[Editor’s Note: The following is by TDV’s Mexico-based education correspondent, Jorge Gato]
As an American, I always had the feeling our northern neighbor was nice. Too nice. I assumed Canada simply played the good cop to Uncle Sam's bad cop. Brushing up on Canadian political history to test this hypothesis, I found Canada lauded as seminal in international peacekeeping, its greatest achievements being multilateralism, globalism, and the upkeep of international institutions. After all, it was Roméo Dallaire's actions under the auspices of the United Nations who single-handedly saved upwards of 30,000 Third World lives. I certainly don't wish to detract from Dallaire's work, because blessed are the peacekeepers.
What I did find interesting were quotes from Canadian statesmen. Allan Gottlieb recently lectured on how "Canadian international strategy is largely driven by its US relationship," with the "US being the principal actor". September 11, 2001 doubled the output of Canada's military-industrial-complex from $12 billion to $24 billion annually and spurred the increase of its military bases abroad.
Paul Heinbecker stated the obvious: "You have influence in the world if you have influence in Washington, you have influence in Washington if you have influence in the world".
I recently spoke to Canadian activist and author Yves Engler who closely follows the machinations of North America's good son. In 2003, the Ottawa Initiative on Haiti was held where Canada, France and the US met over some poutine while deliberating how they wanted their Haitian steak grilled, medium-rare or well-done. They overthrew President Aristide under the pretext of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, which I prefer to call the Responsibility to Pillage. They followed up their Haitian performance via encores in Libya and Syria with Barack O'Bomber now extending his love to Ukraine and Venezuela. To those questioning his Nobel Peace Prize, rest assured, it is well deserved: the prize was named after the inventor of dynamite. Accordingly, President Barack is lobbing dynamite all over the place. From "f*ck the UN" (Iraq) to "f*ck the EU," (Ukraine), it's like an ‘80s hairband world tour reunion that just doesn't know when to quit.
Yves details in his Black Book on Canadian Foreign Policy how Canada has held hands with Uncle Sam on his journey across the globe, bringing freedom, democracy and good ole' Miley Cyrus-inspired American culture to formerly civilized nations.
Regarding our sunny southern tequila drinking, mariachi singing neighbor, as of a century ago Canadian business owned 75% of Mexican rail and as of a few years ago 84% of mining. Canada worked together with American banking in flooding their southern neighbor with loans and debt, a la the John Perkins and IMF production as detailed in the book Confessions of an Economic Hitman.
As former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien once told Bill Clinton: "Keeping some distance will be good for both of us…if we look independent enough, we can do things for you that even the CIA cannot do."
Canada and the US have over 330 military agreements and are pretty well integrated, from shared responsibilities under US Northern Command to 2010's Beyond the Border security agreement. Yves says the Canadian military has never been designed to be independent, but to serve "the Empire," be it Pax Britannica or Pax Americana.
Don't fall for the old good cop, bad cop ploy. Slapping a Canadian patch on your globe-trotting backpack might serve you well on occasion, but I wonder how long the nice guy image will last.
