Beyond Campaign Exigencies

Ah, a voice of reason in the heat of the debate. How refreshing. How peculiar it is the manner in which the pendulum swings. From right to left, and then back again, on and on. There was a time when Republican America feared diluting its values and its attentions from self, outwardly.

They were non-interventionist, xenophobic to an exquisite degree. The times they are always a-changing. World wars and political ideological interventions aside. Free trade and its trade-offs between contiguous nations has always been capable of engendering feelings of suspicion and dread for the consequences of letting one's guard down.

It was the Democrats who were more open to the adventure of leading the country to an economic partnership with its continental partners. Now, in this pre-election year, with the primaries absorbing the attention of a once-jaded public, isolationism and protectionism are once again rearing their dubious-value heads.

No, Mexico truly has no interest in controlling the United States of America. It would truly appreciate, however, if the United States treated of its migrating citizens slightly more considerately. A salute, perhaps, to their long history on the continent. A nod of the head to the mingling of populations historically. A tip of the hat to the historical military success of the wealthier nation in acquiring portions of the struggling nation.

And no, Canada most certainly has no interest in merging its finances, trade, culture and politics more deeply into that of the United States than it must, for its survival. Fairness, actually, is the order of the day when dealing with neighbours - and friends. Neighbours and friends can and do on occasion express doubt and criticisms about the activities of those inhabiting close geography, but nations espousing similar values to a degree, like people, can get along, and do.

So the kinds of self-demeaning threats being issued from the electioneering mouths of Democrats in the U.S., to gain potential electoral advances in specific states experiencing economic hard times having nothing to do with external alliances, and everything to do with internal mismanagement, have the unfortunate result of making neighbours nervous and upset. Which is why the words of the sole Republican candidate have had a rather emollient effect.

So, thank you Arizona Senator John McCain, for your sensible, diplomatic and authoritative words of recognition of the manner in which countries should treat with one another. That statement: "I want to tell our Canadian friends that I will negotiate and conclude free trade agreements and I will not, after entering into solemn agreements, go and say that I will abrogate those agreements", was very well received.

As was Senator McCain's sensible conclusion based on fact that "Every time in history we have practised protectionism, we have paid a very heavy price for it". Simple reality. No nation is an island. In North America there is located, in fact, three nations, all of them worthy, all imbued with natural resources through their people and their geography's natural abundance.

Canadians too, have their suspicions about opening themselves up unduly to incursions into internal matters relating to our sovereignty, our politics, our culture, our social values. We too recognize that we have an obligation to ourselves to preserve for our nation that which is important, from natural resources extraction, to farming, to manufacturing to cultural and artistic expressions indisputably our own.

Canadians too have seen jobs evaporating, migrating elsewhere. We can all look, open-mouthed with awe and envy at the determined and enterprising under-cutting demonstrated by China in her mass production methods and skilled workforce willing to work for far less than what obtains in North America. It is to her that jobs have trickled away.

Within North America, our trade and foreign policy is - often to the Canadian public's great regret - "interconnected". Most unfortunate in some circumstances, but inevitable, although not wholly.