[Canada: An American Nation?]

Abstract

In his March 1997 speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy discussed the changing nature of the Canadian-American relationship. Axworthy stated that "the world has experienced a profound geopolitical shift.... Countries are being forced to redefine their international relations. ... Nowhere is this process of redefinition more clear than our relationship with one another." Almost the exact words could have been said by William Lyon Mackenzie King (until 1946 the prime minister also held the External Affairs portfolio) about the altered nature of global politics at the end of the Second World War as the United States and the Soviet Union began to dominate the international arena; or by Mitchell Sharp in 1972 after the Trudeau government's adoption of the third option policy in reaction to the "Nixon shock" as the Bretton Woods system came under revision by the American administration; or by Joe Clark in 1989 after the Mulroney government was re-elected with a renewed mandate (arguably) to implement free trade, the Conservatives having spent their first mandate negotiating the bilateral trade agreement with the United States because of apparently increasing global protectionist trends. The point is that when Canadian foreign ministers talk about "profound shifts" and "redefinitions" in international relations, such talk must inevitably centre on the country's relationship with the United States.The pivotal importance of understanding Canadian-American relations quickly becomes obvious to any student of Canadian foreign policy. Trying to make sense of Canadian actions in the international arena inevitably means attempting to come to grips with the linkages between Ottawa and Washington. Given that the study of foreign policy, according to William Wallace,(f.1) is a "boundary problem" in two respects: it is an area of politics bordering the nation-state and its international environment, and it is a field of study embodying (at least) two academic disciplines, namely, the study of domestic government and politics and the study of international politics and diplomacy, how is this to be done? For those of us who have focussed our attention on international relations, the Canadian-American relationship can be little understood from the global events and trends that have become even more apparent with the end of the Cold War. Whether sharing similar ideological premises,(f.2) coming from the same civilization,(f.3) or being equally subject to (or subjects of) "McWofid,"(f.4) Canada and the United States are largely part of the same entity called the "West," thus forcing us to question why it is that Canadian governments continue to pronounce and propagate the view that Canada is unique (particularly vis-a-vis the United States). The most recent manifestation of this can be found in the Chretien government's foreign policy statement, Canada in the World,(f.5) where along with the two objectives of promoting prosperity and employment and of protecting Canadian security within a stable global framework, we find a third goal embraced by the government: projecting Canadian values and culture. Although it has been met with expected opposition from the Bloc Quebecois who deplore the interference in Quebec's areas of jurisdiction, particularly culture and education, and it has led even supporters of the policy to argue that it is in of more budgetary commitment and operational preparation,(f.6) this third objective clearly assumes that there are "Canadian values" and a "Canadian culture" that the government "will remain vigilant in protecting and promoting ... to flourish in the global environment.'"What differentiates Canada from the United States, and how do these differences affect the Canadian-American relationship? Utilizing Wallace's observation about the study of foreign policy, we need to cross academic disciplines and look at the work of those who study domestic government and politics, particularly within a comparative context. …