by
Ex-Gov.James Blanchard
Former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard, who served as U.S. ambassador to Canada under President Clinton, tells Washington Monthly magazine that this country's relationship with Canada has deteriorated under the Trump administration.
"U.S. relations with Canada are the worst in modern history, and there’s no one who has studied it that would disagree with what I’ve said, especially the Canadians," Blanchard tells the magazine.
"It’s tragic. It’s not just trade disputes, it’s the rhetoric of the president—whether he wants to refer to them as the '51st state' or to say they’re nasty or, you know, Vice President Vance saying the Canadians have treated us very badly these last few decades. He hasn’t even lived long enough to know that. Or Howard Lutnick’s foolish statements. It’s the tone and the attitude which has Canadians losing total faith in us and wondering what’s going on in the United States."
He goes on to talk about the economic relationship between the two countries.
"We have an integrated economy with Canada. It’s not just autos. It’s energy, it’s agriculture, it’s steel and aluminum, it’s everything. And we actually have a surplus on trade with Canada on almost everything really except energy. And we need that energy. We’re the largest producer of crude oil on the planet now, but our refineries can’t use our new light crude, so we export it.
"Our refineries are set up for Canadian heavy crude, so we’re dependent on Canada for energy. Canada could cause power outages in New England if they pulled Hydro-Quebec back. So they have cards to play, but they don’t want to do that."
