Relations between Canada and the United States span more than two centuries, sharing
British colonial heritageBritish colonization of the Americas began in the late 16th century and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas and a protectorate had been established over the Kingdom of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean...
, conflict during the early years of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and the eventual development of one of the most successful international relationships in the modern world. Each is the other's chief economic partner, and indeed the two economies have increasingly merged since the
North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) of 1994. In addition, there has always been large scale immigration between the two nations, and since 1900 large-scale tourism as well.
The most serious breach in the relationship was the
War of 1812The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
, which saw an American invasion of then
British North AmericaBritish North America consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783....
and counter invasions from British-Canadian forces. The border was demilitarized after the war and, apart from minor raids, has remained peaceful. Military collaboration began during the World Wars and continued throughout the Cold War, though with
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
doubts about certain American policies. A high volume of trade and migration between the United States and Canada has generated closer ties, despite continued Canadian fears of being overwhelmed by its neighbor, which is ten times larger in terms of population and economy. James Tagg reports that Canadian university students have a profound fear that "
Canadian cultureCanadian culture is a term that encompasses the artistic, musical, literary, culinary, political and social elements that are representative of Canada, not only to its own population, but people all over the world. Canada's culture has historically been influenced by European culture and...
, and likely Canadian sovereignty, will be overwhelmed."
Canada and the United States are currently the world's largest trading partners,, share the world's longest unmilitarized border, and have significant interoperability within the defense sphere. Recent difficulties have included repeated trade disputes (despite
a continental trade agreement
), environmental concerns, Canadian concern for the future of
oilAn oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and is hydrophobic but soluble in organic solvents. Oils have a high carbon and hydrogen content and are nonpolar substances. The general definition above includes compound classes with otherwise unrelated chemical structures,...
exports, and issues of illegal immigration and the threat of
terrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism...
. The foreign policies of the neighbors have been closely aligned for the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
and after, though Canada has disagreed with American policies regarding the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
, the
status of CubaCuba and the United States of America have had an interest in one another since well before either of their independence movements. Plans for purchase of the nearby island have been put forward at various times by the United States...
, the
Iraq WarThe Iraq War, also known as the Occupation of Iraq or Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States and the United Kingdom.Prior to the war, the governments of the United...
, and the
War on TerrorismThe War on Terrorism is the common term for the military, political, legal and ideological conflict against what the effort's leaders describe as Islamic terrorism and Islamic militants, and was specifically used in reference to operations by the...
. A minor
diplomaticDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war,...
debate is whether the
Northwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
is in
international watersThe terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands...
or under Canadian jurisdiction.
Canada remains Americans' favorite foreign nation and the U.S. is high on the Canadian international agenda. An undercurrent of anti-American sentiment is fueled by Canadian fears of American cultural hegemony and the weakening of a distinctive Canadian culture.
Country comparison
|
Canada Canada |
USA United States |
| Population |
33,813,000 |
307,721,000 |
| Area |
9,984,670 km2 (3,854,085 sq mi) |
9,629,091 km2 (3,717,813sq mi) |
| Population Density |
3.2/km22 (8.3/sq mi) |
31/km2 (80/sq mi) |
| Capital |
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
|
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
|
| Largest City |
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
– 2,503,281 (5,555,912 Metro) |
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
– 8,363,710 (19,006,798 Metro) |
| Government |
FederalFederalism is political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent...
parliamentaryA parliamentary system is a system of government where in the ministers of the executive branch are drawn from the legislature, and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined...
constitutional monarchyA constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a written , unwritten or blended constitution...
|
FederalFederalism is political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent...
presidentialA presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not accountable and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it....
constitutional republicA constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens....
|
| Official languages |
English English is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
and FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
|
English (de facto) |
| Main religions |
77% Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, 16.2% non-ReligiousAtheism can be either the rejection of theism,or the position that deities do not exist.In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities....
or unstated, 2% Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
, 1.1% JudaismJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
,
1% HinduismHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
|
75% Christianity, 20% non-Religious, 2% Judaism, 1% BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
, 1% Islam |
| Ethnic groups |
75.3% White White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
/European, 5.5% Aboriginal, 4.6% South Asian, 4.3% ChineseChinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese descent and constitute the largest visible minority group in Canada, standing at 1,216,570 which comprises 3.9% of the population in 2006. Out of those 1,216,570 people, 211,145 people were of Chinese and one other ethnic origin.-History:The first record...
,
3.3% Other AsianThis is a list of Canadians of Asian ancestry. Asian Canadians comprise the largest visible minority in Canada, at 11% of the Canadian population.- Ethnicity :List of Asian Canadian Demographies according to the 2006 Census- Notable Asian Canadians :...
, 3.2% Black/AfricanThe term African people refers to people who live in Africa, or people who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa. This includes members of the "African diaspora" resulting from the Atlantic Slave Trade such as Black British, Afro-Latin Americans, African Americans,...
, 2.5% Middle Eastern, 1.3% Latin American |
74% White AmericanWhite American is an umbrella term officially employed by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget and other U.S...
, 14.8% Hispanic and Latino AmericansHispanic and Latino Americans are Americans of origins in Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain - "Mexican," "Puerto Rican," or "Cuban" - as well as those who indicate that they are "other Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino." Origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or...
(of any race), 13.4% African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
, 6.5% Some other raceThe United States is a diverse country racially and ethnically. White Americans are the racial majority and are spread throughout the country; racial and ethnic minorities, composing one fourth of the population, are concentrated in coastal and metropolitan areas...
, 4.4% Asian American{Infobox Ethnic group|group = Asian American|image =Graduation Rate! align="CENTER" | Bachelor's Degree or More|-| align="LEFT" | Asian Indians| align="RIGHT" | 90.2%| align="RIGHT" | 67.9%|-| align="LEFT" | Filipinos| align="RIGHT" | 90.8%...
, 2.0% Two or more racesThe terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races.-Definitions of multiraciality:While defining race is controversial and rejected by some specialists in human genetics,...
