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Canada encouraged by Obama talk on trade, oil
By Rob Gillies
Associated Press Writer / February 19, 2009
Email| Print| Single Page| Yahoo! Buzz| ShareThisText size – + OTTAWA—President Barack Obama's announcement Thursday of a clean-energy dialogue and his comments on the country's controversial oil sands industry has reassured some Canadians worried about possible U.S. restrictions on Canadian oil shipments.
Obama also won praise for his stance on trade, and though he stuck to his pledge to eventually seek changes in the North American Free Trade Agreement, he said he intended to do it in a way that wouldn't disrupt commerce.
Even on the thorny issue of Afghanistan, where Canada has decided to withdraw its troops in 2011, the new American president managed to avoid ruffling feathers by declining to ask war-weary Canadians to stay longer.
The Obama visit "sets a really good tone for Canadian and American relations and it should set a tone for any discussions any of those issues," said Robert Bothwell, director of the international relations program at the University of Toronto.
Former U.S. ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci said Canadian officials were worried about pressure from environmentalists to restrict imports to the U.S. of oil derived from oil sands, where refining generates high levels of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change.
Cellucci suggested they quit worrying following Thursday's talks between Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"Clearly, Obama is not going to shut down all the coal burning plants in the United States," Cellucci said. "He's putting the oil sands into the same basket. It sounds to me like he's not going to support restricting oil from the oil sands from coming into the United States."
The two leaders announced a pact to advance carbon-reduction technologies, which promptly was welcomed by officials in Ottawa and in Alberta, home to the oil sands.
"Here in Canada you have the issue of the oil sands. In the United States we have issues around coal," Obama said. "My expectation is that this clean energy dialogue will move us in the right direction. We are not going to solve this problem overnight as the prime minister indicated. We have to complete our domestic debate and discussion on these issues."
Alberta Energy Minister Mel Knight said he was buoyed by Obama's remarks.
"What we're hearing coming out now bodes very well for Alberta," Knight said. "I think what it indicates is that he's a very thoughtful leader and he's looking for real solutions to these problems. We believe that we're able to help him with that."
Obama's comments on trade drew cautious praise from Canada's business community. Obama predicted "increased integration of efforts on energy and various" industries and said he does not believe the controversial "buy America" clause in his stimulus package will significantly discriminate against Canadian industry.
"In my view the meeting was as good as it could get," said Thomas d'Aquino of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
But d'Aquino and others cautioned that "the devil is in the details" and that in the U.S. system, the president shares power with Congress on most economic matters.
"It's a good basis for moving forward, but we've seen good starts before," noted Jayson Myers of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.
"We'll see as time goes on how buy America provisions are interpreted, we'll see how the administration balances border security with efficiency, and we'll certainly see (the impact) of this plethora of regulations coming out of the departments of the U.S. governments."
Nelson Wiseman, an associate professor at the University of Toronto, said there was no point for Obama to ask Canada to extend its mission in Afghanistan because Canada still has two and a half years left in their commitment.
"All kinds of things can change by then," Wiseman said. "Harper might not be prime minister in two years."
Canada, which has lost more than 100 soldiers in Afghanistan, is withdrawing its 2,500 combat forces out of the volatile south in 2011.
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