Canada Looks at Obama

And apparently Canadians are very pleased with what they saw, although they seemed to be just as pleased before they even saw him. When I talk with Canadians, it appears to me that Obama, unlike the former holder of the U.S. presidency, is highly regarded, but largely because he isn’t the former holder, etc. It’s more that they like him for who he isn’t rather than for who he is. From my American perspective, who he is remains to be seen. Nevertheless, on the CBC yesterday, people were talking about him as if he were a visiting rock star, with one person pointing out that Canada’s leaders don’t have ‘that kind of appeal,’ whatever ‘that kind of appeal’ might be. The Vancouver Sun proclaimed that “excitement in Ottawa around the presidential visit could not have been greater had the guest of honour been Mick Jagger, the Queen or Santa Claus.” Gee whiz! I am thinking that all three of those are pretty old people. How would he compare with the Pope? (Another old guy. Are there no younger famous people to whom he can be compared?)

He met alone with Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, for about a half hour, a fact much remarked upon by U.S. news. But he also met, alone, with Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the opposition and possibly the next Prime Minister, for about a half hour. My guess was that neither of them thought he was much of a rock star, but then I found this quote from Ignatieff: “I've been lucky in my life to meet famous people and some people seem smaller when you meet them. [Obama] was just as big as you think he is. He is a very, very big presence.” Harper, sort of by contrast, said in a CBC interview that “Mr. Obama is an easy guy to like and an easy guy to get to know." (I wish I shared that feeling.) The CBC also reported that Harper and Obama got to talk about their hopes for their families and their countries. The news reader made it sound as if Harper was just a tad short of looking into Obama’s eyes and seeing his soul. So I guess he’s pretty rockstar to Canadian leaders, too.

The Globe and Mail (NYTimes equivalent in Canada) reported that there was considerable discussion between Harper and Obama about the border and its openness, or lack thereof. The Canadians think it’s a mess. Obama noted that bottlenecks need to be cleared up. But The G&M also reported that “Mr. Obama's Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, has ordered a review of security at the Canada-U.S. border – heightening Canadian concerns that U.S. security measures are clogging the flow of goods across the border.” (Globe and Mail, 2/21) I don’t know why that would heighten Canadian concerns. My hope is that Mr. Obama, on behalf of the U.S., shares those Canadian concerns. But we will see. We are busy writing our own letters to Ms. Napolitano on this subject.

Some Canadians were not happy that the border concerns arose solely in terms of economic issues. Lloyd Axworthy (former Liberal Minister of Foreign Affairs and current President of the U. of Winnipeg) commented: ”What concerned me was the talk of the border solely in economic terms. Granted, it is important. But we have had too many examples of how the security preoccupations have trumped the issue of civil liberties and rights. Under secret agreements signed after 9/11, there has been an abuse of fundamental rights and an erosion of Charter protections vis the Arar and Khadr cases, among many.” Happy that someone in politics is looking out for our civil rights! Wish it were someone in the U.S.

Canadians are also concerned about Afghanistan and global warming, but they didn’t get much from Obama on either. However, Harper and friends are going to DC next week to see if they can make more headway on Afghanistan with that new sun/star, rising and reigning to the south.