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I don't know how many of you keep track of Canadian news, but for those just tuning in, we've got a federal election campaign in progress as I type this entry. These things usually provide some degree of genuine entertainment whenever they happen, and this one's no exception. I've commented on various aspects of it in previous entries, of course, but there's a new -- and yet very old -- wrinkle playing out this week.
US Ambassador David Wilkins gave a speech this week about what he sees as the "slippery slope" that exists when candidates for federal office in Canada "criticize your best friend and number one trading partner constantly". (Further details at this CBC Web News article.)
What the American Ambassador to Canada may not yet understand, for all his study and research and actual discussions with Canadians from one end of Confederation to the other is this: the United States has always been the Ghost Candidate in every federal election Canada's ever had.
For as long as I can recall, the threat or promise, real or imagined, of assimilation into the USA has long loomed over us up here. One of the chief reasons that Confederation happened in 1867 was the end of the American Civil War, and the threats that were made by various parties south of the border at the time to reckon with the UK over their support of the Confederated States, with "British North America" -- AKA Canada -- intended as the price tag for the interference.
The debate over how close our commercial, and later, military ties were to be has cost Prime Ministers their jobs from time to time. Look up "reciprocity", "Canada" and "Laurier" on a Wiki-search sometime to see what I'm talking about. Then check out the FTA/NAFTA/FTAA/MAI/WTO fights in more recent decades.
As a result of this, the American option has been the one unofficial candidate in every federal election so far. For a party to knowingly, publicly tie itself to it can be death at the polls.
The United States is, in fact, the one candidate whose name never appears on any ballot...but is always there nonetheless.
So Ambassador Wilkins' counsel to our federal parties is, I believe, in vain.
And until Canada either dissolves or mutates into some other political animal, I suspect it always will be.
US Ambassador David Wilkins gave a speech this week about what he sees as the "slippery slope" that exists when candidates for federal office in Canada "criticize your best friend and number one trading partner constantly". (Further details at this CBC Web News article.)
What the American Ambassador to Canada may not yet understand, for all his study and research and actual discussions with Canadians from one end of Confederation to the other is this: the United States has always been the Ghost Candidate in every federal election Canada's ever had.
For as long as I can recall, the threat or promise, real or imagined, of assimilation into the USA has long loomed over us up here. One of the chief reasons that Confederation happened in 1867 was the end of the American Civil War, and the threats that were made by various parties south of the border at the time to reckon with the UK over their support of the Confederated States, with "British North America" -- AKA Canada -- intended as the price tag for the interference.
The debate over how close our commercial, and later, military ties were to be has cost Prime Ministers their jobs from time to time. Look up "reciprocity", "Canada" and "Laurier" on a Wiki-search sometime to see what I'm talking about. Then check out the FTA/NAFTA/FTAA/MAI/WTO fights in more recent decades.
As a result of this, the American option has been the one unofficial candidate in every federal election so far. For a party to knowingly, publicly tie itself to it can be death at the polls.
The United States is, in fact, the one candidate whose name never appears on any ballot...but is always there nonetheless.
So Ambassador Wilkins' counsel to our federal parties is, I believe, in vain.
And until Canada either dissolves or mutates into some other political animal, I suspect it always will be.