, 0.68% American Indian or Alaska NativeNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
, 0.14% Native Hawaiian or Pacific IslanderPacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
|
| GDP (nominal) |
US$1.499 trillion ($45,085 per capita Per capita is a term adapted from Latin phrase pro capite meaning "per head" with pro meaning "per" or "for each", and capite meaning "head." Both words together equate to the phrase "for each head."...
) |
US$14.441 trillion ($47,440 per capita) |
| Military expenditures |
$18.28 billion (FY 2009-10) |
$663.7 billion (FY 2010) |
Mingling of peoples
From the 1750s to the 21st century, there has been extensive mingling of the Canadian and American populations, with large movements in both directions.
New England Yankees settled large parts of
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
before 1775, and were neutral during the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution is the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America at first rejected the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and later the British monarchy itself, to become the sovereign United States of...
. At the end of the Revolution, about 75,000 Loyalists moved out of the new United States to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the lands of Quebec west and south of Montreal. From 1790 to 1812 many farmers moved from New York and New England into Ontario. In the early 20th century, the opening of the Prairie Provinces attracted many farmers from the American Midwest. Two distinctive groups were "Pennsylvania Dutch" Mennonites, and Mormons who went from Utah to form communities in Alberta after the Mormon Church rejected plural marriage in the 1890s.. The 1960s saw the arrival of about 50,000 draft-dodgers who opposed the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
.
In the late 19th and early 20th century about 900,000 French Canadians moved to the U.S., with 395,000 residents there in 1900. Two-thirds went to mill towns in New England, where they formed distinctive ethnic communities. By the late 20th century they had dispersed more widely, and abandoned the French language, but most kept the Catholic religion. About twice as many English Canadians came to the U.S., but they did not form distinctive ethnic settlements.
Canada was a way-station through which immigrants from other lands stopped for a while while ultimately heading to the U.S. In 1851-1951, 7.1 million people arrived in Canada (mostly from Europe), and 6.6 million left Canada, mostly to the U.S.
American Revolution
At the outset of the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution is the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America at first rejected the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and later the British monarchy itself, to become the sovereign United States of...
, the
American revolutionariesPatriots was the name the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution called themselves. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
hoped the French Canadians in Quebec and the Colonists in
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
would join their rebellion and they were pre-approved for joining the United States in the
Articles of ConfederationThe Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, commonly referred to as the Articles of Confederation, was the first constitution of the United States of America and legally established the union of the states. The Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft the Articles in June...
. When
Canada was invadedThe Invasion of Canada in 1775 was the first major military initiative by the newly-formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to gain military control of the British Province of Quebec, and convince the French-speaking Canadiens to join the...
during the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
, thousands joined the American cause and formed regiments that fought during the war; however most remained neutral and some joined the British effort. The British advised the French Canadians that the British Empire already enshrined their rights in the
Quebec ActThe Quebec Act of 1774 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain setting procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec...
, which the American colonies had viewed as one of the
Intolerable ActsThe Intolerable Acts or the Coercive Acts are names used to describe a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 relating to Britain's colonies in North America...
. The American invasion was a fiasco and Britain tightened its grip on its northern possessions; in 1777 a major British invasion into New York led to the surrender of the entire British army at Saratoga, and led France to enter the war as an ally of the U.S. The French Canadians largely ignored France's appeals for solidarity. After the war Canada became a refuge for about 75,000
LoyalistsThe name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific name which has been given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the...
who wanted to leave the U.S. Among the original Loyalists, who were of many ethnic backgrounds, there were 3500 free blacks. Most went to Nova Scotia and in 1792, 1200 migrated to
Sierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea in the north, Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has a population estimated at 6.4 million...
. About 2000 black slaves were brought in by Loyalist owners; they remained slaves in Canada until the Empire abolished slavery in 1833. Before 1860, about 30,000-40,000 escaped slaves used the
Underground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century Black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists who aided the...
to escape to British North America.
War of 1812
The Treaty of Paris (1783)The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784 and by the King of Great Britain on April 9, 1784 , formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had...
, which ended the war, called for the British to vacate all their forts south of the
Great LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. They are sometimes referred to as the "Third...
border. The British refused to do so, citing failure of the United States to provide financial restitution for Loyalists who had lost property in the war. The
Jay TreatyThe Jay Treaty, also known as Jay's Treaty and the Treaty of London of 1794, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain which averted war, solved many issues left over from the American Revolution, and opened ten years of largely peaceful trade in the midst of the French Revolutionary...
in 1795 with Great Britain resolved that lingering issue and the British departed the forts.
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States , the principal author of the Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States...
saw the nearby British imperial presence as a threat to
republicanism in the United StatesRepublicanism is the value system of governance that has been a major part of American civic thought since the American Revolution. It stresses liberty and rights as central values, makes the people as a whole sovereign, rejects inherited political power, expects citizens to be independent in...
, and so he opposed the
Jay TreatyThe Jay Treaty, also known as Jay's Treaty and the Treaty of London of 1794, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain which averted war, solved many issues left over from the American Revolution, and opened ten years of largely peaceful trade in the midst of the French Revolutionary...
, and it became one of the major political issues in the United States at the time.
Tensions mounted again after 1805, erupting into the
War of 1812The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
, when the Americans declared war on Britain. The Americans were angered by British harassment of U.S. ships on the high seas and seizure ("
ImpressmentImpressment was the act of compelling men to serve in a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to the time of...
") of 6,000 sailors from American ships, severe restrictions against neutral American trade with France, and British support for hostile Indian tribes in Ohio and territories the U.S. had gained in 1783. American "honor" was an implicit issue. The Americans were outgunned by more than 10 to 1 by the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
, and so a land invasion of Canada was proposed as the only feasible means of attacking the British Empire. Americans on the western frontier also hoped an invasion would bring an end to British support of Native American resistance to the westward expansion of the United States, typified by
TecumsehTecumseh also Tecumtha or Tekamthi, was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy that opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...
