C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001258

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV CA
SUBJECT: THE U.S. IN THE CANADIAN FEDERAL ELECTION -- NOT!

REF: OTTAWA 1216

Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reason 1.4 (d)

¶1. (C) Summary. Despite the overwhelming importance of the
U.S. to Canada for its economy and security, bilateral
relations remain the proverbial 900 pound gorilla that no one
wants to talk about in the 2008 Canadian federal election
campaigns. This likely reflects an almost inherent
inferiority complex of Canadians vis-a-vis their sole
neighbor as well as an underlying assumption that the
fundamentals of the relationship are strong and unchanging
and uncertainty about the outcome of the U.S. Presidential
election. End Summary.

¶2. (C) The United States is overwhelmingly important to
Canada in ways that are unimaginable to Americans. With over
$500 billion in annual trade, the longest unsecured border in
the world, over 200 million border crossings each year, total
investment in each other's countries of almost $400 billion,
and the unique North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD)
partnership to ensure continental security, excellent
bilateral relations are essential to Canada's well being.
Canadians are, by and large, obsessed with U.S. politics --
especially in the 2008 Presidential race -- and follow them
minutely (with many Canadians even wishing they could vote in
this U.S. election rather than their own, according to a
recent poll). U.S. culture infiltrates Canadian life on
every level. 80 pct of Canadians live within 100 miles of
the border, and Canadians tend to visit the U.S. much more
regularly than their American neighbors come here.

¶3. (C) Logically, the ability of a candidate, or a party,
or most notably the leader of a party successfully to manage
this essential relationship should be a key factor for voters
to judge in casting their ballots. At least so far in the
2008 Canadian federal election campaign, it is not. There
has been almost a deafening silence so far about foreign
affairs in general, apart from Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's pledge on September 10 that Canadian troops would
indeed leave Afghanistan in 2011 according to the terms of
the March 2008 House of Commons motion, commenting that "you
have to put an end on these things." The Liberals -- and
many media commentators -- seized on this as a major
Conservative "flip flop," with Liberal Party leader Stephane
Dion noting on September 10 that "I have been calling for a
firm end date since February 2007" and that "the
Conservatives can't be trusted on Afghanistan; they can't be
trusted on the climate change crisis; they can't be trusted
on the economy." He has returned in subsequent days to the
Conservative record on the environment and the economy, but
has not pursued the Afghan issue further. All three
opposition party leaders joined in calling for the government
to release a Parliamentary Budget Officer's report on the
full costs of the Afghan mission, which PM Harper agreed to
do, with some apparent hesitation. However, no other foreign
policy issues have yet risen to the surface in the campaigns,
apart from New Democrat Party leader Jack Layton opining on
September 7 that "I believe we can say good-bye to the George
Bush era in our own conduct overseas."

¶4. (C) The U.S. market meltdown has provided some fodder
for campaign rhetoric, with the Conservatives claiming their
earlier fiscal and monetary actions had insulated Canada from
much of the economic problems seen across the border.
(Comment: there is probably more truth in the fact that the
Canadian financial sector does not have a large presence in
QCanadian financial sector does not have a large presence in
U.S. and other foreign markets, and instead concentrates on
the domestic market. The Canadian financial sector has also
been quite conservative in its lending and investment
choices. End comment.) PM Harper has insisted that the
"core" Canadian economy and institutions were sound, while
promising to work closely with "other international players"
(i.e., not specifically the U.S.) to deal with the current
problems. He warned on September 19 that "voters will have
to decide who is best to govern in this period of economic
uncertainty -- do you want to pay the new Liberal tax? Do
you want the Liberals to bring the GST back to 7%?" The
Liberals have counter-claimed that Canada is now the "worst
performing economy in the G8," while noting earlier Liberal
governments had produced eight consecutive balanced budgets
and created about 300,000 new jobs annually between 1993 and
¶2005. The NDP's Layton argued on September 16 that these
economic woes are "the clearest possible warning that North
American economies under conservative governments, in both
Canada and the United States, are on the wrong track," but
promised only that an NDP government would institute a
"top-to-bottom" review of Canada's regulatory system -- not
delving into bilateral policy territory.

