Quick – who proclaimed “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” as the world’s most boring newspaper headline? Why, it was none other than long-time pundit Michael Kinsley.
This joke (probably the Energizer Bunny of US political laugh-lines about Canada) is one you’re likely to hear several times in the next few weeks, as Canada grinds towards a national election on May 2nd.
“Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” is my second-favorite US political joke about Canada. My all-time favorite goes something like this: “in the US, the people hate the government, but in Canada, the government hates the people.”
Jokes aside, from a US perspective, there are three issues worth watching in the Canadian election:
1. Canada-US manufacturing links
The economic links between Canada’s manufacturing sector and the US manufacturing sector are too numerous to list here. The fact that the governments of both countries cooperated in the bailout of the big automakers gives you an idea of just how deep the linkages go.
An election campaign like the one Canada is going through would be an ideal time for the mainstream Canadian parties to discuss what can be done on the northern side of the border to help maintain the strength of North American manufacturing as a whole, to talk about how joint Canada-US bodies like the Great Lakes Manufacturing Council can be made more effective, etc.
Without a strong orientation in North America towards manufacturing, it’s hard to see how Canada or the US can maintain the high quality of life that voters in both countries have come to expect. Canada’s election is thus a chance to spark a continent-wide discussion about manufacturing’s importance.
2. The Alberta oil sands
As the Capital Research Center points out in a recent paper, a debate in both Canada and the US is underway about the future of the oil sands – an energy resource located in the Canadian province of Alberta that, if fully developed, can help the US reduce its dependence on oil from overseas suppliers.
While there is a general consensus among the mainstream political parties in Canada that the oil sands ought to be developed, one wonders if this consensus can hold as the vote-hungry parties jockey for position ahead of May 2nd.
Making a play for the votes of Canada’s green movement by announcing a hard line against the development of the oil sands must be a tempting possibility for at least some of the candidates seeking election.
But such a gambit could have expensive implications for the US, should it result in the oil sands going undeveloped.
3. Canada’s role in Afghanistan
After 10 years of participating alongside the US in the NATO mission in Afghanistan, Canada shifting its role away from combat, and more towards shoring up Afghanistan’s stumbling central government and public institutions.
One post-combat role that Canada could play in Afghanistan would be to help its government and law enforcement apparatus deal more swiftly and surely with the menace of the opium trade – the Taliban’s major financial lifeline. Doing so would relieve some of the pressure on the US forces stationed in Afghanistan.
As important as this work of fighting the opium trade is, many Canadians are unenthusiastic about staying on in Afghanistan. This is understandable – many young Canadian soldiers have lost their lives to Taliban bombs, without any apparent reduction in the insurgency’s strength.
It would take a true statesman to raise such a serious issue in the midst of an election.
And elections, unfortunately, as a Canadian prime minister once said, “are the worst time to talk” about serious issues.
(And she wasn’t kidding.)
