Not Very Special

(Washington Times – James Morrison)

One of Canada’s best-known ambassadors in Washington offered a little unsolicited advice Wednesday to the new envoy from America’s northern neighbor, urging him to grab the spotlight, network like a lobbyist and learn all about the curious customs inside the Beltway.

Allan Gotlieb, ambassador to the United States from 1981 to 1989, told the new ambassador, Gary Doer, that nothing beats a good Rolodex, nobody pays attention to a shy diplomat and the 535 members of Congress are like 535 foreign ministers, each with a personal agenda and Canada low among their priorities.

“The threats are countless, the victories rare and the terrain treacherous for a foreign diplomat,” Mr. Gotlieb wrote in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. “In Congress, ... Canada is just another special interest and not a very special one at that.”

Canada might be America’s largest supplier of foreign oil and its biggest trading partner, but Canada has no permanent friends or enemies in the House and Senate, he said. “Our allies on some issues are opponents on others,” Mr. Gotlieb wrote. “U.S. legislators are enfranchised by executive-like powers. Although Canada will usually remain far down on the list of their priorities, they are the leading source of most of our conflicts.” Read more here.