¶5. (C) On the environment, Liberal leader Dion, in
defending his "Green Shift" plan on September 11, noted that

OTTAWA 00001258 002 OF 002

"both Barack Obama and John McCain are in favor of putting a
price on carbon. Our biggest trading partner is moving
toward a greener future and we need to do so too." PM Harper
has stuck to the standard Conservative references to the
Liberal plan as a "carbon tax, which will hit every consumer
in every sector" and claimed on September 16 that, under
earlier Liberal governments, "greenhouse gas emissions
increased by more than 30 percent, one of the worst records
of industrialized countries." NDP leader Layton argued
that, on the environment, PM Harper "has no plan" while
"Dion's plan is wrong and won't work," unlike the NDP plan to
reward polluters who "clean up their act and imposing
penalties on those that don't," which he said had also been
"proposed by both U.S. Presidential candidates, Barack Obama
and John McCain."

¶6. (C) NAFTA? Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative?
Border crossing times? The future of NORAD? Canada's role
in NATO? Protection of Canadian water reserves? Canadian
sovereignty in the Arctic and the Northwest Passage? At
least among the leaders of the major parties, these issues
have not come up so far in the campaigns, although they seize
much public attention in normal times. Even in Ontario and
Quebec, with their long and important borders with the U.S.,
the leadership candidates apparently so far have not ventured
to make promises to woo voters who might be disgruntled with
U.S. policies and practices. However, these may still emerge
as more salient issues at the riding level as individual
candidates press the flesh door to door, and may also then
percolate up to the leadership formal debates on October 1
and 2.

¶7. (C) Why the U.S. relationship appears off the table, at
least so far, is probably be due to several key factors. An
almost inherent Canadian inferiority complex may disincline
Canadian political leaders from making this election about
the U.S. (unlike in the 1988 free trade campaigns) instead of
sticking to domestic topics of bread-and-butter interest to
voters. The leaders may also recognize that bilateral
relations are simply too important -- and successful -- to
turn into political campaign fodder that could backfire.
They may also be viewing the poll numbers in the U.S. and
recognizing that the results are too close to call. Had the
Canadian campaign taken place after the U.S. election, the
Conservatives might have been tempted to claim they could
work more effectively with a President McCain, or the
Liberals with a President Obama. Even this could be a risky
strategy, as perceptions of being too close to the U.S.
leader are often distasteful to Canadian voters; one
recurrent jibe about PM Harper is that he is a "clone of
George W. Bush." Ultimately, the U.S. is like the proverbial
900 pound gorilla in the midst of the Canadian federal
election: overwhelming but too potentially menacing to
acknowledge.

Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada

WILKINS

>> ^packo:

>> ^marinara:
that guys wife was held on 911

held?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Olson#Death

For those of you who don't know Barbara Olson was on American Airlines Flight 77.

Olson was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 on her way to a taping of Politically Incorrect in Los Angeles, when it was flown into the Pentagon in the September 11 attacks.

Flight 77 was hijacked at 8:54. At some point between 9:16 and 9:26, Olson called her husband. She reported that the flight had been hijacked, and the hijackers had knives and boxcutters.[3] She further indicated that the hijackers were not aware of her phone call, and that they had put all the passengers in the rear of the plane.[3] About a minute into the conversation, the call was cut off.[3]

Shortly after, Barbara reached her husband again. She reported that the "pilot" had announced that the flight had been hijacked, and asked her husband what she should tell the captain to do. Ted Olson asked for her location and she replied that the aircraft was then flying over houses. Another passenger told her they were traveling northeast. Ted Olson informed Barbara of the two previous hijackings and crashes. She did not display signs of panic at the time. At that point, Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.

Politically Incorrect host Bill Maher left a panel seat vacant for a week following her death.

And this is why they will survive the coming Zombie Apocalypse.

Well, that and the fact that they're used to people coming back from the dead.

Holy Smokes, I'm simultaneously impressed and NOT impressed. The fact is, if any country can be said to be ready for anything, it's Israel. They're survivors. The desert has made them a hard, yet generous people. What they do to the Palestinians is inexcusable, but the Palestinians are also getting a ton of BAD ADVICE from people who don't mean them well. Everyone loves a proxy, especially a proxy willing to die for your cause, so you don't have to, and perhaps one day the Palestinians will awaken and realize what Israel did, which is that no one, NO ONE is on your side more than you are. The only people you have to be accountable to are yourself, and your children. Be there for them, and they will grow up right.

It's funny--the usual SOP is for the world to hold Israel accountable for its actions, usually using lots and lots of words. Here, the Israelis are holding the world accountable, especially Haiti's large-ish neighbor to the north, by SHOWING them how it's done. They live every day as if tomorrow will be another September 11, 2001. We don't.

