How to Earn Goodwill in America

Keeping troops in Afghanistan isn't just the moral thing to do, it could also help smooth U.S.-Canadian relations.

By passing the controversial health care bill, President Barack Obama has just achieved the most significant victory of his presidency. He has demonstrated that he is not just an orator and populist, that he can play the inside game of political deal making. He has gained a reputation as someone who can outsmart or stare down his opponents. Next time, he will force the Republicans to work with him or he will go around them again.

American voters like winners. Cleverly, Obama made sure that some of the benefits of the health package would arrive before the Congressional elections this November. It is still possible that the widespread dislike of the bill will cost the Democrats some seats, but I suspect that the appetite to repeal it will have largely vanished by then. Who knows what other issue will capture the voters’ attention between now and November.

What does a politically stronger Obama mean for Canada? How will this affect our bilateral relationship?

Obama speaks the language of free trade but, so far, he has not really challenged the protectionist sentiment of his fellow Democrats in Congress. The one exception to this was negotiating a Canadian exemption to the Buy American provision in the U.S. stimulus package. The fact that Obama did this for Canada is a big deal and an important signal.

There is a lot on the table between our two countries. What will happen to our oil sands industry, our biggest export earner, when American greenhouse gas caps and low carbon fuel standards come back to the Congressional agenda? How do we get Americans to ease off on border restrictions? We need goodwill in the White House on all of these key issues. We need an advocate who can articulate America’s overall interests against the U.S. trade unions and environmental groups that cut us no slack.

We can earn this goodwill by being helpful to the president in areas where our interests converge.

We share the American goal to make Afghanistan self-sufficient in terms of a secure and stable government. Clearly, after fighting for five years and losing 141 soldiers, it is not in our interest to just walk away from Afghanistan. Indeed, it would be immoral to abandon the Afghans now.

The Obama administration is carefully signaling to Canada that it does not want all Canadian forces to leave Afghanistan in 2011. This request is very reasonable and accommodating to Canadian concerns.

Our 2,500 soldiers in Kandahar need a break from combat operations. The Americans understand and accept this. But Obama cannot afford to have key NATO allies simply pack up and leave (as the Dutch are scheduled to do) just as the Americans are increasing their effort. Instead, we will be asked to provide 600 trainers for the Afghan army in the Kabul area. Training Afghan soldiers will be eminently doable for us and will mean significantly less risk to our soldiers.

When an American government involved in a good cause abroad has asked for Canada’s help, we have always answered that call. We sent peacekeepers to the Middle East, Cyprus, and the former Yugoslavia. This is worth an election should it come to that. The Canadian people will see the reasonable American demand and the logic of a responsible Canadian answer.