's coalition of tribes. The U.S. strategy in 1812 was to temporarily seize Canada as a means of forcing concessions from the British. There was some hope that settlers in western Canada—most of them recent immigrants from the U.S. --would welcome the chance to overthrow their British rulers. However, the American invasions were incompetent and were defeated primarily by British regulars with support from Indians and Lower Canada (Ontario) militia. Major British invasions of New York in 1814 and Louisiana in 1814-15 were poorly handled and the British retreated, leaving both sides about where they were in 1812. With the collapse of Napoleon, the British ended naval policies that angered Americans; with the defeat of the Indian tribes that threat to American expansion was ended. The upshot was neither side had anything to fight over, and the war ended by a treaty that took effect in February 1815.
In later years, Canadians, who remain loyal to the Empire well into the 20th century, viewed the War of 1812 as a successful resistance against invasion and as a victory that defined them as a people. A common theme in Canadian political rhetoric ever since has been the protection of Canadian culture from American influence and possible integration into the American political, cultural and economic realm.
Dominion of Canada
Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 in internal affairs while Britain controlled diplomacy and defense policy. Prior to Confederation, there was an
Oregon boundary disputeThe Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region...
in which the Americans claimed the 54th degree latitude. That issue was resolved by splitting the disputed territory; the northern half became British Columbia, and the southern half the states of Washington and Oregon. Strained relations with America continued, however, due to a series of small-scale armed incursions named the
Fenian raidsThe Fenian raids were attacks by members of the Fenian Brotherhood based in the United States on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada in order to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland, between 1866 and 1871. Most of the raids were successfully repelled by...
by
Irish-AmericanIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,495,800 Americans reported Irish ancestry in the 2006 American Community Survey. The only self-reported ancestral group larger than Irish Americans are German Americans...
Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
veterans across the border from 1866 to 1871 in an attempt to trade Canada for Irish independence. The American government, angry at Canadian tolerance of Confederate raiders during the American Civil War, moved very slowly to disarm the Fenians. The British government, in charge of diplomatic relations, protested cautiously, as Anglo-American relations were tense. Much of the tension was relieved as the Fenians faded away and in 1872 by the settlement of the
Alabama ClaimsThe Alabama Claims were a series of claims for damages by the United States government against the government of Great Britain for the covert assistance given to the Confederate cause during the American Civil War. After arbitration, in 1872 Britain paid the U.S...
, when Britain paid the U.S. $15.5 million for war losses caused by warships built in Britain and sold to the Confederacy.
Disputes over ocean boundaries on
Georges BankGeorges Bank is a large elevated area of the sea floor which separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean and is situated between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia ....
and over fishing, whaling, and sealing rights in the Pacific were settled by international arbitration, setting an important precedent.
Much more controversial was the
Alaska boundary disputeThe Alaska Boundary Dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and Canada , and at a subnational level between District of Alaska on the U.S. side and British Columbia on the Canadian side. It was resolved by arbitration in 1903...
, settled in favor of the United States in 1903. At issue was the exact boundary between Alaska and Canada, specifically whether Canada would have a port near the present American town of
HainesHaines is a census-designated place in Haines Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the area was 1,811. Haines was formerly a city but no longer has a municipal government...
that would give access to the new Yukon goldfields. The dispute was settled by arbitration, and the British delegate voted with the Americans—to the astonishment and anti-British disgust of Canadians who suddenly realized that Britain considered its relations with the United States paramount to those with Canada.
1907 saw a minor controversy over
USS NashvilleUSS Nashville , a gunboat, was the only ship of its class. It was the third ship of the United States Navy to hold the name Nashville....
sailing into the Great Lakes via Canada without Canadian permission. Partly in response, in 1909 the two sides signed the
International Boundary Waters TreatyThe Boundary Waters Treaty is the 1909 treaty between the United States and Canada providing mechanisms for resolving any dispute over any waters bordering the two countries...
and the
International Joint CommissionThe International Joint Commission is an independent binational organization established by the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.The Commission has responsibilities related to the following treaties and agreements:...
was established to manage the Great Lakes.
Economic ties and migration had deepened by this era, but were not equal. In 1901 there were 128,000 American-born residents in Canada (3.5% of the Canadian population) and 1.18 million Canadian-born residents in the United States (1.6% of the U.S. population).
Canadian autonomy
Canada demanded and received permission to send its own delegation to the
Versailles Peace TalksThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
in 1919, with the proviso that it sign the treaty under the British Empire. Canada subsequently took responsibility for its own foreign and military affairs in the 1920s. Its first ambassador to the United States,
Vincent MasseyCharles Vincent Massey was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who, until 15 September 1959, served as the Governor General of Canada. He was appointed as such by George VI, King of Canada, on the recommendation of then Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent to replace as viceroy Harold Alexander,...
, was named in 1927. Relations with the United States were cordial, except in the matter of tariffs in the 1930-32 period of the Great Depression.
In the 1930s, the United States Army War College developed hypothetical war plans for a possible war with Canada; they featured an invasion in
War Plan RedWar Plan Red, also known as the Atlantic Strategic War Plan, was a plan for the United States to make war with Great Britain...
; it was merely an academic exercise. Similarly, Canada developed
Defence Scheme No. 1Defence Scheme No. 1 was a plan created by Canadian Director of Military Operations and Intelligence Lieutenant Colonel James "Buster" Sutherland Brown, for a Canadian pre-emptive invasion of the United States.-Targets:...
to counteract an American invasion. Canadian defence was organized against an American invasion until the onset of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Following co-operation in the two World Wars, Canada and the United States lost much of their previous animosity. As Britain's influence as a global imperial power declined, Canada and the United States became extremely close partners. Canada was a close ally of the United States during the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
.
In
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the United States built large military bases in the
Dominion of NewfoundlandThe Dominion of Newfoundland was a British dominion from 1907 to 1949. The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
(which did not join Canada until 1949 and was under direct British rule at the time), and the business community there sought closer ties with the United States as expressed by the
Economic Union PartyThe Economic Union Party was a political party formed in the Dominion of Newfoundland on 20 March 20 1948, during the first referendum campaign on the future of the country. The British-appointed Commission of Government had administered the country since the financial collapse of 1934...