>> ^Nithern:
imstellar28,
Your incorrect on your idea of steroetypes being only cultural. Yes, if one says "those black people are stupid as boards and live in the ghetto cus their not smart to get out." is racists. Saying "those black people stay in that neighborhood cus they aren't bashed as they would be in the white neighborhood" is STILL, a recists comment.
For a while after September 11, 2001 (aka 9/11), people associated arabs with terrorists. In fact, those who wore a turbin were considered terrorists as well. In fact, anyone that wasn't from Europe (germanic looking), Asia (japanesse/chinesse looking) or black (from africa) were considered terrorists. Racisms often ignores facts. Part of the Middle East, is in Europe, Africa and Asia. But dont tell that to racists at the time, as would view you as a terrorist sympathizer, and hence, un-American. After 9/11, there was (and still is) a movement that says unless your pro-American (read: conservative republican), your un-Americans (like liberals, moderates and liberals).
An so, there were numerous attacks on Arab-Americans who were born in the USA, went to public schools in the USA, and love their home country of America. Racists are not often the educated sort who think on their victims. If they did, they wouldn't be racists, they'd be socialpaths, who are even worst.
While we all discriminated on things, the concept of 'discrimination' as it applies to race, takes on a different meaning. To be an American, is to accept, that those who's skin, height, weight, hair, eyes, and even gender are different from yours, they are the same as you. Those who's religion, creed, and education are different from yours, is the same as you. Its the 'Melting Pot' effect that makes Americans a very diverise lot.
Its not to say we have removed racisms. American still has it in boat loads. The things that seem to stem the tide of racism, is education. The more educated a person is, the more often they are around those who's difference also make them the same.


Generally best to ignore the swine when he's rutting.

Jealousy and small-dick syndrome can make little piggies say the darnedest things.

imstellar28,

Your incorrect on your idea of steroetypes being only cultural. Yes, if one says "those black people are stupid as boards and live in the ghetto cus their not smart to get out." is racists. Saying "those black people stay in that neighborhood cus they aren't bashed as they would be in the white neighborhood" is STILL, a recists comment.

For a while after September 11, 2001 (aka 9/11), people associated arabs with terrorists. In fact, those who wore a turbin were considered terrorists as well. In fact, anyone that wasn't from Europe (germanic looking), Asia (japanesse/chinesse looking) or black (from africa) were considered terrorists. Racisms often ignores facts. Part of the Middle East, is in Europe, Africa and Asia. But dont tell that to racists at the time, as would view you as a terrorist sympathizer, and hence, un-American. After 9/11, there was (and still is) a movement that says unless your pro-American (read: conservative republican), your un-Americans (like liberals, moderates and liberals).

An so, there were numerous attacks on Arab-Americans who were born in the USA, went to public schools in the USA, and love their home country of America. Racists are not often the educated sort who think on their victims. If they did, they wouldn't be racists, they'd be socialpaths, who are even worst.

While we all discriminated on things, the concept of 'discrimination' as it applies to race, takes on a different meaning. To be an American, is to accept, that those who's skin, height, weight, hair, eyes, and even gender are different from yours, they are the same as you. Those who's religion, creed, and education are different from yours, is the same as you. Its the 'Melting Pot' effect that makes Americans a very diverise lot.

Its not to say we have removed racisms. American still has it in boat loads. The things that seem to stem the tide of racism, is education. The more educated a person is, the more often they are around those who's difference also make them the same.

Nope, no terrorist attacks in the USA 2000 - 2008. Though there was quite a bit of state sponsored terrorist attacks in Iraq from 2003 on.

April;30 0 0 United StatesElettsville, Indiana The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed responsibility for causing over $500,000 in damages to construction equipment in Elettsville, Indiana. Fourteen pieces of logging and construction equipment were destroyed by the perpetrators, who filled gas tanks with sand, cut fuel and hydraulic lines and set a tractor-trailer filled with wood chips on fire. Graffiti found at the scene read, "Go develop in Hell," "ELF" and "This machine is evil." The equipment was being used for a state-run project to build a four-lane highway in the area. In their written statement, the group writes, "the government and developers are mad with greed and there will be no limit to what they destroy until we take away the profit from their schemes."[48]

# United States United States, September 11: Attacks kill 2,997 , and many more later from exposure to toxic dust in a series of hijacked airliner crashes into two U.S. landmarks: the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, and The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A fourth plane, originally intended to hit the United States Capitol Building, crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after an apparent revolt against the hijackers by the plane's passengers.

