George W. Bush is already ranked by historians, pundits, scholars, scuba divers and bellhops as an appalling president. His any remaining narcissism has surely been obliterated, so no need to pile on. But in the continental context, there's his impact on Canada. How does he measure up in bilateral terms against other presidents?
The news isn't good. Mr. Bush may well go down as the worst president Canada ever knew. His chief bilateral legacy is something that cuts at the core of the relationship: his introduction of barriers at the border. Europe and Asia have been breaking down boundaries. But North America - as Michael Kergin, a former Canadian envoy to Washington, has pointed out - is "moving in a direction opposite to that of the rest of the world."
After 9/11, beefed-up border security was necessary. Seven years on, much less so. But instead of easing regulations over time, Mr. Bush's Department of Homeland Stupidity has been increasing them, bringing in passport requirements and other security measures. Canada's position was that we can trust one another. But Ottawa's initiatives to create a smart-border system with pre-clearance facilities and other measures critical to commerce have been largely rejected by Washington. The Bush White House has even had designs on introducing fingerprinting at the border.
Other presidents have had their moments when it came to Canada, but not as many as Mr. Bush.
Richard Nixon brought in a 10-per-cent import surcharge in 1971 but, bowing to pressure, gave Canada an exemption. He was reviled by many Canadians but tended to take a hands-off approach to this country, acknowledging that "we have very separate identities."
The Hoover administration brought in the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff, which cut deeply into cross-border trade. But Herbert Hoover was willing to work out a deal involving the St. Lawrence Seaway development that would result in Canada's getting a tariff exemption. Mackenzie King blew the opportunity.
Teddy Roosevelt took a bullying approach to Canada, threatening to send in troops to assert control in a dispute involving the Alaska boundary. Fortunately, he chose to ignore us most of the rest of the time. Grover Cleveland moved to embargo all trade with Canada in 1888; Congress thankfully turned back the move. Ulysses Grant and Rutherford Hayes had designs on the annexation of Canada but never followed through.
Canadian Conservatives won't forget John Kennedy's political interference in a row over continental defence with the Diefenbaker government. JFK adviser McGeorge Bundy admitted in a memo how the administration had "knocked over the Diefenbaker government by one incautious press release."
But Mr. Kennedy was generally admired by Canadians, while Mr. Bush is decidedly not. The list of reasons is long. He started with an oversight in declining, in his landmark post-9/11 speech, to acknowledge the help Canadians provided. His administration blatantly circumvented binding rulings of the free-trade agreement in the softwood lumber dispute. His slim regard for human-rights conventions extended to Canada in the cases of Maher Arar (rendition) and Omar Khadr (Guantanamo).
After launching the Iraq war on the basis of a supposition, Mr. Bush peevishly cancelled a state visit to Canada because Jean Chrétien had decided against joining in that war. As a result of Iraq, the Americans diverted major resources from the fight in Afghanistan, which meant that Canadian forces were left to an extended military mission in Kandahar. Mr. Bush infuriated Paul Martin by publicly pressing him, in a speech in Halifax, to join in Washington's missile defence program.
Mr. Bush's penchant for unilateralism led to his spurning of many collective agreements that Canada had worked for or supported, including NAFTA, the Geneva Conventions, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, the International Criminal Court, the accord on land mines and more. The Bush administration has expanded the arms race most everywhere, including to outer space.
Then there's the matter of its economic management. The U.S.-led economic downturn that's spilling over into Canada is certainly not all of Mr. Bush's doing. But his administration's piling up of record debt and deficits and his enthusiasm for unbridled deregulation have been a major contributor.
With the new Obama administration, there are several issues, including protectionism, for Canadians to be concerned about. But with Mr. Bush's departure, there can only be cause for celebration. We'll soon have someone in the White House driven by reason rather than suspicion. With the reopening of the American mind should come the reopening of borders here and everywhere.
