Canadian Crossing

Canada mentioned in U.S. presidential debate

Had to wonder if the U.S. largest trading partner and leading source of foreign oil would get mentioned in a presidential debate.

As it turns out, none of the moderators brought up Canada -- turns out the candidates brought up the topic.

From Sen. John McCain (R-AZ):

"I think we can, for all intents and purposes, eliminate our dependence on Middle Eastern oil and Venezuelan oil. Canadian oil is fine. By the way, when Senator Obama said he would unilaterally renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canadians said, "Yes, and we'll sell our oil to China." You don't tell countries you're going to unilaterally renegotiate agreements with them."

From Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL):

"Now I just want to make one last point because Senator McCain mentioned NAFTA and the issue of trade and that actually bears on this issue. I believe in free trade. But I also believe that for far too long, certainly during the course of the Bush administration with the support of Senator McCain, the attitude has been that any trade agreement is a good trade agreement. And NAFTA doesn't have -- did not have enforceable labor agreements and environmental agreements."

Now that Canadian PM Stephen Harper has won re-election, the likelihood of renegotiating NAFTA is diminished a bit. Though if both sides can benefit (along with Mexico), renegotiation is possible.

Then there was this health-care related note: From McCain:

"Senator Obama wants to set up health care bureaucracies, take over the health care of America through -- as he said, his object is a single payer system. If you like that, you'll love Canada and England."

Obviously, this was a negative shot at Canada. And no, Sen. McCain, what Obama proposes isn't a single-payer system. Many on the left have criticized Obama's health-care plan as not doing enough to reduce costs.

There was one non-mention of Canada that needs to be addressed: From McCain:

"Right now, because of previous agreements, some made by President Clinton, the goods and products that we send to Colombia, which is our largest agricultural importer of our products, is -- there's a billion dollars that we -- our businesses have paid so far in order to get our goods in there."

Sen. McCain should know that Colombia isn't the right answer -- Canada is the U.S.' largest agricultural importer of our products.

U.S.-Canadian relations haven't been smooth in these last 8 years. New leadership on the U.S. side will help, but whomever moves into the White House needs to acknowledge Canada's special role in the continent -- more than just the oil.

Stephen Harper wins another minority

Well, we have yet another minority government in Canada -- the third in a row and the second from Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.

The Conservatives came away from Tuesday's election with 143 seats, 19 seats more than they had at the last election two years ago. The Liberal Party, the long-time leader in the country, finished with a dismal 76 seats, the lowest total for the party since 1984.

There are 308 seats in the House, 155 is needed for a majority. The Bloc Quebecois, the separatist party in Quebec, won 50 seats. The New Democratic Party came away with 37 seats. There are two Independents, and despite the best efforts of the Green Party, no seats went Green.

Stephane Dion, the Liberal Party leader, has struggled in his brief time in leadership. While Harper isn't the strongest leader, by comparison, Harper was Ronald Reagan and Pierre Trudeau rolled into one. So the future of the Liberal Party will likely be in another leader's hands.

This was truly the Conservatives' best shot at a majority government: weak Liberal Party leadership, excitement over the NDP and the Greens. Yes, Harper did suffer a setback, calling the election before the worldwide economic collapse. But ultimately, this proves that the Canadian electorate isn't ready to trust a full majority to the Conservatives.

The Conservatives suffered setbacks in Quebec, yet kept the 10 seats they had in the province. The party gained in the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, and British Columbia. The Liberals dominated in Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver, but gains were made by the NDP and Conservatives in their suburban areas.

I enjoyed watching the CBC coverage, thanks to C-SPAN, on Tuesday night, What a refreshing clear concise method of bringing in election results.

What this might mean for the United States depends on who wins in November. Canadian leaders are used to working well with those politically opposed, such as Reagan and Trudeau, Bill Clinton and Brian Mulroney. If Barack Obama wins, Harper will work with him, though Harper would get along better with John McCain. No matter who wins, the two countries desperately need to work better with each other. Whatever I might think of Harper, I think he can work well for Obama. I hope I'm right.

Happy Thanksgiving; Election is next

Monday is a holiday: Canadian Thanksgiving. And as soon as the "thanks" is done, Canadians will give "thanks" that the election will be over with.

More on the election on Tuesday and a recap on Wednesday.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Illegal Canadian enforcement parody

Adding a little humor...

Immigration is one of the key issues in the United States, but only if you're coming in from Mexico. The influx of Canadians doesn't seem to be a problem.

Here is a funny video take on "illegal Canadians." Thought you might enjoy:

2008-2009 NHL season starts

The NHL season starts overseas with Ottawa @ Pittsburgh in Stockholm, Sweden and Tampa Bay @ NY Rangers in Prague, Czech Republic. Those teams will kick off Versus' coverage of the NHL in the United States.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are still trying to snap a 41-year drought for the Stanley Cup. The Montréal Canadiens are still the last Canadian-based team to win the Cup in 1993.

The Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and Edmonton Oilers round out the Western teams from Canadiens. The aforementioned Ottawa Senators round out the East.

Here is the Versus' schedule involving Canadian-based teams for 2008-2009. NBC will also carry selected Sunday games at some point in the season. All times Eastern.    

October 5	2:30 pm	Ottawa @ Pittsburgh (Stockholm)
October 9	7:00 pm	Toronto @ Detroit
October 13	7:00 pm	Vancouver @ Washington
October 20	7:30 pm	Florida @ Montréal
November 17	7:30 pm	Boston @ Toronto
January 13	7:00 pm	Montréal @ Boston
January 20	7:30 pm	Washington @ Ottawa
February 17	7:00 pm	Buffalo @ Toronto
March 31	7:30 pm	Chicago @ Montréal