# United States United States: Anthrax attacks on the offices the United States Congress and New York State Government offices, and on employees of television networks and tabloids.


# United States United States, May: Luke Helder injures 6 by placing pipebombs in mailboxes in the Midwest. Motivation to protest government control over daily lives and the illegality of marijuana and promotion of astral projection

# United States United States, July 4: An Egyptian gunman opens fire at an El Al ticket counter in Los Angeles International Airport, killing two Israelis before being killed himself.
# Israel

United States United States, October: John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo conduct the Beltway Sniper Attacks, killing ten people in various locations throughout the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area from October 2 until they are arrested on October 24.


March 3 0 9 United States United States: Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, an Iranian-born graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, drives an SUV onto a crowded part of campus, injuring nine.


July 28 1 5 United States USA:A woman was dead and five others were hospitalized this afternoon after a shooting at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle building in downtown Seattle by a man who declared he was "angry with Israel."[10]

August 30 1 16 United States United States: An Afghani Muslim hit 19 pedestrians, killing one, with his SUV in the San Francisco Bay area.

October 26 2 United States A pair of improvised explosive devices are thrown at the Mexican Consulate in New York City. The fake grenades were filled with black powder and detonated by fuses, causing very minor damage. Police investigate the connection between this and a similar attack against the British Consulate in New York in 2005.[105]


July 27 2 7 United States Knoxville, Tennessee. Knoxville Unitarian Universalist church shooting, Jim David Adkisson kills 2 people and injures 7 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

17 1 4 United States Dalton, Georgia An explosion at a personal injury law firm in downtown Dalton, Ga., injured four people, including at least one lawyer, and resulted in the death of the apparent bomber in what a federal law enforcement spokesman described as a suicide attack.[212]

December 12 2 2 United States Woodburn, Oregon. Woodburn police Capt. Tom Tennant, and Oregon State Police bomb technician Bill Hakim were killed, and Woodburn Police Chief Scott Russell was critically injured after a bomb exploded at the West Coast branch of Wells Fargo in Woodburn. Customer Service Manager Laurie Ann Perkett was taken, and later released from the hospital after being hit by shrapnel. The explosion happened just before 5:30 p.m. while Hakim and Tennant were trying to open the bomb, which Hakim felt confident was not a bomb. Officers were on the scene investigating a bomb threat called in to the bank at 10:19 a.m., when the explosion occurred. Joshua Turnidge and his father, Bruce Turnidge were charged with the murders.[314]

Yeah, cause the people who blew up the World Trade Center couldn't help but put clues on the money.

Who do they think did this, The Riddler?



P.S. September 11 was/is not New Years Day on the Egyptian calendar. Just more verbal diarrhea coming out of this guy's mouth.

Is this wise man the same guy who can't remember where he was, or what he was doing, on the morning of September 11, 2001?

This man expects me to respect his foreign policies...regarding Afghanistan?

(I saw you too, there, Rummy...I have not forgotten)

You know, it's a wonderful thing how we can keep that piece of shit Cheney alive for maybe...the 50 years behind bars that he deserves.

I said that.

While yes, this presentation does seem like a pro-conservative or pro-liberitarian promotion, it does a few things incorrectly:

A) The presentation is to the speed of the music, not to the spend of the human eye to translate concept in to something the brain understands. The music is great (if only to get it as a techno soundtrack somewhere..). There were a few times I either stopped th presenation, and thought on the history accuracy or rewinded to see it again.

B) It moves past Mr. Clinton quite quickly (which is bad for conservatives, as they hate Clinton). Before Mr. Obama, the previous 4 US presidents have increase the US debit from the 1.4 trillion during the Carter Administration (again, the sources do range in numbers) to 10+ trillion after Mr. Bush. So, if Clinton was in that group of four, and Reagan, Bush Sr and Bush Jr were in there; the which party should be held more accountable for spending? At 5:14 in the presentation, it does say that Clinton "Federal Deficit becomes Surplus". Actually not entirely true. The economists stated that under the Clinton Administration, if the 'plan' was followed for 2 additional years (1st 2 years of Bush Jr), the budget would be a surplus. Mr. Bush Jr, being the 'brilliant' and 'wise' man he was, surrounded himself with equally 'brilliant' and 'wise' men. Together, they gave Americans 3 Tax checks that effectively removed any chance of the deficit being made a surplus.

