Home The Ambassador Canada's chief representatives to the U.S. Michael Kergin Ambassador Kergin's Speeches March 26, 2002

Speech to the St. Louis World Affairs Council

Notes for a speech by Michael Kergin Ambassador of Canada to the United States to the St. Louis World Affairs Council

St. Louis, Missouri
March 26 2002

Thank you very much Dr. Glassman for that kind introduction. It is a pleasure to be able to join you this evening. And I would like to thank the World Affairs Council and the English-speaking union for making this evening possible.

I welcome the opportunity to speak to you this evening because this has been an extraordinary time in the history of our two countries. A number of landmark events have recently transpired in Canada-U.S. relations — events of relevance to the St. Louis community and to Americans in general.

Canada and the United States are longstanding partners in security and partners in prosperity. Since September 11^th our partnership in security has become more evident — this reinforcement underpins our mutual confidence that each of us has strengthened our respective countries' defences against criminal or terrorist threats.

But let us not forget that it has always been our economic partnership which is the foundation of our shared prosperity — indeed our histories are defined by cooperation, commerce and comity in the creation of wealth by our citizens.

The partnership between Canada and the United States was born of geography (we share a continent); tested by history (during the American Revolution and the War of 1812); forged on the battlefield (in two World Wars and Korea);and secured through agreements, commitments and accords (from NORAD to NAFTA).

Clearly there is no shortage of goodwill between us as neighbours — in a February update of the "Gallup World Affairs Survey", Canada topped the list with 92% of Americans expressing a favourable view of your northern neighbour. Yet I occasionally encounter a blissful ignorance of Canada. For example, a "CBS news" survey last year found that only 2 percent of Americans know the name of Canada's Prime Minister: Jean Chrétien — who has been in power since 1993 and is the longest serving G-8 leader. But then, the Prime Minister says he really does not mind: Americans do not vote in Canadian elections! Seriously, I believe that it is more important than ever for Americans to understand Canada — and why you can count on us during these challenging times.

I therefore welcome this opportunity to tell you a bit about Canada and Canadians: who we are, the recent actions we have been taking as your ally and trading partner, and where we see the future. So who exactly are your neighbours to the north (aside from reclaiming Olympic gold, after a long drought in men's and women's ice hockey)?

To begin with, we share similar values as you on such basic foreign policy principles as the rule of law, democracy and the merits of free trade. But there are significant asymmetries in our political and economic power — and as a result Canada often projects itself to the world differently from the United States. Canada is a middle power on the global stage. As such our global responsibilities and military effort tend to focus on peacekeeping — for which we have the experience and the inclination. Such expertise is tailor-made for peacekeeping — but is also very useful when the projection of hard power is required, such as in Afghanistan (more on that later). As a middle sized power, Canada places a high priority on working through multilateral instiutions, such as the United Nations, the WTO and NATO — seeking to leverage our limited physical power through hard earned trust, innovative ideas, and determined international leadership. To be immodest for a moment; to punch above our weight.

On the economic front, compared to the USA, Canada is a moderate size economy with a large reliance on trade — whereas the United States is a large economy with a moderate reliance on trade. Canada's population and gross domestic product compare to those of the United States on roughly a 1 to 10 basis. Over 40 percent of Canada's GDP is derived from exports as opposed to 14 percent in the case of the United States. Canada promotes open markets by staunch adherence to and support of a strong rules based trading system. For example, first through the FTA and then NAFTA, Canada and the United States have reduced the number of barriers between our countries and pioneered innovative international trading arrangements. Our agreements are benchmarks against which trade pacts in other parts of the world have been measured.

Canada has a lot invested in a stable trading system (based on free market principles). That is why Canadians could not understand when, last Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department imposed a 30% tax on imports of Canadian softwood lumber — an essential element of the home building industry in the United States. This protectionist decision will add more than $1000 to the average price of a home in the United States. According to the Wall Street Journal, this risks preventing 300,000 American families from qualifying for mortgages. Not good for your economy; bad for ours when, unable to compete against a high tariff, our lumber workers get laid off. Poor economics for both of us because this U.S. government action handicaps the large integrated Canada-U.S. lumber industries in their quest for enhanced global market share — to the benefit of Russian and Scandinavian producers. As the North American economy weathers this challenging period, we must be cautious not to succumb to short term protectionist interests — wherever they may be.

Though we do have our occasional serious dispute, I can assure you that we Canadians do not lose sight of the forest for the trees — or in this case, the softwood. For example, let me take the most critical issue confronting us all today: the war against terrorism.

Canada and the United States share a continent, and we share a common responsibility for keeping terrorists out of both our countries and for protecting our citizens. Canada's response to the terrorist threat has been swift and comprehensive.

I should allay any misperceptions: none of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 tragedies was directly connected to Canada or crossed over to the USA from Canada.

Following September 11^th Canada invested quickly in new technologies and additional personnel to boost security. We froze terrorist assets and introduced legislation to impede terrorist fund-raising. We tightened our refugee regulations to ensure improved compliance and surveillance. Landmark legislation has provided Canada's law enforcement agencies with additional tools to shut down terrorist organizations. Our most recent federal budget contained US$ 5 billion over five years in expenditures directly associated with security and border related initiatives. If you follow the 10 to 1 rule of thumb comparing our respective GNP's this is the equivalent of a $50 billion investment by the U.S. government — a significant strategic initiative on Canada's part in safeguarding North American space, in areas such as policing and intelligence, defence and national infrastructure. Canada is — and will always be — a steadfast bulwark in America's homeland defence.

