Restitutor Orbis

President Obama has made the first trip of his presidency - to Canada today. He is even more popular in Canada than in the US (they're not burdened with our religious conservatives) - 81%. Canada is a good place to start. Hilary Clinton is in the Far East and Obama has a special envoy in the Middle East, and for too long matters on the American continents have suffered because of Bush's lack of effort in cultivating friends. A dictatorial style does not get you far. There is a lot of ill will to be addressed and mended at this point.

There are some issues between our two countries that will be addressed. As CNN lists them:

• The war in Afghanistan: Canada has about 2,800 troops in Afghanistan, but Parliament has voted to pull them out by 2011.


• At the same time, Obama has approved a significant increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan, bringing the total there to 55,000.


• Obama said he will take up the issue of Canada's troop withdrawal with Prime Minister Stephen Harper when the two meet in Ottawa.
  
  "My hope is that in conversations that I have with Prime Minister Harper, that he and I end up seeing the importance of a comprehensive strategy, and one that ultimately the people of Canada can support, as well as the people of the United States can support," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.


• A "Buy American" clause in Washington's economic stimulus package: Canadians worry about protectionism because of a provision in the package that requires the use of U.S.-produced iron, steel and other manufactured goods in public works projects paid for by the $787 billion package.

According to Reuters, Obama reassured the Canadians on open trade.

Obama, on his first trip abroad as president, sought in talks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to allay Canadian concerns raised by a "Buy American" clause in a $787 billion U.S. economic recovery plan he signed this week.

"Now is a time where we have to be very careful about any signals of protectionism," Obama told a joint news conference after several hours of talks with Harper on his one-day visit to Ottawa.

"And as obviously one of the largest economies in the world, it's important for us to make sure that we are showing leadership in the belief that trade ultimately is beneficial to all countries," he said.

He stressed the United States would meet its international trade obligations and told Harper he wanted to "grow trade not contract it."

I believe that free trade is good. I was convinced of that by a macro economics class in college. But what we have had is not really fair trade. We allow all imports but other countries limit ours. That is NOT free trade, and I hope Obama will address that.

And unfortunately, improving the environment does not seem to be high on the agenda: "But with his country facing its worst economic crisis in decades, Obama stressed the importance of Canada as the United States' largest energy provider. Most of the output of the oil sands is destined for U.S. markets." Cleaning up "oil sands in the western province of Alberta, from which oil is extracted in a process that spews out large amounts of greenhouse gases" will have to wait. Obama campaigned on a green ticket but I can understand that there will be limitations on what can be done given the state of the economy. Still, it is unhappy news, if not unexpected.