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New Ambassador From Canada
EFL - RTWTFrank McKenna is an ambassador with a mission: to sell Canada to its southern neighbor. Though he just came to Washington in March, McKenna is already well-known for his plainspoken lobbying efforts to correct what he sees as American myths about Canada. Despite his high-powered background, McKenna is serious, but not stuffy. He blithely responded in French when asked about living in a bilingual society. In an interview at the Canadian embassy, with striking views of the Capitol area, McKenna discussed a number of timely issues with The Examiner, including border security, importing prescription drugs and Canada's important role in supplying energy. If you don't see it below, it was edited for length! Q: What are the historical differences between Canadians and Americans? A: America's history is unique to America. It was born out of revolution, experienced civil war and has a constitution that has a balance of powers that's dramatically different from ours. Canada was more a process of evolution, where the effort was made to try to allow the disparate elements to live with their own cultures intact, which is why we evolved as a French-English country. ... In our social values, Canada is probably somewhere between Europe and the United States of America. Q: How would you describe the relationship between Canada and the United States? A: It's a very unique relationship because we're geographically very equal countries. We share an undefended border that is the largest of its kind in the world. We look alike and talk alike. ... The unique element, which makes the relationship so asymmetric: The American population is 10 times that of Canada. And the American economy is, of course, much larger. Q: So the reality is you're much more reliant on the United States for trade? A: We have a much larger concentration of our economy going into the United States. But remember that we represent the biggest purchaser per capita of your products of anybody in the world. We're the biggest market for 39 of your states. So the bottom line is the United States is hugely reliant on us as well. And particularly for energy. People in the United States don't realize just how dependent America is on foreign countries for energy. But of all those countries, Canada is the largest and most secure supplier of energy. Q: Can you provide more specifics? A: We are a bigger supplier of oil than Saudi Arabia. Natural gas, uranium, electricity - we're your biggest energy provider, by a long shot. Q: You gave a speech mentioning Canadians who express moral superiority or gratuitous criticism of the United States. Is that sometimes a problem? A: ... Canadians are very respectful, very affectionate toward the United States. ... But from time to time, if the United States is bogged down in an issue, international dispute or has trouble with its finances, as at present, Canadians will start waxing, in my view, a bit smug about how Canada runs compared to the United States, or about how we mind our business and aren't involved in places around the world. I need to remind Canadians, "Listen, the United States of America's taken on a big responsibility in the world in the absence of a lot of other people taking it on." Q: Do Americans sometimes have a stereotypical view of Canada as the Mounties, Canadian beer, and you say "eh" a lot? A: The issue is not the stereotype so much, or even the view Americans have of Canadians, because we generally find it's very positive. It's the lack of knowledge that Americans have of Canada. We tend to know an awful lot about you. [But] one poll I saw indicated 30 percent of Americans thought Canada was really another state of the United States. We have a strong, technology-driven economy. ... I guess we'd like Americans to know that we're more than just kind of a cold, cuddly northern neighbor. - On how intertwined the U.S.-Canada border is: There's a golf course in New Brunswick where you tee off in Canada, hit the ball in the United States. - On living in Canada's English-French bilingual society: I live in a community that's French. I go to church in French. And I like it. I feel comfortable in that milieu. - On the absence of NHL hockey: I miss that every day. I played hockey all my life, and I'm kind of a fanatic about hockey, and I've missed that the last year. All Canadians do. It's a national craving that we have to get hockey back. I love baseball, too. I lost the [Montreal] Expos, which was a favorite team of mine, and now I've got them back here in Washington. Posted by: Bobby 2005-07-29 |
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