In your own language / En tu idioma

Eduardo del Buey
Foto: AFP
La Jornada Maya

Martes 14 de febrero, 2017

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on February 13th, and my initial impressions are positive.

Former Canadian Ambassador to the United States Michael Kergin told Canada’s Macleans magazine that “one doesn’t expect any great deliverables from something like that. It’s getting the measure of each other”.

And get the measure of each other they did.

In his opening statement before the media, President Trump said both nations share the same values and love of freedom. Canada and the US have “shed their blood together”.

He called for a stronger trade relationship, and close partnership on domestic and international security. He spoke of building more bridges of cooperation, and described the meeting as very productive. He said both leaders are focused on the important role of women in business and commerce, and that it is important to improve the ways both governments can benefit their citizens.

Prime Minister Trudeau said both governments have a fundamental common interest –to create jobs that can provide citizens with a higher standard of living. He noted that the bond between both nations is fundamental. The foundational pillar upon which the relationship is built is respect. They won’t always agree with each other, but together they can navigate differences and, at the end of the day, Canada and the United States will always be each other's most important partner.

Trade was the main focus of their discussions, but there was an interesting twist.

Trudeau is a well-known and self-defined progressive. President Trump agreed to co-host the first summit of women entrepreneurs from both countries, and this relationship will be institutionalized as an ongoing joint initiative. The council, which includes Trump’s daughter and close advisor Ivanka, serves both leaders well.

In my previous article, I suggested that Trudeau should seek common ground with Trump while sharing the Canadian optic. By melding feminism with good business practice, both leaders created a win-win situation. Creating common ground is always essential in any negotiation, and, with this initiative, both leaders appeared willing to do just that.

By coming together on this issue, both leaders played to their political philosophies –Trudeau to his feminist reputation and his goal of women's empowerment, and Trump to his business side and focus on creating jobs.

Including Ivanka in the discussions and on this panel was a bonus for both leaders –as Trump’s close advisor and key women’s advocate, Ivanka is indeed a formidable ally for the Canadians to have on board. Trump’s statement at the meeting, that “we need to make it easier for women to manage the demands of having both a job and a family,” is not a normal talking point for the US political right. But then again, Trump is not your normal far right Republican leader.

Canadian preparation for the inaugural visit was intensive and professional.

The week before Trudeau’s visit, Canada’s Foreign, Defense, and Finance Ministers met with a variety of US leaders in Washington to prepare the terrain for Trudeau’s meeting with Trump. As well, Canadian diplomats have been networking with members of the incoming Congress and senior officials to make Canada’s case for this most important of relationships, underscoring both countries’ shared interests.

As a former diplomatic colleague of mine wrote on Facebook, “It’s very Canadian – pro-active but not aggressive. And nice, but nice doesn’t mean soft or weak”.

One of the major foci of US and Canadian media during the visit was Canada would suffer from collateral damage should Trump decide to take the US out of NAFTA. Trudeau said that both leaders were elected to ensure better jobs for workers in both countries. Trump said that on the southern border, trade has not been fair, but that he was going to work well with Mexico to address this issue.

At the end of the day, however, the US exports more to Canada than it imports. Exports to Canada are responsible for over nine million US jobs. His language implied that negotiations with Canada would require “tweaking”, but that negotiations with Mexico would be more complex. He concluded, however, that “we are going to make it so that everybody is happy”.

Nevertheless, it was Trudeau’s father, the late Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who once observed that living next to the United States was like a mouse sleeping with an elephant. However benign the elephant is, the mouse will feel every twitch.

The US is twitching, but Canada seems to be managing this first encounter and challenging it in a positive way.

[i]Mérida, Yucatán[/i]
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