. Ottawa took notice and wanted Newfoundland to join Canada, which it did after hotly contested referenda. There was little demand in the United States for the acquisition of Newfoundland, so the United States did not protest the British decision not to allow an American option on the
Newfoundland referendumThe Newfoundland Referendums of 1948 were a series of two referendums to decide the political future of the British Colony of Newfoundland. Before the referendums, Newfoundland was in debt and went through several delegations to determine whether the colony would join Canada, remain under British...
.
Nixon Shock 1971
The United States had become Canada's largest market, and after the war the Canadian economy became dependent on smooth trade flows with the United States so much that in 1971 when the United States enacted the "
Nixon ShockThe Nixon Shock was a series of economic measures taken by U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1971 including unilaterally canceling the direct convertibility of the United States dollar to gold that essentially ended the existing Bretton Woods system of international financial exchange.-Background:By...
" economic policies (including a 10% tariff on all imports) it put the Canadian government into a panic. This led in a large part to the articulation of Prime Minister
TrudeauJoseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, PC, CC, CH, QC, MSRC , was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968, to June 4, 1979, and from March 3, 1980, to June 30, 1984.Pierre Trudeau was a charismatic figure who, from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s,...
's "
Third OptionThe Third Option was a proposal from Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Minister Mitchell Sharp in 1972 which would have reduced trade and cultural relations between Canada and the United States and allowed for more diversification of bilateral agreements.Sharp's proposal was a clear...
" policy of diversifying Canada's trade and downgrading the importance of Canada – American relations. In a 1972 speech in Ottawa, Nixon declared the "special relationship" between Canada and the United States dead.
Defence and international conflict
The Canadian military, like forces of other NATO countries, fought along side the United States in most major conflicts since
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, including the
Korean WarThe Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
, the
Gulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , known also as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War,or often as the Second Gulf War and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles, or commonly as Desert Storm, for the military response...
, the
Kosovo WarThe term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts in Kosovo:#Early 1998–1999: War between Yugoslav police forces, Yugoslav paramilitaries, and the Kosovo Albanian insurgents....
, and most recently the
war in AfghanistanThe War in Afghanistan is an ongoing coalition conflict which began on October 7, 2001, as the British military participated in the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom that was launched in response to the September 11 attacks...
. The main exceptions to this were the Canadian government's opposition to the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
and the
Iraq WarThe Iraq War, also known as the Occupation of Iraq or Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States and the United Kingdom.Prior to the war, the governments of the United...
, which caused some brief diplomatic tensions. Despite these issues, military relations have remained close.
American defense arrangements with Canada are more extensive than with any other country. The
Permanent Joint Board of DefenseThe Permanent Joint Board on Defence was established by Canada and the United States on August 17, 1940 by joint announcement of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King at Ogdensburg, New York as the senior advisory body on continental military defence of...
, established in 1940, provides policy-level consultation on bilateral defense matters. The United States and Canada share North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mutual security commitments. In addition, American and Canadian military forces have cooperated since 1958 on continental air defense within the framework of the
North American Aerospace Defense CommandNorth American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. It was founded on May 12, 1958 as a joint command between the governments of Canada and the United States, as the...
(NORAD). There is also an active military exchange program between the two countries under which
Canadian ForcesThe Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
personnel have been involved in Iraq. Moreover, interoperability with the American armed forces has been a guiding principle of Canadian military force structuring and doctrine since the end of the Cold War. Canadian navy frigates, for instance, integrate seamlessly into American carrier battle groups.
War in Afghanistan
Canada's elite JTF2 unit joined American special forces in Afghanistan shortly after the
al-Qaida attacks on September 11, 2001The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
. Canadian forces joined the multinational coalition in
Operation AnacondaOperation Anaconda is the code name for an operation in early March 2002 in which the United States military and CIA Paramilitary Officers working with allied Afghan military forces, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains southeast of Zormat...
in January 2002. On April 18, 2002, an American pilot accidentally bombed Canadian forces involved in a training exercise, killing four and wounding eight Canadians. A joint American-Canadian inquiry determined the cause of the incident to be pilot error, in which the pilot interpreted ground fire as an attack; the pilot ignored orders that he felt were "second-guessing" his field tactical decision. Canadian forces assumed a six-month command rotation of the
International Security Assistance ForceInternational Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security and development mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement.- Overview :...
in 2003; in 2005, Canadians assumed operational command of the multi-national Brigade in
KandaharKandahār, also spelled Qandahār, Pashtoکندهار or قندهار is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of 324,800 . It is the capital of Kandahar province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
, with 2,300 troops, and supervises the
Provincial Reconstruction TeamA Provincial Reconstruction Team is a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRTs were first established in Afghanistan in late 2001 or...
in Kandahar, where al-Qaida forces are most active. Canada has also deployed naval forces in the Persian Gulf since 1991 in support of the UN Gulf Multinational Interdiction Force.
The Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC maintains a
public relationsPublic relations is the practice of managing the communication between an organization and its publics. Public relations gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment...
web site named
CanadianAlly.com, which is intended "to give American citizens a better sense of the scope of Canada's role in North American and Global Security and the War on Terror".
The
New Democratic PartyThe New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a social democratic political party in Canada. In the Canadian House of Commons, it holds a centre-left position in the Canadian political spectrum. The leader of the federal NDP is Jack Layton...
and some recent Liberal leadership candidates have expressed opposition to Canada's expanded role in the Afghan conflict on the ground that it is inconsistent with Canada's historic role (since the Second World War) of peacekeeping operations.
2003 Invasion of Iraq
According to contemporary polls, the majority of Canadians were opposed to the
2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq, was led by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Denmark, Poland and Spain. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from March 20 to May 1...
. The Canadian government, under current Prime Minister
Stephen HarperStephen Joseph Harper, PC, MP is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada, and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became Prime Minister after his party won a minority government in the January 2006 federal election...
