Bipa
11-07-2005, 08:49 AM
Well, this is about as official as it gets. Former US ambassador to Canada admits that Americans take Canada for granted :( :mad:
(so what else is new? :p )
PR campaign could help Canada
Cellucci: Former ambassador: Americans need to be told of partnership's value
Tom Blackwell
National Post
Thursday, November 03, 2005
As it battles the Bush administration over trade, the federal government should also launch a public-relations offensive to enlighten Americans about their crucial economic ties with Canada, the former U.S. ambassador to Ottawa suggested yesterday.
Issues such as softwood lumber and the American dependence on Canadian oil -- front-page news north of the border -- are all but unknown in the United States, said Paul Cellucci, who finished his stint as ambassador this year.
Most U.S. residents are unaware the two countries are each other's chief trading partners, he said.
Canadian diplomats anxious to further this country's cause should try to focus U.S. media on that relationship, he told a business audience in Toronto.
"To some extent, we take Canada for granted in the United States," Mr. Cellucci told a meeting of the Economic Club of Toronto.
"A lot of people forget sometimes that Canada is a sovereign country and I can understand why that would upset people here.... Hopefully, the government can come up with a strategy to educate Americans about how big and important this relationship is to the United States."
The former ambassador, now a vice-president of Aurora, Ont.-based Magna Entertainment, said the softwood-lumber dispute that has preoccupied the media and politicians here is "not even on the radar screen" in the United States.
There is similar ignorance about the extent to which Canada satisfies U.S. energy needs, he said. Ask 100 Americans which country exports the most oil to the United States and 99 would probably name Saudia Arabia, Mr. Cellucci said.
"The truth is that it is Canada," he added.
He said a visit by the U.S. energy secretary or by Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, to the Alberta oil sands would go a long way toward showing Americans how much they depend on Canadian energy resources, he said.
The Canadian government has been trying to raise this country's profile among the American public, alerting local press, for instance, to the efforts of Canadian search-and-rescue and Red Cross teams during the hurricane disasters this year, said Rodney Moore, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs.
But it can be an uphill battle, he said.
"We always know that we're not represented in the media there as much as we'd like to be, or that it's done in a way that perpetuates errors, such as that we contributed to 9/11, that Canadians went down there," Mr. Moore said.
"That's been conquered as a myth, but it still comes up occasionally."
Canada has been aggressively expanding its diplomatic presence in the U.S. in recent years, opening consulates and setting up a secretariat in the embassy to encourage provincial governments and politicians to reach out to opinion leaders in the United States, Mr. Moore said.
He also pointed to Web sites, such as one that links U.S. residents with connections to Canada, that have helped increase awareness south of the border.
(so what else is new? :p )
PR campaign could help Canada
Cellucci: Former ambassador: Americans need to be told of partnership's value
Tom Blackwell
National Post
Thursday, November 03, 2005
As it battles the Bush administration over trade, the federal government should also launch a public-relations offensive to enlighten Americans about their crucial economic ties with Canada, the former U.S. ambassador to Ottawa suggested yesterday.
Issues such as softwood lumber and the American dependence on Canadian oil -- front-page news north of the border -- are all but unknown in the United States, said Paul Cellucci, who finished his stint as ambassador this year.
Most U.S. residents are unaware the two countries are each other's chief trading partners, he said.
Canadian diplomats anxious to further this country's cause should try to focus U.S. media on that relationship, he told a business audience in Toronto.
"To some extent, we take Canada for granted in the United States," Mr. Cellucci told a meeting of the Economic Club of Toronto.
"A lot of people forget sometimes that Canada is a sovereign country and I can understand why that would upset people here.... Hopefully, the government can come up with a strategy to educate Americans about how big and important this relationship is to the United States."
The former ambassador, now a vice-president of Aurora, Ont.-based Magna Entertainment, said the softwood-lumber dispute that has preoccupied the media and politicians here is "not even on the radar screen" in the United States.
There is similar ignorance about the extent to which Canada satisfies U.S. energy needs, he said. Ask 100 Americans which country exports the most oil to the United States and 99 would probably name Saudia Arabia, Mr. Cellucci said.
"The truth is that it is Canada," he added.
He said a visit by the U.S. energy secretary or by Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, to the Alberta oil sands would go a long way toward showing Americans how much they depend on Canadian energy resources, he said.
The Canadian government has been trying to raise this country's profile among the American public, alerting local press, for instance, to the efforts of Canadian search-and-rescue and Red Cross teams during the hurricane disasters this year, said Rodney Moore, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs.
But it can be an uphill battle, he said.
"We always know that we're not represented in the media there as much as we'd like to be, or that it's done in a way that perpetuates errors, such as that we contributed to 9/11, that Canadians went down there," Mr. Moore said.
"That's been conquered as a myth, but it still comes up occasionally."
Canada has been aggressively expanding its diplomatic presence in the U.S. in recent years, opening consulates and setting up a secretariat in the embassy to encourage provincial governments and politicians to reach out to opinion leaders in the United States, Mr. Moore said.
He also pointed to Web sites, such as one that links U.S. residents with connections to Canada, that have helped increase awareness south of the border.