So great is the institutional paralysis of the United States in 2013 that the world鈥檚 indispensable nation still remains without an ambassador in the capital of its largest trading partner. In Washington, no one is terribly fussed.
The U.S. senate has finally given a hearing to Bruce Heyman, whom Barack Obama has nominated as his ambassador to Canada. Unsurprisingly, the confirmation hearing was light on news, thin in attendance and short in duration.
One reason that it has taken so long might be that the Senate is tying Heyman鈥檚 appointment to the approval of the much-studied Keystone XL pipeline. Senators resent the administration鈥檚 glacial process and are treating Heyman鈥檚 nomination with the same urgency.
Whatever the explanation, Washington has had no senior representative in Ottawa since David Jacobson left in July. Canada? Like heaven, it can wait.
The victim is Heyman, who sits in limbo at home in Chicago. No doubt he is preparing for his new job. He has wisely said nothing to the media, but he did pose happily for a picture wearing a Chicago Blackhawks sweater.
When Heyman does get here, he will learn that what the U.S. ambassador thinks matters in Ottawa, including his hockey affinities. No other envoy is a household name.
Paul Robinson, Ronald Reagan鈥檚 mischievous emissary, got himself into trouble musing about Canada and the metric system. David Wilkins, George W. Bush鈥檚 appointee, fell out when Paul Martin, then prime minister, criticized the U.S. on global warming. Canada鈥檚 emissions were worse, and Wilkins rightly said so. It was a delicious contretemps.
Jacobson faced no such acrimony. His years here were warm and productive, largely because of his professionalism, charm and curiosity. He attended events and embraced causes his predecessors had not.
It may be Heyman鈥檚 misfortune to land in a political storm touched off by Keystone.
Here is one scenario: next March, having heard from all interested parties, worried about losing environmentalists in the midterm congressional elections in 2014, Obama kills the pipeline. He says he doesn鈥檛 want Canada鈥檚 dirty oil.
Stephen Harper, having said that he would not take 鈥渘o for answer,鈥� responds with a regime of punitive measures. He also promises to sell more oil to China.
Tainted by the Senate scandal, facing a tight election, Harper embraces Keystone. He plays the nationalist card. Like John Diefenbaker in 1963, Harper runs against Washington. His pitch to 91原创s: who are the Americans to tell us how to run our economy or to treat the environment?
Of course, Obama could approve the pipeline. In that case, Heyman would be a hero in Canada to everyone but the New Democrats, who think that the U.S. can force Canada鈥檚 hand, constructively, on the environment.
But the odds are against approval, and that spells trouble for Heyman. While bilateral economic and commercial relations are strong, Canada has not helped matters with its unequivocal positions on Israel and Iran.
However marginal Canada is in the world today, the administration is not deaf to Canada鈥檚 鈥減rincipled foreign policy.鈥� Like the rest of our traditional allies, it watches our megaphone diplomacy and ministerial grandstanding with incredulity, if not irritation.
The cool and aloof relationship between Harper and Obama will also make Heyman鈥檚 life harder here.
It is axiomatic that Democratic presidents and Conservative prime ministers do not usually get along 鈥� much like Republican presidents and Liberal prime ministers 鈥� and Harper and Obama are proving the rule.
This is not good for Canada, which generates most of its wealth from trade, as the Conservatives remind us. The reality is that the U.S. is not in decline, much as the Cassandras claim. In fact, to economists like John Curtis, it is poised for a comeback over this decade, as manufacturing and highly innovative jobs return from overseas. But even if the U.S. were in eclipse, we still need it more than it needs us.
All the more reason to hope that the able Heyman arrives soon, though he might want to leave that Blackhawks sweater in Chicago.
Andrew Cohen is a professor of journalism and international affairs at Carleton University.