, maintains a position with emphasis on
UNThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
authority. Many Canadians, and the former Liberal government of
Paul MartinPaul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC is a Canadian politician who was the Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
(as well as many Americans such as
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
), made a policy distinction between conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, unlike the
Bush DoctrineThe Bush Doctrine is a phrase used to describe various related foreign policy principles of former United States president George W. Bush. The phrase initially described the policy that the United States had the right to secure itself from countries that harbor or give aid to terrorist groups,...
, which linked these together in a "Global war on terror".
Trade
Canada and the United States have the world's largest trading relationship, with huge quantities of goods and people flowing across the border each year. Since the 1987 Canadian–American Free Trade Agreement, there have been no
tariffA tariff is a duty imposed on goods when they are moved across a political boundary.-History:...
s on most goods passed between the two countries.
With such a massive trading relationship, trade disputes between the two countries are frequent and inevitable. In the course of the softwood lumber dispute, the U.S. has placed tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber because of what it argues is an unfair Canadian government subsidy, a claim which Canada disputes. The dispute has cycled through several agreements and arbitration cases. Other notable disputes include the
Canadian Wheat BoardThe Canadian Wheat Board was established by the Parliament of Canada in 1935 as a producer marketing system for wheat and barley. It is headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada...
, and Canadian cultural "restrictions" on magazines and television (See CRTC,
CBCThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In French, it is called la Société Radio-Canada...
, and
National Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes innovative, socially relevant documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions. Its name in French is Office national...
). Canadians have been criticized about such things as the ban on
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
since a case of
Mad Cow diseaseBovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease , is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease in cattle, that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 4 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of four to...
was discovered in 2003 in cows from the United States (and a few subsequent cases) and the high American agricultural subsidies. Concerns in Canada also run high over aspects of the
North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) such as Chapter 11.
One ongoing and complex trade issue involves the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada to the United States. Due to the Canadian government's
price controlsPrice controls are governmental impositions on the prices charged for goods and services in a free market, usually intended to maintain the affordability of staple foods and goods, and to prevent price gouging during shortages, or, alternately, to insure an income for providers of certain goods...
as part of their state-run medical system, prices for prescription drugs can be a fraction of the price paid by consumers in the unregulated American market. While laws in the United States have been passed at the national level against such sales, specific state and local governments have passed their own legislation to allow the trade to continue. American drug companies—often supporters of political campaigns—have come out against the practice.
According to a 2003 study commissioned by the Canadian Embassy in the United States, based on 2001 data, Canadian–American
tradeTrade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both. Trade is also called commerce or transaction. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious...
supported 5.2 million American jobs.
U.S. StateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
|
U.S. Jobs Supported |
Rank |
| Alabama |
72,000 |
24 |
| Alaska |
13,000 |
48 |
| Arizona |
89,000 |
22 |
| Arkansas |
45,000 |
32 |
| California |
626,000 |
1 |
| Colorado |
93,000 |
21 |
| Connecticut |
67,000 |
27 |
| Delaware |
16,000 |
46 |
| District of Columbia |
29,000 |
38 |
| Florida |
289,000 |
4 |
| Georgia (U.S. state) |
152,000 |
10 |
| Hawaii |
26,000 |
39 |
| Idaho |
23,000 |
43 |
| Illinois |
237,000 |
5 |
| Indiana |
112,000 |
14 |
| Iowa |
55,000 |
30 |
| Kansas |
51,000 |
31 |
| Kentucky |
69,000 |
26 |
| Louisiana |
73,000 |
23 |
| Maine |
24,000 |
41 |
| Maryland |
101,000 |
20 |
| Massachusetts |
134,000 |
13 |
| Michigan |
174,000 |
8 |
| Minnesota |
103,000 |
19 |
| Mississippi |
43,000 |
34 |
| Missouri |
108,000 |
16 |
| Montana |
16,000 |
45 |
| Nebraska |
36,000 |
36 |
| Nevada |
43,000 |
35 |
| New Hampshire |
24,000 |
42 |
| New Jersey |
153,000 |
9 |
| New Mexico |
30,000 |
37 |
| New York |
348,000 |
3 |
| North Carolina |
151,000 |
11 |
| North Dakota |
13,000 |
49 |
| Ohio |
212,000 |
7 |
| Oklahoma |
58,000 |
29 |
| Oregon |
63,000 |
28 |
| Pennsylvania |
219,000 |
6 |
| Rhode Island |
19,000 |
44 |
| South Carolina |
69,000 |
25 |
| South Dakota |
15,000 |
47 |
| Tennessee |
108,000 |
15 |
| Texas |
369,000 |
2 |
| Utah |
44,000 |
33 |
| Vermont |
12,000 |
50 |
| Virginia |
141,000 |
12 |
| Washington |
108,000 |
17 |
| West Virginia |
25,000 |
40 |
| Wisconsin |
103,000 |
18 |
| Wyoming |
9,000 |
51 |
| Total |
5,210,000 |
|
Environmental issues
The two countries work closely to resolve trans-border environmental issues, an area of increasing importance in the bilateral relationship. A principal instrument of this cooperation is the
International Joint CommissionThe International Joint Commission is an independent binational organization established by the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.The Commission has responsibilities related to the following treaties and agreements:...
(IJC), established as part of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to resolve differences and promote international cooperation on boundary waters. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1972 is another historic example of joint cooperation in controlling trans-border water pollution. However, there have been some disputes. Most recently, the
Devil's LakeDevils Lake is a freshwater lake in the U.S. state of North Dakota. It is the largest natural body of water in the state and the second-largest body of water in North Dakota after the artificially created Lake Sakakawea. In 2006, it officially reached a historical high elevation of , an area of...
Outlet, a project instituted by North Dakota, has angered Manitobans who fear that their water may soon become polluted as a result of this project.
The two governments also consult semi-annually on trans-border air pollution. Under the Air Quality Agreement of 1991, both countries have made substantial progress in coordinating and implementing their acid rain control programs and signed an annex on ground level ozone in 2000. Despite this trans-border air pollution remains an issue, particularly in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed during the summer. The main source of this trans-border pollution results from coal fired power stations, most of them located in the
Midwestern United StatesThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
.
