(^10) – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 everythingzoomer.com
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N 1961, U.S. President
John F. Kennedy trav-
elled to Ottawa to address
our House of Commons.
Using his trademark ora-
torical flair, the dashing
young president tried to
sum up the long history of Canada-
U.S. relations.
“Geography has made us neigh-
bours. History has made us friends.
Economics has made us partners.
And necessity has made us allies,”
said Kennedy. “Those whom nature
hath so joined together, let no man
put asunder.”
The Canadian perspective, how-
ever, has never been quite so lofty.
Speaking to the National Press
Club in Washington in 1969, Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau suggested a
different interpretation.
“Living next to [the U.S.] is in some
ways like sleeping with an elephant.
No matter how friendly and even-
tempered is the beast, if I can call it
that, one is affected by every twitch
and grunt.”
While Trudeau’s quip drew a big
laugh at the time, it had a deeper
meaning that was perhaps lost on his
American audience.
Because, to a Canadian, close eco-
nomic and geographic ties have al-
ways felt a lot more like Trudeau’s an-
alogy than Kennedy’s.
The blessings of proximity are in-
deed plentiful. Since the Cold War, we
have relied on their military might to
defend our borders and lead the fight
against terrorism. And thanks to our
(mostly) friendly economic relation-
ship over the years, we’ve been able
to carve out trade deals that allow us
to buy and sell our goods to their vast
market. In 2018, we sold more than
$300 billion worth of goods and ser-
vices to the U.S., representing 75 per
cent of our total exports. (China is
a distant second place, buying only
$21 billion of our goods.) Plus, with
our open borders, we can escape to
their warmer climate whenever win-
ter gets to be too much.
It’s why former Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney often says, “The
desk of the Canadian prime minis-
ter holds many files but two absolute-
ly dominate” – national unity and our
relationship with the U.S.
All of this, however, comes with
a price. Living next door to the
American colossus means that any
attempt we make to express our voice
or our identity gets completely over-
whelmed by the beast’s grunts and
twitches. American cultural imper-
ialism saturates our media, arts and
literature, music, fashion, sports and
entertainment.
And, increasingly, our politics.
We need look no further than the
Americanization of the role our
prime minister plays in the political
system. Originally, Canadian prime
ministers were described as primus
inter pares, a Latin phrase meaning
“first among equals.” This concept
defines the PM’s relationship not
only with Cabinet but also with the
citizens of the country.
Unlike the U.S. president, the
prime minister is not our head of
state. The Queen (or her represent-
ative, the Governor General) holds
that position while the prime min-
ister handles the affairs of state with
the help of his elected advisers.
As this issue’s cover illustration so
aptly illustrates, this notion is
changing; gradually our politics are
becoming more Americanized.
Influenced by the U.S. system, our
prime ministers are now posing
Politics
How American-style politics have changed
Canada’s By Peter Muggeridge
&
the
Mouse
The
Elephant