I found Democrats look long term, and Republicans, short term. Here was a great example of this effect in practice. We could have had the budget balanced THEN given tax breaks to remove the surplus down. This never happened. So while I hear conservatives/liberatians b*tching at Obama about how he spends the US money, never ONCE, do I hear them complain how republicans spent the money. Kind of hypocritical if you ask me.

C) All of this tries to ignore the other 90% of events and activites that were taking place across the country and world. Yes, it shows something here and there, but that's it! The Vietnam War effected a HUGE section of the population. The Iraq War, the Recssion, and Hurricane Katrina. This presenation glosses over things like this, even though they are huge events. (/start sarcasm) Oh, and September 11, 2001? That's right, it wasn't important from a finanical point of view...(/end sarcasm)

>> ^Farhad2000:

The economy got broke last year.
Healthcare has been broken for over 50. There are Atlantic and Harpers articles you can pull from as far back as 1970s that talked about the emerging health care problem.


Oh okay. Cool. So it's an older problem. That obviously means it's a BIGGER problem.

People will nitpick all day long if you let them. People will be pissed off at the littlest of things, even when they work fine for the majority.

The problem I have is not that health care doesn't need fixing, it's that it is something that can fucking wait. Obviously Obama is more concerned with taking his fucking family on vacation on taxpayer dollars though, so I can see where his fucking priorities lie.

>> ^ForgedReality:
Can someone tell me why "health care reform" is more important than fixing the motherfucking broken-ass economy? Does anybody know why we have to WAIT before we can get our jobs back, but spending BILLIONS more that we can not afford on something that is not at all important in this recession is the only thing that matters in politics right now?
I'm so sick of this bullshit.


The economy got broke last year.

Healthcare has been broken for over 50. There are Atlantic and Harpers articles you can pull from as far back as 1970s that talked about the emerging health care problem.

Your video, Bill Maher - New Rules - September 11, 2009, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

The Pass It Forward Movement in America kicks off in 26 days www.aunitedworld.org/serve.asp - Act locally, think globally!

www.aunitedworld.org
www.itsallwhoyouknow.org
www.globalunitycalendar.org

In 26 days from now, starting September 11, 2009 the new question at a party will not be "What do you do for a living?" the new question will be "So what are you doing to make the world a better place?" or "What is your PIF program?" in this area we all start out equal!

Check our www.aunitedworld.org/programs.asp - Over 1000 PIF's www.aunitedworld.org/all.asp

You can now visit us online www.30minutementor.org
I welcome your comments.

^ ^ ^ From Wikipedia: Kevin Everett (born February 5, 1982 in Port Arthur, Texas) is a former American football tight end who played for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bills in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami.

On September 9, 2007, Everett sustained a fracture and dislocation of his cervical spine that his doctors characterized as "life-threatening" the day after the injury, and stated it is likely to leave him with permanent neurological impairment. However, on September 11, 2007, Everett showed significant movement in his arms and legs, which led doctors to speculate that he might eventually be able to walk again.

>> ^rougy:
>> ^Truth:
I don't really see why people are getting so butthurt about torture. Sometimes you have to break some eggs to make an omelet.

We tortured people's children. You okay with that, too?
I think we even tortured some people just for the sake of torturing them, because they were low-ranking know-nothings who couldn't have provided any useful information even if they wanted to.
We tortured people that we later released without charge.
Is that copasetic, too?
I just want to cry out with rage when I think that I have to share this country with people like you.


Hey, man, relax. Shit happens. It's just how it is. No need to start whining now.

>> ^Asmo:
>> ^Truth:
I don't really see why people are getting so butthurt about torture. Sometimes you have to break some eggs to make an omelet.

I don't see why people get so butthurt over September 11. Sometimes you have to fly some planes in to some large towers to make an omelet...
See how fucking idiotic that line of reasoning is?
It's always funny when it's happening to someone else, but when others use the same fuckass logic you spew to hurt you and yours?

Yeah, 911 sucked alright, but now when I look back at it, it even seems a bit funny. I mean, you should take life easy, you won't get out of it alive anyway. Whatever happens, happens. And tbh I don't really think you can compare 911 to this torture precedent. They are two separate things.

Also statistically speaking 9/11 of americans won't get this joke.