[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on CANADIAN POLITICS
Just after the attacks on New York and the Pentagon, commentators north of the border warned that Canada would need to work closely with the United States to convince Americans that they could securely inhabit their desired "gated community while keeping the border open." (Edward Greenspon, 2001) We should not let occasional, well-publicized incidents prevent us from recognizing that subsequent joint border initiatives largely have achieved their objectives. In May, 2003, the United States Department of State, in its annual report on patterns of global terrorism, commended Canada for its "excellent" overall bilateral cooperation on terrorism since September 11, referring twice to U.S.-Canada joint efforts as models that other neighboring countries might emulate. To be sure, Canada placed as high a priority on its prime goal of a border open for trade and commerce as did the United States for 70 percent of its trade by the 1970s.
Canada's trade dependence represents another of our continuities or recurrent themes. With Canadian merchandise exports to NAFTA partners increasing 95 percent between 1993 and 2001 to CDN $580 billion--only $15 billion of it with Mexico--and with Canada's exports providing 43 percent of GDP (up from 26 percent in 1989 and four times the United States trade dependency) while the United States was receiving 86 percent of these exports to give Canada a CDN $96 billion trade surplus, Canada's officials were understandably anxious to provide the cooperation that the State Department has acknowledged. (Earl Fry, 2003) Even before September 11, the security of trade and investment was already trumping Canadian policymakers' other concerns.
The Chretien government has publicized its commitment and support in the war on terror. It marketed a coffee table book that showed Canadians from Newfoundland to Yukon accommodating hundreds of mostly American air travelers stranded after September 11. The book also featured the well-attended and moving September 14 memorial service on Parliament's front lawn.
