Canada’s biggest problem? America

It has been almost two years since Stephen Harper disclosed that his cabinet was having serious discussions about what to do to “restore the special Canadian and American relationship” that he said had become “lost.”

Despite the tensions, there have been notable examples of smooth co-operation between the two countries on urgent matters. Facing a possible swine flu pandemic, labs in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico worked together to identify the new virus. There were also the neatly dovetailed government bailouts for the auto industry. "It was definitely a team effort," says Ann-Marie McGaughey, a partner at the law firm McKenna Long and Aldridge, who was counsel for the Canadian government in the negotiations. "The word at the top was get it done, and everybody tried to find a way to make it happen." Despite the Canadian government's much smaller stake in Chrysler and General Motors, McGaughey says that "from the beginning the mantra was, U.S. and Canada side by side. Which meant if it was a right or a privilege that the U.S. was getting, then Canada would get it too."

This article appeared in its entirety in the October 7, 2009 online edition of MacLean's.