Dealing with U.S. an election issue

Continuing points from previous entries, the debates (French and English) laid some groundwork for an intriguing issue: how best to deal with the United States.

Again, we live in unique historical times. Canada is largely ignored by this U.S. administration. And we have a minority government in Canada in an election cycle where nobody predicts any party will have a clear majority.

Prime Minister Paul Martin notes that the country needs to stand up to the U.S. over trade. In the English-language debate, Martin said, "I call it like I see it. If that offends some people, it's going to offend them. But I'm going to stand up for Canada."

In Martin's defense, standing up for Canada isn't the issue. Regardless of party, many feel Canada hasn't stood up enough and loud enough lately, especially on free trade.

NDP leader Jack Layton in the debate said his party believes a strong countervailing strategy needs to be used, "to show that we're serious when our industries are under attack."

It may not be the deciding factor come election time. And regardless of method of attack, the U.S. is likely to ignore Canada's concerns for a few years now. But like the U.S. "war" on drugs, many Canadians would like to see its country be "tough" on the U.S.