U.S. Ignores Canada Says Outgoing Envoy

During a recent interview, outgoing Canadian envoy to Washington, Michael Kergin, lamented that no one in the U.S. pays much attention to Canada. Simply put, Canada is important but not prominent. He explains:

"I could be down here on the corner of Constitution and Pennsylvania and yell the worst implications against the White House and I don't know that people would care very much or notice. It would have to be pretty awful to get a footnote in the Washington Times (newspaper)."

While Kergin whines about being ignored, he believes that the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, is listened to even while sleeping.

"In Canada, if Paul Cellucci snores loudly at night, there's somebody around who's going to say he's in an awful foul mood and he's going to hit us tomorrow on our lack of military (resources)."

It probably hasn't dawned on Kergin that the U.S. already has to listen to a reeking pant load of leftists that are home grown so it would be redundant to listen to Canada. Not only that, but having a reputation as a haven for drug users, homosexuals, radical environmentalists, and U.S. military deserters probably harms overall Canadian credibility among American conservatives.

[Update 3/3/05] From John Ray at Dissecting Leftism we learn that Michael Kergin is not the only source of complaint about Canada being irrelevant on the international stage. According to commentary in the National Post, Canada has become a bit player due to long-term neglect of international responsibilities. As a blunt example, the newspaper explains:

Our refusal to participate in the U.S. ballistic missile shield, a project that would protect Canadian and American cities alike from immolation, is perhaps the best example yet of how thoroughly fantasy and reality diverge in Ottawa. On Thursday, our government declared it would have nothing to do with the shield -- a foolish gesture meant to placate the pacifists in the Liberal caucus. But the next day, our PM advanced the conceit that the Americans would still have to consult with us before activating the system. One can practically hear the howls of laughter emanating from the few Washington officials who still bother to inform themselves of Ottawa's pronouncements: Can anyone seriously imagine that the President would ask our PM for permission to shoot down a missile heading for a U.S. target?

Michael Kergin might want forego his whining in favor of recommending positive changes like the newspaper did. More at the links.