Canada-Us Relations on the Eve of Prime Minister Trudeau’s Visit to Washington /

A UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP If one forgets Canada’s 1812 victory against the US and the burning of the White House when we were still under the yoke of the British, our histories are that of “frontier development”, complex trade relations based on conflicting models and allegiances, identity defining participations in wars overseas, and common abiding commitment to democracy, rule of law and human right [...] But the real defining moment, when Canada finally got over its “absorption fright” came with the signing of the Free Trade Agreement, the founding father of NAFTA and, in fact, of many of the contemplated, now partly or totally deflated, trade agreements like our CETA, TTP and TTIP. [...] The FTA has united Quebec with the rest of the country and has clipped the wings of separatism. [...] A few figures suffice: a) Canada and the US share the longest secure border in the world – no longer undefended! Canada-US relations on the eve of Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit to Washington Page 1 by Ferry de Kerckhove February, 2017 Canada-US relations on the eve of Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit to Washington b) 400,000 people cross the Canada–US border daily. [...] Canada-US relations on the eve of Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit to Washington Page 2 by Ferry de Kerckhove February, 2017 Canada-US relations on the eve of Prime Minister Trudeau’s visit to Washington BEYOND THE TRADE WATERFRONT There will be the inescapable salutations to our common purpose through the two World Wwars, the creation of NATO, the Canadian incontrovertible support for the US in Kuw