neighbors or any other reasonable Country in the world. I don’t even mind the government reviewing specific policies of other governments in an effort to determine if they might work better than our own. I’m open to all of those things.

I do have a problem with the kind of blind obedience I believe we are seeing in Ottawa these days and I have a big problem with Harper’s Bush style media manipulation. In addition to those two things, I REALLY have a problem with the Harper government blurring the lines between a close relationship to America and what constitutes a very scary relationship to the Bush administration.

Administrations come and go whereas countries tend to last a long, long time. The Bush government is now in its final days of life and to say that they’ve been involved in some less than acceptable activities during their tenure would be the understatement of the century. In that light, I question just how much we as a nation should be aligning ourselves with the current U.S. leadership.

If Canada becomes too closely aligned with the Bush administration itself, I wonder exactly what the consequences might be. I worry that we will end up living with a situation we would rather not face. I wonder where the relationship will leave us positioned in the world and how other countries will view Canada. Finally, I wonder what it will mean for every Canadian, long after Bush and Harper have retired to their quiet beach front properties someplace warm and cozy. Perhaps too cozy.

It may be my paranoia kicking in, but I can almost hear my name being added to a No Fly list somewhere in Ottawa at this very moment. Come on Steve, I said I like Americans didn't I?

By Myles Higgins (scratch that!!)
By John Doe (that'll slow them down)