Left Flank

TNR's Canadian ownership might be helpful when exposing the machinations behind the Obama campaign's Austan Goolsbee NAFTA-Gate kerfuffle, but not if this is all Michael Blanchfield's got (and not much better than Bob Shrum).

First and foremost, the U.S. media has identified his chief of staff, Ian Brodie, as the leaker of the diplomatic cable written by the Chicago consulate reporting on the Goolsbee meeting. Harper's domestic political foes are advancing a narrative that has already angered Democrats, and would be bad news for bilateral relations: that Harper was trying to do a favor for the GOP by tossing a piece of political dynamite in front of Obama's train as it was barreling down on Ohio.

"They will do what is necessary to help Republicans. They're a nasty, unprincipled bunch, who are incompetent to boot," Bob Rae, foreign affairs critic and member of the opposition Liberal party, wrote on his blog. "Is it possible that the prime minister himself knew about this information and authorized the leaks in order to discredit the campaign of Mr. Obama for president of the United States?" New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton asked.

All of this forced Harper into issuing a denial--that neither Brodie nor anyone in his office had anything to do with the leak. Harper called the leak regrettable and "blatantly unfair" to Obama's campaign, and has promised a full internal investigation to find the source. But his attempts to distance himself and his office aren't ringing true to some. As one opposition Liberal MP correctly noted, leaks from the Harper government are rare. It is well known that Harper's office keeps cabinet ministers--not to mention diplomats abroad--on a tight leash. These days, even the most seasoned of former diplomats check with Ottawa before talking to the media.

Unless we attribute omnipotence to Harper as a leader in his own government and party, it could just be a mistake. Andrew Sullivan, Obama's leading Republican fan, calls this episode a "bum-rap" (replete with a decent CBC News video). After all, between the three contenders active in the American presidential field, the most FTA-skeptical is Senator Clinton (or is she really skeptical?). With Obama there is at least the possibility of a "Nixon Goes to China" moment, when President Obama sells free trade to the Midwest and saves Canada's bacon. To reach that future, even Canada's Conservatives can see the value of hedging bets between McCain and Obama, without granting Clinton any favors—Canada's disdain for Clinton's free trade views would probably award her conservative votes.

Perhaps, though, this episode presages a diplomatic era, when Ottawa does have spit ball accuracy in America's politics.

It's a convenient opportunity, but one cannot be impressed by how Canada's British Columbia and America's EnergySolutions are conducting their respective carbon and nuclear energy policies. It's no surprise, but I lean towards nuclear energy as a carbon-free alternative and favor carbon taxes. But, nuclear waste disposal is probably the most prominent liability for nuclear energy proponents to defend. On the other hand, BC has initiated carbon taxes while keeping the overall budget revenue-neutral.

And, where are the Democrats on energy? Rescinding tax breaks…wait, where is America's national energy strategy, not it's corporate habits?

First it was the US House of Representatives acting holier than anyone, now it's the Canadian Parliament's turn to pontificate:

The Canadian motion was introduced by Olivia Chow, a legislator for the left-leaning New Democrats.

"I'm just extremely pleased that, today, the government of Canada formally said to Japan they need to sincerely apologize to the comfort women and (for) the atrocities," she told Reuters after the vote.

"Without a public apology we cannot even start dealing with reconciliation," Chow said.

The original motion said Japan should teach current and future generations about the army's "war crimes". Chow said she had toned down the language to reflect good ties between the two countries.

It's always a shame to watch innocent victims (and self-promoters of victimhood)caught in a proxy battle for political and economic hegemony in East Asia between the PRC and Japan, and for domestic scores in remote countries.

Again!

But, it's a team effort.

The Canadian dollar, or loonie, overtook the American dollar due to China, the American mortgage crisis, and Canadian good sense. But, it's always a mixed picture, and never just a national struggle only.

Firstly, Canada has China, and its rapacious thirst for raw materials, to thank for a loonie worth more than the greenback.

«When the [Canadian] dollar was trading just above 60 [American] cents, people thought there was something wrong,» says Darrell Bricker of Ipsos-Reid, a polling firm. «Now it seems that we are doing something right.»

That and good fortune: the industrialisation of China has boosted the world price of Canada's exports of oil, gas, minerals, metals and farm products. But the country has also done its housework: ten years of federal budget surpluses and a current-account surplus contrast with the twin deficits in the United States. In the end it was the «subprime» mortgage woes south of the border that elevated the loonie over the sickly greenback (or should that be the «Yankee lira»?).

Ouch!

But it's not all good news amid the nationalistic cheer:

As well, the province's exports of oil, gas and agricultural products now cost more.

At a business conference in Banff, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said every cent the Canadian dollar gains costs the provincial treasury more than $100 million in revenues a year, but pointed out some of it is offset by other revenue such as corporate taxes.

Some Americans are benefiting, too.

While the rise of the loonie - nicknamed after the image of the national bird, the loon, on the Canadian one-dollar coin - has made it less attractive for Americans to travel to Canada, it has been a boon to some Washington businesses. Issaquah-based Costco Wholesale Corp. has seen a steady increase in sales at its Bellingham warehouse near the Canadian border, and a Bellingham mall has reported substantial Canadian business. Seattle-based Kenmore Air is considering additional marketing toward our neighbors to the north for its seaplane service.

It just goes to show how much nationality and borders really count for.