Currently neither of the countries' governments support the
Kyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at combating global warming...
, which set out time scheduled curbing of greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike the United States, Canada has ratified the agreement. Yet after ratification, due to internal political conflict within Canada, the Canadian government does not enforce the
Kyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at combating global warming...
, and has received criticism from environmental groups and from other governments for its climate change positions.
Illicit drugs
In 2003 the American government became concerned when members of the Canadian government announced plans to
decriminalizeDecriminalization is the abolition of criminal penalties in relation to certain acts, perhaps retroactively, though perhaps regulated permits or fines might still apply . The reverse process is criminalization....
marijuanaCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
. David Murray, an assistant to U.S. Drug Czar
John P. WaltersJohn P. Walters was sworn in as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on December 7 2001, and held the position until January 20, 2009. As the nation's "Drug Czar," Mr...
, said in a
CBCThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In French, it is called la Société Radio-Canada...
interview that, "We would have to respond. We would be forced to respond." However the
electionThe 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
of the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Tories, is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. The party is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
in early 2006 halted the liberalization of marijuana laws for the foreseeable future. The Canadian government currently grows
marijuana for medicinal purposesMedical cannabis refers to the use of the dried flowers and subtending leafs and stems from pistillate Cannabis plants as a physician-recommended drug or herbal therapy....
only in former copper mines.
Arar affair
On September 26, 2002, U.S. officials, acting upon a tip from Canadian law enforcement, detained
Maher ArarMaher Arar is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who resides in Canada. He is famous for the outcry resulting from his deportation by the United States government to Syria. Arar has claimed he was tortured while in Syria...
on suspicion of terrorist links. Arar is a dual citizen of Canada and Syria and was traveling through New York as part of a trip from
TunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast. Tunisia is located southwest of the island of Sicily and south of Sardinia. Its size is almost 165,000 km² with an estimated population of just...
to Canada.
Despite traveling on a Canadian passport, Arar was deported to Syria, his country of birth. He was imprisoned there for over a year and tortured repeatedly. The decision by U.S. officials to deport him to Syria, his imprisonment and torture there, and the extent of collaboration between U.S. and Canadian officials became a political issue in Canada at the time.
Canadian officials have since said that Arar was not linked in any way to terrorism, and the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has issued a formal apology and a $10.5 million (CAD) settlement to Arar, who nonetheless remains on an American terrorist watchlist.
Territorial disputes
These include maritime boundary disputes:
- Dixon Entrance
The Dixon Entrance is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the International Boundary between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. It is named after Captain George Dixon, a Royal Navy officer, fur trader and explorer, who surveyed the area in...
- Beaufort Sea
The Beaufort Sea is the portion of the Arctic Ocean located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska and west of Canada's Arctic islands. Its northwestern boundary is defined by a line connecting Point Barrow, Alaska, and Lands End, Prince Patrick Island. It is about...
- Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long forming the principal outlet for the Georgia Strait and Puget Sound, connecting both to the Pacific Ocean...
- San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands are a part of the San Juan Archipelago in the northwest corner of the continental United States. The archipelago is split into two groups of islands based on national sovereignty. San Juan Islands are part of the U.S. state of Washington, while the Gulf Islands are part of...
- Machias Seal Island
Machias Seal Island is an island located in the Gulf of Maine, approximately southeast from Cutler, Maine and approximately southwest of Southwest Head, New Brunswick on Grand Manan Island. Machias Seal Island is located at and measures approximately in area...
and North RockNorth Rock is an offshore rock with geographical coordinates of , located to the east of the North American continent near the boundary between the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy....
Territorial land disputes:
- Aroostook War
The Aroostook War was an undeclared confrontation in 1838-39 between the United States and Great Britain over the international boundary between British North America and Maine. The dispute resulted in a mutually accepted border between the state of Maine and provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec...
(MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
boundary)
- Alaska Boundary Dispute
The Alaska Boundary Dispute was a territorial dispute between the United States and Canada , and at a subnational level between District of Alaska on the U.S. side and British Columbia on the Canadian side. It was resolved by arbitration in 1903...
- Pig War
and disputes over the international status of the:
- Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
- Inside Passage
The Inside Passage of the Alaska Panhandle and coastal British Columbia is a coastal route for oceangoing vessels along a series of passages between the mainland and the coastal islands. Ships using the route can avoid some of the bad weather in the open ocean, and visit the many isolated...
Arctic disputes
A long-simmering dispute between Canada and the U.S. involves the issue of Canadian sovereignty over the
Northwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
(the sea passages in the Arctic). Canada’s assertion that the Northwest Passage represents internal (territorial) waters has been challenged by other countries, especially the U.S., which argue that these waters constitute an international strait (international waters). Canadians were incensed when Americans drove the reinforced oil tanker through the Northwest Passage in 1969, followed by the icebreaker
Polar SeaPolar Sea may have several meanings:*The Arctic Ocean*The Southern Ocean*USCGC Polar Sea , a United States Coast Guard icebreaker*The Open Polar Sea, a hypothesized ice-free ocean surrounding the North Pole...
in 1985, both without asking for Canadian permission. In 1970, the Canadian government enacted the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, which asserts Canadian regulatory control over pollution within a 100-mile zone. In response, the United States in 1970 stated, "We cannot accept the assertion of a Canadian claim that the Arctic waters are internal waters of Canada…. Such acceptance would jeopardize the freedom of navigation essential for United States naval activities worldwide." A compromise of sorts was reached in 1988, by an agreement on "Arctic Cooperation," which pledges that voyages of American icebreakers "will be undertaken with the consent of the Government of Canada." However the agreement did not alter either country's basic legal position. In January 2006 David Wilkins, the American ambassador to Canada, said his government opposes Stephen Harper's proposed plan to deploy military icebreakers in the Arctic to detect interlopers and assert Canadian sovereignty over those waters. In August 2007, former US ambassador to Canada,
Paul CellucciArgeo Paul Cellucci is an American politician and diplomat who served as Governor of Massachusetts and US Ambassador to Canada.-Early life and career:...
