Column: U.S.-Canada ties remain strong, despite the noise

Chicago Tribune

06-05-2025

British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle greatly raised the prestige of the lowly detective story with his fictional alter ego Sherlock Holmes. One of Holmes' most brilliant insights concerned something that was not present. In 'Silver Blaze,' a dog did not bark.
In a vexing case, what was unheard and what did not happen proved to be the crucial evidence. Likewise, Canada-United States relations remain quietly strong, despite media focus on current disruptions.
Historically and today, we adjust to one another. The striking election victory of Canada's Liberals on April 28 represents a remarkable reversal of party fortunes. Prime Minister Mark Carney is the former head of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, ideally suited by experience and calm temperament to deal effectively with President Donald Trump.
Canada-U.S. relations today are challenged by conflict. For instance, President Trump criticized Canada's dairy industry for promoting protectionism, not coincidentally while in Wisconsin. U.S. tariff threats are disturbing.
Trump exaggerates readily. Nonetheless, he voices widely felt frustrations. Also, highly germane is that farmers represent powerful political lobbies in most countries.
Yet, existing cooperative structures and practices remain intact. Alliance with Canada was established during the enormous global struggle of World War II. Our partnership reflects the enduring 'Special Relationship' between Britain and the U.S. forged by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Our history was not always collaborative. The Great Lakes were a principal naval battle arena during the War of 1812. Canada provided refuge and sustenance to Confederate saboteurs and spies during our Civil War.
The fact that negative history has been so fully overcome testifies to the strength of contemporary bonds.
President John F. Kennedy summed up the Canada-U.S. relationship while addressing the Parliament in Ottawa early in 1961, noting, 'Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.'
Canada's government professionals traditionally foster cooperation with Britain and the U.S., while heavily represented among the staff of the United Nations, NATO and numerous other global intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations.
Ditchley Park near Oxford is an extremely influential conference center born from the Anglo-American-Canadian tripartite alliance of World War II. When the focus of a meeting is the UN, crisis intervention, humanitarian relief, international law or associated topics, Canada is invariably extremely well represented among participants.
Roosevelt and Churchill held a summit aboard naval warships off Newfoundland, Canada in August of 1941, several months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The result was the Atlantic Charter, the foundation for the United Nations.
One vital byproduct was British, Canadian and U.S. scientific cooperation during and after the war. Throughout the war, the Allies planned the UN structure in detail. The former helped achieve victory; the latter promotes stability.
At the end of Kennedy's 1961 visit to Canada, national security adviser McGeorge Bundy accidentally left behind a briefcase containing a memo where the president had scrawled a note about dealing with 'the SOB,' apparently referring to combative nationalist Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. Diefenbaker, enraged, threatened embarrassing public retaliation.
Kennedy pleaded poor penmanship, stating he actually wrote 'OAS,' the Organization of American States. At his next press conference, he went out of his way to praise Bundy.
Diefenbaker had a loud bark, like Trump, but therefore stood out. Generally, Canadian leaders have quietly pursued cooperation with the U.S., including Diefenbaker's successors Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau.
Carney reflects this tradition of calmness in crisis.