And, not unimportantly, Canadian energy resources also contribute significantly to U.S. energy security. Few Americans realize that Canada is the largest energy supplier to the United States — providing over 94% of natural gas imports, close to 100% of your imported hydro power, and — astonishingly — more crude and refined oil products than Saudi Arabia. From a national security perspective, one cannot overstate the importance of deriving your largest source of imported energy from a friendly neighbour next door!

Overseas, Canada is a significant contributor to the U.S.-led military coalition in the war against terrorism at sea, in the air and on land:

• a Canadian naval task group is on station in the Arabian Sea working with the U.S. sixth fleet;
• we have strategic airlift, long-range patrol, and tactical airlift detachments supporting coalition forces;
• and a full battalion of Canadian light infantry — the Princess Patricia's — are deployed alongside the 101^st Airborne in Kandahar.

The Princess Patricia's are equipped with the "Coyote" light armoured vehicles. They can travel at speeds up to 60 miles per hour and have armour protection against small arms fire and land mines. Our battle group has been using them to secure the Kandahar base — making use of state of the art surveillance systems developed in Canada — a specific expertise that the U.S. military requested to fill a tactical gap in their capability. And most recently Canadian special and conventional forces played a leading role in Operation Anaconda, the mission to clear Al-Qaeda and Taliban resistance from the Gardez area.

Both our countries are facing a long-term struggle against the threat of terrorism — and we are both endeavouring to ensure that the vigorous commitment to security does not close down the cherished openness of our societies, nor detract from the economic partnership enjoyed by Canadians and Americans. After all, the economic linkages existing between our two countries are second to none: US$1.5 billion worth of business crosses the Canada-United States border every single day — by far the world's largest and most comprehensive trade and economic partnership.

Before September 11^th, many of us laboured hard to reduce the cross-border cost of doing business. Because of NAFTA, barriers to trade fell, contributing significantly to our booming economies over the past decade. However, should we succumb to blind fears arising from September 11^th — the prosperity we have known will be reversed. I know that this region stands to be affected by reduced efficiency at the border. Canada is Missouri's leading export destination — you send 41% of your exports to Canada, more than your next eleven leading export markets combined.

As Canada's ambassador in Washington, I consider it my responsibility to ensure that interrogation points at the border don't post dollar signs in the boardroom. I'm very confident that we are on the right track. The director of U.S. Homeland Security, Governor Tom Ridge and Canada's Deputy Prime Minister, John Manley are making tremendous progress on an agreement to create a "smart border for the 21^st century between the United States and Canada." As a result, we will address security risks as partners; and we will do so while expediting the legitimate flow of people and goods across the Canada-U.S. border. In short, we will make the border more user friendly for friendly users. (And it is gratifying to see that many of the techniques developed in the Canada-U.S. approach are now being initiated on the U.S.-Mexico border following President Bush's visit to Monterrey last week.)

Let me conclude by describing briefly Canada's view of where we are going internationally. As you know, the fight against terrorism is being waged on many fronts. Globally we are facing an astute and capable enemy with pervasive networks. There is an opportunity for strong Canadian leadership with our chairmanship of the G-8 group of leading economies in June. Prime Minister Chrétien has established the following themes for the summit, to be held at Kananaskis, Alberta: maintaining the struggle against terrorism, strengthening global economic growth, and building a new partnership for Africa's development.

To our regret, a tragic lesson of 2001 is that failed states become prolific incubators for terrorists. The systematic abuse of a people either in the name of ideology or religion can escalate rapidly into an international security crisis. Inequality, injustice, poverty and oppression all contribute to instability and conflict. In the modern world, no country can isolate itself from this risk. Accordingly, confronting these challenges must make up a central part of the foreign policy of all North Americans and the western world.

We have seen an excellent example of this when President Bush announced a significant expansion of U.S. development assistance at the Monterrey conference last week. But we also know that increased aid must be accompanied by a commitment from developing countries to adopt responsible, transparent and accountable governance practices based on democratic principles and the rule of law. The recent election in Zimbabwe regrettably represents the obverse of this requirement. Accordingly, donor governments, including Canada, have stopped aid programmes to the Mugabe regime and Zimbabwe has been suspended from the Commonwealth.

On September 11^th, Americans and Canadians tragically reached a new understanding of how deeply world events affect their lives. The world matters to all of us — at the same time, and we must not lose sight of a stark reality, we, North Americans, continue to matter to it. It is not only about fighting terrorism, but about fulfilling a long-held promise of building a better world where all may live in freedom. Ultimately, worldwide economic and democratic progress are the best guarantees we North Americans have for our own security.

In conclusion, I have shared with you this evening some observations on the state and direction of Canada-U.S. relations. I have described Canada as a steadfast bulwark in defending the North American homeland; as a stalwart ally in the global war against terrorism; and as a key economic partner for continental prosperity. Our interests are shared; our objectives are the same; and the future of our great partnership is more promising than ever.

I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have. Thank you very much.