, stated that in 2005 he informed his government that it should re-evaluate its assertion that the Northwest Passage is an international sea body, and that it should belong to Canada. His advice was rejected and in 2007 Bush and Harper took opposite positions.
Common memberships
Canada and the United States both hold membership in a number of multinational organizations such as:
- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries to cooperate on regional trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation. APEC's objective is to enhance economic growth and prosperity in the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community...
- Food and Agriculture Organization
The is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy...
- G-8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for governments of the six richest countries in the world: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1976, Canada joined the group...
- G-10
The Group of Ten or G10 refers to the group of countries that have agreed to participate in the General Arrangements to Borrow...
- G-20 major economies
- International Chamber of Commerce
The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its hundreds of thousands of member companies in over 130 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise....
- International Development Association
The International Development Association , is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. It complements the World Bank's other lending arm — the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development — which serves middle-income countries with capital investment and...
- International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rates and the balance of payments...
- International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees....
- Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
- North American Free Trade Agreement
- North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. It was founded on May 12, 1958 as a joint command between the governments of Canada and the United States, as the...
- North American Numbering Plan
The North American Numbering Plan is an integrated telephone numbering plan of 24 countries and territories: the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 of the Caribbean countries...
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the thirty-five independent states of the Americas with two countries suspended...
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international organisation of 30 countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and free-market economy...
- Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America
The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was a region-level dialogue with the stated purpose of providing greater cooperation on security and economic issues. The Partnership was founded in Waco, Texas on March 23 2005 by Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada, Vicente Fox,...
- UKUSA Community
The UK-USA Security Agreement is an agreement or treaty that established an alliance of five English-speaking countries for the purpose of sharing intelligence, especially signals intelligence. The alliance comprises Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States...
- United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
- UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
- World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health...
- World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an international organization designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international capital trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade , which...
- World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides leveraged loans to poorer countries for capital programs, tied to neoliberal market restructurings...
The current state of relations
Shortly after being congratulated by U.S. President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
for his victory in February 2006, Prime Minister of Canada,
Stephen HarperStephen Joseph Harper, PC, MP is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada, and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became Prime Minister after his party won a minority government in the January 2006 federal election...
rebuked U.S. Ambassador to Canada
David WilkinsDavid Horton Wilkins is an American attorney and a former U. S. Ambassador to Canada during the administration of President George W. Bush. Prior to the appointment, he practiced law for 30 years while serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives for 25 of those years. He was speaker of...
for criticizing the
Conservatives'The Conservative Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Tories, is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. The party is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
plans to assert Canada's sovereignty over the
Arctic OceanThe Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions.
The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some...
waters with armed forces. Harper's first meeting with the U.S. President occurred at the end of March 2006; and while little was achieved in the way of solid agreements, the trip was described in the media as signaling a trend of closer relations between the two nations.
Prime Minister Harper called and congratulated the then President-elect,
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
, on his victory over John McCain, and he assured the President-elect that the two countries will become the greatest of allies. After he was inaugurated, on January 20, 2009, as President of the United States, it was announced that Mr. Obama's first international trip would be to Canada, which took place on February 19, 2009.
Quotations
- President
The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
: "Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder."
- Prime Minister
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary Minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government of Canada. The office is not outlined in any of the documents that constitute the written portion of the constitution of Canada; executive authority is formally vested in the...
Pierre TrudeauJoseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, PC, CC, CH, QC, MSRC , was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968, to June 4, 1979, and from March 3, 1980, to June 30, 1984.Pierre Trudeau was a charismatic figure who, from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s,...
once remarked that Canada being America's neighbor "is like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, if one can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt."
- Prime Minister John Sparrow Thompson: "These Yankee politicians are the lowest race of thieves in existence." - made during sensitive trade talks with US in 1893.
- Prime Minister John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , was the first Prime Minister of Canada and the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation. Macdonald's tenure in office spanned 18 years, making him the second longest serving Prime Minister of Canada. He is the only Canadian Prime Minister to win...
, speaking at the beginning of the 1891 electionThe Canadian federal election of 1891 was held on March 5 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Canada. It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald....
(fought mostly over Canadian free trade with the United StatesIn nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian politics, the term reciprocity was used to describe the concept of free trade with the United States of America...
), Macdonald said: "As for myself, my course is clear. A British subjectIn British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
I was born—a British subject I will die. With my utmost effort, with my latest breath, will I oppose the ‘veiled treason’ which attempts by sordid means and mercenary proffers to lure our people from their allegiance." - , Feb 3, 1891.
- President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
: "Canada and the United States have reached the point where we can no longer think of each other as foreign countries."
- Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, PC, CC, CH, QC, MSRC , was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968, to June 4, 1979, and from March 3, 1980, to June 30, 1984.Pierre Trudeau was a charismatic figure who, from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s,...
, speaking in the Soviet Union in 1971, said that the overwhelming American presence posed "a danger to our national identityCanadian identity refers to the set of characteristics and symbols that many Canadians regard as expressing their unique place and role in the world....
from a cultural, economic and perhaps even military point of view."
- President Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
, during his visit to Ottawa in 1972, declared that the "special relationship" between Canada and the United States was dead. "It is time for us to recognize," he stated, "that we have very separate identities; that we have significant differences; and that nobody's interests are furthered when these realities are obscured."
- The Prime Minister Harper's office in a released statement congratulating Barack Obama on his inauguration said: "The United States remains Canada’s most important ally, closest friend and largest trading partner and I look forward to working with President Obama and his administration as we build on this special relationship."
- "We of the United States consider ourselves blessed. We have much to give thanks for. But the gift of providence we cherish most is that we were given as our neighbors on this wonderful continent the people and the nation of Canada." President Johnson. Remarks at Expo '67, Montréal
Montreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
, May 25, 1967.
