Canada - US Relations Off To Bleak Start

The Canadian government may be in for some sleepless nights, having publicly proclaimed its preference for Al Gore during the presidential election campaign. This from a country that requires adherence to the domestic non-interference principle. Hard to believe, huh? Well, Mr. Bush appears to have noticed the slight. He called Vicente Fox on November 28 to congratulate him on his upcoming inauguration as President of Mexico. It has been reported that he did not call Jean Chretien after his November 27 reelection as Prime Minister of Canada.

On the Canadian side, the government appeared slow in reacting to the resolution on December 13 of the U.S. presidential race. By midday the two had not yet spoken by phone, forcing the Canadian government to issue a written statement more than 14 hours after the widely telegraphed concession by Gore. Perhaps the President-elect had more pressing phone calls to take. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, by contrast, earlier had an eight-minute call with Bush.

Canada now faces the challenge of attracting the attention of Mr. Bush, a man who is far more attuned to Mexico than he is to his country's northern neighbor. Prime Minister Chretien faces the particular task of developing a personal relationship with the more conservative George W. Bush, a man he hardly knows, and whose father he held in public contempt while Opposition Leader in Canada.