(Canadian Press)
Canadians feel
like Americans take them for granted and don't know the country well enough, Ambassador Frank McKenna said Tuesday in a strong pro-trade pitch geared to sharpening Canada's image south of the border.
On his first foray out of Washington since starting the ambassador job last month, McKenna acknowledged he's got a "huge" selling job to do and probably has more latitude than others to be direct
in clearing up some common misconceptions about Canada.
"If my speech isn't very diplomatic, it's because I'm not a diplomat in the real sense of the word," McKenna told more than 200
members of the Union League of Philadelphia, an historic private club of business and community leaders.
"We want Americans to know us better. Because we look like you, sometimes we think you
take us for granted."
"We feel that we sometimes get lost in the crowd," he said.
"We want you to know that we are your northern neighbour and that we have a lot to be proud
of in our own right."
McKenna, who was also in town to open a new Canadian consulate that's been "long overdue," emphasized the huge volume of trade with Pennsylannia, saying there's a
"crassly commercial" reason why Canada should have an office in Philadelphia.
"We should be able to do even more business than what we're doing now," said McKenna.
"But it's not money that defines the relationship," he added.
"It's the millions of people who cross the border every year. It's the relatives, the family, the friends, the collegiality
of two countries that have co-existed side by side...for 200 years in peace and harmony. What a lesson to the world," he said to applause.
"It's a strong sense that we share similar
values...We know that we have each other."
Later, meeting with an editorial board of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, McKenna said a proposal to require passports of all Canadians entering
the United States would be "disastrous," causing a dramatic decline in commercial activity.
"Border communities would be decimated," he told the five-member group during a
45-minute session.
"Obviously, we would prefer something like a driver's licence."
But McKenna said he's confident the passport proposal won't become reality, noting bilateral talks are
now centred on what other form of identification would be acceptable as a security measure.
The former New Brunswick premier, who's been touted as a possible successor to Prime Minister Paul Martin as
federal Liberal leader, said he has more breathing room when it comes to setting the record straight about Canada.
"I don't have diplomatic training," he said. "This is not a career
that I'll be continuing in, so it allows me a certain amount of latitude probably to be a bit more direct."
"It's not my intention to be a gunslinger. It's just to reply directly to any
untruths about Canada," he said.
"Canadians tend to be well-liked but there tends to be a bit of a lack of knowledge about Canada, so I'd like to sharpen that image."
Proof of
that came at the editorial board meeting, where the group was unaware the border is still closed to Canadian cattle during a pending lawsuit from a protectionist U.S. ranchers' group.
McKenna has been
attacking lingering perceptions Canada's border is a security problem during his first few weeks on the job.
Last week, he elicited an apology from high-profile U.S. conservative Newt Gingrich for
saying terrorists involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks entered the United States from Canada.
The former Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a potential presidential
candidate in 2008, said he "deeply regrets" repeating on a TV talk show what's become "a widespread inaccuracy" about Canada.
McKenna also wrote a letter to the New York Times
newspaper last month after an editorial alleged terrorists routinely enter the United States from Canada.
"I don't think there's enough appreciation here that some $10 billion Cdn has gone into
securing the border," he said Tuesday.
"There are many areas in which I don't think the citizens of the United States know Canada very well," he said. "We tend to know much more
about the U.S. I can see we have a huge selling job to do to try to sharpen our awareness down here." |
