What happens in the United States always matters enormously to Canadians, but I cannot remember the last time the inauguration of a new president generated so much interest.
When President-elect Barack Obama takes his oath of office, Canadians will sincerely wish him well, because we know that our safety and prosperity are inexorably linked to yours.
The health of the American economy is the No. 1 preoccupation in Canada, just as it is in your country. Our economies are deeply intertwined, and we cannot hope to thrive if you do not. We fervently hope that America’s commitment to open trade will be part of any strategy the new administration adopts to cope with the current crisis. Recourse to protectionist measures would not only harm all of America’s trading partners, chief among them its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, but also America itself by weakening export markets for its own products.
Canadians will also be keenly interested in the path Obama charts to tackle climate change. America is uniquely placed to induce a paradigm shift in our societies. Your position as a role model may have suffered of late, but for millions of people, American-style prosperity is still the standard to emulate. If you set ambitious targets for yourselves and invent a new, greener version of the “American way of life,” the ripple effects will be felt everywhere. Your willingness to lead is also our only hope of persuading emerging economies to carry a greater, if not entirely equal, share of the burden.
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