- President Barack Obama speaking in Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
, Canada at his first official international visit February 19, 2009: "I love this country. We could not have a better friend and ally"
Canadian missions in the United States
Canada's chief diplomatic mission to the United States is the Canadian Embassy in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
. It is further supported by many Consulates located through America.
The Canadian Government supports Consulates in several major U.S. cities including:
AnchorageAnchorage is a consolidated city-borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 279,243 municipal residents in 2008 , it is Alaska's largest city and constitutes more than 40 percent of the state's total population; only New York has a higher percentage...
,
AtlantaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the state of Georgia, as well as the urban core of one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States....
‡, Boston‡,
BuffaloBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, second only to New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the seat of Erie...
‡, Chicago‡,
DallasDallas , with a population of 1,279,910, is the third-largest city in Texas and the 8th-largest in the United States. The city is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2009 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of...
‡,
DenverThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
‡,
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
‡,
HoustonHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
,
Los AngelesLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
‡,
MiamiMiami is a major coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 424,662 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the...
‡,
MinneapolisMinneapolis is the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Hennepin County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. Known as the Twin Cities,...
‡, New York City‡,
PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
,
PhoenixPhoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
,
RaleighRaleigh is the capital city of the state of North Carolina, the seat of Wake County and the second largest city in North Carolina. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S...
,
San DiegoSan Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
,
San FranciscoSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
/Silicon Valley‡ and
SeattleSeattle is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington State on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes...
‡
**‡ denotes mission is Consulate General
There are also trade offices located in
PrincetonPrinceton, New Jersey is located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Princeton University has been sited in the town since 1756. Although Princeton is a "college town", there are other important institutions in the area, including the Institute for Advanced Study, Educational Testing...
and
Palo AltoPalo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, USA. It is named after a tree called El Palo Alto...
American missions in Canada
The United State's chief diplomatic mission to Canada is the United States Embassy in
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
. It is further supported by many Consulates located through Canada.
The American Government supports Consulates in several major Canadian cities including:
Calgary, Halifax, Northwest Territories‡, Nunavut‡, Montréal, Québec City, Southwestern Ontario‡, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Yukon‡
**‡ denotes mission is a Virtual Presence Post (VPP)
See also
- Canadian and American economies compared
The economies of Canada and the United States are extremely similar because they are both developed countries and are each other's largest trading partners. However, key differences in population makeup, geography, government policies, and productivity all result in different economies.Measured by...
- Canadian and American politics compared
- Definitions of Canadian borders
Canada is the world's second largest country by land area. Because of this, Canada has one of the longest international borders in the world, sharing a 5061 kilometre land border and a 3830 kilometre maritime border with the United States alone...
- Foreign relations of Canada
The foreign relations of Canada are Canada's relations with other governments and peoples. Canada's most important relationship is with the neighbouring United States and the United Kingdom...
- Foreign relations of the United States
The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most countries on the world.-Pacific:-Latin America:-Caribbean:The term "Caribbean" is used loosely to refer to countries in or near the Caribbean sea other than those included under "Latin America"....
- Etiquette in Canada and the United States
Unlike in cultures with formal class structures, such as those with nobility and royalty, etiquette rules in the United States and Canada are meant to apply to all....
- Continental One Highway
Continental 1 is a proposed trade and travel corridor, stretching from Miami, Florida in the United States to Toronto, Ontario in Canada.Part of it will be new, other parts an upgrade of existing routes. A new highway will be built between Toronto and Buffalo, New York...
- Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America
The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was a region-level dialogue with the stated purpose of providing greater cooperation on security and economic issues. The Partnership was founded in Waco, Texas on March 23 2005 by Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada, Vicente Fox,...
Further reading
- Doran, Charles F., and James Patrick Sewell, "Anti-Americanism in Canada," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 497, Anti-Americanism: Origins and Context (May, 1988), pp. 105–119 in JSTOR
- Stephen Clarkson, Uncle Sam and Us: Globalization, Neoconservatism and the Canadian State (University of Toronto Press, 2002),
- J. L. Granatstein. Yankee Go Home: Canadians and Anti-Americanism (1997)
- J. L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer, For Better or for Worse: Canada and the United States to the 1990s (1991)
- John W. Holmes. "Impact of Domestic Political Factors on Canadian-American Relations: Canada," International Organization, Vol. 28, No. 4, Canada and the United States: Transnational and Transgovernmental Relations (Autumn, 1974), pp. 611–635 in JSTOR
- Graeme S. Mount
Graeme Stewart Mount is a Canadian historian and academic who taught history at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario until his retirement in 2005. His publications have included a number of works on international relations, including several books on Canada-United States relations, the...
and Edelgard MahantEdelgard Elspeth Mahant is a Canadian academic, who teaches political science at York University's Glendon College in Toronto, Ontario. She completed her studies at the Universities of British Columbia and Toronto and obtained her PHD at the London School of Economics and Political Science.Mahant...
, An Introduction to Canadian-American Relations (1984, updated 1989)
- Graeme S. Mount and Edelgard Mahant, Invisible and Inaudible in Washington: American Policies toward Canada during the Cold War (1999)
- Bruce Muirhead, "From Special Relationship to Third Option: Canada, the U.S., and the Nixon Shock," American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 34, 2004 online edition
- Reginald C. Stuart. Dispersed Relations: Americans and Canadians in Upper North America (2007) excerpt and text search
- James Tagg. "'And, We Burned down the White House, Too': American History, Canadian Undergraduates, and Nationalism," The History Teacher, Vol. 37, No. 3 (May, 2004), pp. 309–334 in JSTOR
- C. C. Tansill, Canadian-American Relations, 1875-1911 (1943)
- John Herd Thompson and Stephen J. Randall, Canada and the United States: Ambivalent Allies (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994), 387pp
- Faces of War at Library and Archives Canada
- Engler, Yves
Yves Engler is a Montreal writer and political activist. In addition to three published books, many of Engler’s writings have appeared in the alternative press, with articles also appearing in mainstream publications such as the The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen and Ecologist.In June...
External links