Barking at shovels

Best friends, whether we like it or not

The Globe and Mail has an interesting article on Canada-U.S. relations in the 21st century: "Working for the Yankee dollar".

The amount by which the U.S. economy expanded during the nineties is larger, in and of itself, than every other country's entire economy, except Japan's. And it was that U.S. expansion that has fuelled much of Canada's own growth.

But after a generation in which economic forces brought them together, geopolitics is threatening to drive Canada and the United States apart. It's not just the catcalls about war-mongering, aggressive Americans and pacifist, passive-aggressive Canadians. Differences over Iraq are likely to pass, especially if any war ends quickly with little loss of life. But the impact of Sept. 11 won't end with the conquest of Baghdad.

....

"The most basic question of Canadian foreign policy remains, 'What can Canada do to better protect its interest in the United States?' " Allan Gotlieb, Canada's former ambassador to Washington, said last week. "In the transformed security environment following September, 2001 . . . the need to find an answer to this question is the single most important issue facing the country."

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