Bruce Heyman gets a half day on Friday before being dismissed. Otherwise, we know very little about what will happen once the transition of power happens at noon Eastern on Friday.
Factoring Canada in the 2016 presidential campaign
Bruce Heyman confirmed (finally) as U.S. Ambassador to Canada
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has had time to come up with a strategy on what to do. However, how Donald Trump will deal with Canada remains a mystery.
Here are a list of maybes:
He might make Canada his first international visit. He might not make that many international flights. He might bring his own plane. He might run into significant protests if he does visit Ottawa.
He might be really strict on border security. He might also find a way to have security and still let trade and tourists through faster and smoother. The recent increases in screening will help that. He might push that to happen faster.
He might reopen NAFTA. He might reopen NAFTA just with Mexico. Maybe Canada, too. He might come up with a deal on softwood lumber, as soon as he learns why softwood lumber is important. The auto industry in both countries are uncertain as to how opening up NAFTA affects their industry.
He will eventually pick a U.S. ambassador to Canada (he has too at some point). Will he pick someone who knows Canada? Will that person be a Celebrity Apprentice alum?
He will say something against climate change, but this may be one of Trudeau's strongest talking points with him. Trudeau can explain why fighting climate change is good for the economy and the world.
He might reopen the idea of the Keystone XL pipeline. He will talk about doing so, but the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska is still an obstacle.
He will pick a fight with Canada over legalizing marijuana, but will he last long enough in the office before that happens.
We would agree that relations between the two countries could improve. Just because things need to change doesn't mean that Trump will make those changes.
Relations between the two countries could become a lot worse. Quite frankly, that is a very reasonable forecast.
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The outgoing Obama Administration made a huge splash in the last few months. Vice President Joe Biden visited Canada in December. President Barack Obama gave a speech before the Canadian Parliament that inspired the chant "Four more years."
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I would still accept a post as U.S. ambassador to Canada, despite the obvious headaches. I still know having an ambassador that knows something about Canada is crucial to better relations between the two countries.
I have been critical of the background of the two Barack Obama appointees to the position. But Trump could do a lot worse; not that we will know for some time.
Bill Clinton had a pair of ambassadors during his administration: former Michigan Governor James Blanchard, a person who worked on Canada on water and trade issues; and Gordon Giffin, who moved to Canada when he was under a year old and spent the rest of his childhood in Canada. They made a lot more sense than the two under Obama, who were way better than the pair appointed under George W. Bush.
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My dream is still to get to Canada to live, even if Hillary Clinton were the 45th president. Canada has plenty of problems and Trump will be one of them. Justin Trudeau might not be able to handle him, but there are plenty of Americans and Canadians who hope that he will succeed.
photos credit: Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP; C-SPAN via CPAC
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