It's an unfortunate twist of history that started on September 11th 2001, that brings us to this day.
America has always been our greatest ally, our friends, and in some cases, part of our family. But today this is less and less the case.
I am not a fan of George W. Bush. Sure, I am right-wing as all hell. But Bush has been a president of incompetence, security expediency at the expense of human rights and due process, and put the US government finances into such disarray, that a recession is bound to be disastrous to the US treasury. It's an elephant in the room that nobody in the US acknowledges exists, except for a few unheard warnings from people like Alan Greenspan and a senator or two.
What Canadian conservatives need to learn to understand, is that America doesn't like you, either. You're an outsider. You represent another vector of potential threat to America, economically and otherwise.
I am a big supporter of NAFTA, and free trade in general. But both American Democrats and Republicans are increasingly eyeing a withdrawal from the agreement.
Despite my disdain for Bush, his administration has represented one of the last remaining political beachheads for free trade and fair immigration in the US. It's fight which is slowly being lost.
Many Americans are now eminently aware that the Canadian economy is outperforming the American economy. And they're increasingly coming to the conclusion that we're getting rich off their backs. It's a false perception, but with increasingly isolationist leanings in the US, it's a perception that both Democrat and Republican politicians are moving in to capitalize on.
Americans are now only our friends in name only. They don't care about us. If you tell an American that they depend on Canada for electricity, oil, and natural gas, they'll tell you they need to reduce their dependency on us, then.
Even the Harper government realizes this new reality. It's why the Harper government has failed to shore up closer ties with the US; US interests are increasingly becoming divergent than our own: the US does not want free trade, they want trade which favors them.
These are very sad times for me, as someone who has spent a great deal of my life living in the United States, and always being the lone pro-American in the room. But it's time to face reality: America may not be evil, they may have good intentions, but they just don't care about you. Especially not anymore.
Some Republican congressmen even want to build a wall along the 49th parallel, similar to one proposed along the southern Mexican border. A far cry from the friendship building of the Ronald Reagan era.
So when Canadian conservatives go out of their way to support American republicans, remember this. Remember that they'll take your support, thank you for it, and then slap an import tariff in your face.
A bit of personal experience with the new America: when I was hired at my current job, which is an American company, I had to travel to the United States for my orientation. The US immigration agent at the border questioned me as such:
Agent: Citizenship?
Me: Canadian.
Agent: Where are you going today?
Me: North Carolina.
Agent: Why?
Me: I have just been hired by XXXXX and I am going for a two day orientation.
(I produce a letter from my employer, along with relevant documentation)
Agent: Where do you physically work?
Me: In Toronto.
Agent: So this company has offices in Toronto?
Me: Yes.
Agent: I don't understand why the orientation can't be done in Toronto, then.
Me: Well, that's just how the company does it.
Agent: What exactly will this orientation consist of?
Me: Understanding company policies, such an insider trading rules, etc.
Agent: It just doesn't make any sense to me that you should have to travel to the United States for this. If this company wants to do business in Canada, then it should do business in Canada.
(Angrily hands documentation back to me)
Agent: Alright.
(Gestures for me to go, clearly agitated)
This was a pretty unnerving experience. I had a similar one recently on a business trip to the United Sates. When I used to live in the US and travel back and forth, back before 9/11, I never had experiences like this.
It's certainly not isolated to me. I have heard stories of people who commute to the US on a daily basis from places like Windsor, now regularly being hassled by border agents in similar aggressive and rude ways.
It underscores the importance of what is happening in the US, and the perception of their allies, as nothing more than friends of convenience.
For Canada's own economic security, we need to strongly focus on broadening our economic horizons with other countries. And soon.
I don't say this out of spite. I say it out of practicality. I hope that one day we return to a time where the US and Canada will once again be moving closer together, not apart. But as the saying goes: we need to be looking out for number one.
