megatonne cases of diplomatic flu

During his brief stint as a serious candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, John Manley used to say that one thing he’d like to see in foreign affairs was a “grown-up relationship between Canada and the United States.” It made me want to weep with gratitude every time he talked like that. As a rule, Canada’s end of Canada-U.S. relations has been characterized by an endless fight between obsequious suckups and rote anti-Americans, essentially between the editorial board of the National Post and Michael Byers. It would be really swell if a visit from a prominent American politician was seen as an interesting event, not a management headache for all concerned.