David Cohen has been the United States Ambassador to Canada since November 2021, and since then both Canada and the United States have experienced a series of common challenges.
Cohen, in an interview at his official residence in Ottawa, talks about the state of relations.
He touches on how inflation, central banks, potential gas tax breaks and the Freedom Convoy protests have affected cross-border relations. It also delves into the impact that abortion rights decisions in the United States and gun control repression can have, and when cross-border travel rules can further ease it.
This transcript of Cohen’s interview with Evan Solomon for Sunday’s episode of CTV’s Question Period has been edited for length and clarity.
————————————————– ——-
Evan Solomon: We are in a time in both the United States and Canada, with inflation at a 40-year high, 7.7% here. This affects Americans at the pump and the grocery store … Everyone says it’s about supply chains. What are the United States and Canada doing together to help people fight inflation?
Ambassador Cohen: “You know, inflation is obviously the dominant economic problem of the day in both the United States and Canada. It’s scary, because remember that inflation is a product of macroeconomic forces … The economy, macroeconomics is bigger than any government, any official, and it’s just not something you can use to swing a magic wand and make inflation go away, it’s a huge macroeconomic force.
“He said that there is a package of tactics and strategies that the government has written widely, can and should implement in times of inflation. And the first of all is a function of the central bank. I am not an elected employee, so I am allowed to say this: It is true that the main responsibility for managing macroeconomic forces in the economy, such as inflation, is a function of the central bank. This is not a presidential or prime ministerial function. “
Solomon: A lot of people say that the central banks in both your country and Canada have failed because they didn’t get rid of it fast enough.
Ambassador Cohen: “I agree with you that this is politicized. But I don’t think some of that criticism is political. I think the criticism comes from other serious economists who are looking at this issue and saying that the central bank should have done something different. Then you have elected officials who accept this comment and politicize it. So these are, I think, these are two different stages of the same specific problem …
“We are the victims of something that is terribly good, namely, when the pandemic weakens, people return to their free time and plans for a holiday with revenge, and this is the summer season. This is the season in which this happens. And so the demand for gasoline jumps to the highest values at a time when supplies are not as stable as they were at some point in history. And this leads to higher gas prices, which has a significant contribution to the overall increase in the cost of living and to overall inflationary trends. “
Solomon: Was it a mistake for Joe Biden to cancel Keystone, given where the world is at the moment, which would help in this situation?
Ambassador Cohen: “I hope this is not headline news. After all, I am a friend of Joe Biden and his representative in Canada. But Joe Biden made absolutely no mistake in canceling the Keystone pipeline. We do not have enough time to consider every argument there. But we’re talking about inflation, which is fair, because Joe Biden said it’s the number one problem the United States is facing. But this is not the only problem. And energy is not the only problem Canada or the United States face. It can be argued that climate change is the existential problem of our generation. And then, unless we get to climate change and quickly deal with the effects of climate change, we will cause irreversible damage to the environment.
“And by the way, this is something that is of great importance to Canada because of the adverse effects on the Arctic of unexpected climate change. And if you’re Joe Biden and you’re president of the United States, and frankly, if you’re the Prime Minister of Canada, you have to juggle not just inflation – no matter how important – not just gasoline prices at the gas station. But you have to focus on the whole spectrum of problems that you are facing. “
Solomon: Canada has just announced that it will invest $ 4.9 billion over the next six years to upgrade the NORAD system, an outdated radar defense system … Did your country ask Canada when this system will be updated? And what is your opinion on how vulnerable we are now?
Ambassador Cohen: “I’m not shy to express opinions, but I hope I don’t get out of my tape and express opinions about things I really don’t understand or know. So the question you are asking, who is how vulnerable are we today, is a major professional question in the field of defense … I just don’t know enough to answer that question intelligently. I think that the line I used is whether after February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, or even before that time … These questions are especially relevant and important in the Arctic and we need a defensive response to the 21st century with 21st century funding to put us in a position to defend ourselves adequately …
“I have been asked many times about Canada’s commitment to NORAD and what the United States is looking for. And my answer was, we are, you know, Canada and the United States are partners in this binational command, the only binational defense command in the world, and our expectations, our hope, if you will, for NORAD and Canada is for them to be a good partner. “
Solomon: On Friday … [U.S.] The Supreme Court overturned Rowe v. Wade. This is no surprise … What does it mean for women and globally that Rowe v. Wade and access to abortion rights are no longer constitutionally protected in your country?
Ambassador Cohen: “So, as you say, it’s not a surprise, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a big disappointment. You know, the significance of Roe v. Wade is that for 50 years these rights were considered to be constitutionally protected. I think this is a huge blow to what is a very important constitutional right for women in the United States. I think this is a huge blow to gender equality in the overall democratic sense of equality. This is a great disappointment. President Biden said that if that decision fell, it would be a real blow to women’s rights and to and towards women in the United States.
“It’s now up to individual states to determine the rules that will apply to abortion. So, in a sense, the battlefield has shifted to a different level of government in the United States. The reason I want to be careful is that you have so many states under conservative – usually Republican – control, where I think abortion rights are likely to be limited …
“So this is not a good day for women, for the treatment of women. This is not a good day for our respect for women and for their right to choose what happens to their own bodies. And so I can’t sweeten it except to just say that we need to move the battlefield now and we need to try to preserve as much as possible of women’s right to vote in as many countries as possible. “
Solomon: Here we are in an intense debate about the need for the Emergency Situations Act. Has the US government pressured Canada to allow this because of the economic consequences for cross-border trade?
Ambassador Cohen: “I do not want to enter the Canadian internal debate on the appropriateness of implementing the Emergency Act, but I have no problem saying that the threat to trade between the United States and Canada is due to blockades of entry points – especially in Windsor Bridge Ambassador, where was the greatest single value – we are talking about several hundred million dollars a day blocked trade.
“And don’t forget that it affected real people. There were car factories in Canada and the United States where shifts were cut, people lost income as a result, there was a real threat to the integrated car supply chain. There was a legal threat to trade in both Canada and the United States.
“So the way you ask the question gives me a chance to point out something very important, because it’s not the place for the United States to pressure Canada to do anything. Canada is its own sovereign country. We are friends, we are allies… This does not give us the right to tell Canada that it must do this. It gives us the right to have a serious discussion with our friend about the consequences of this embargo on our mutual trade on both sides of the border. And so there was a high level of concern. There were repeated high-level talks with Christia Freeland, with many ministers in the Canadian government, with members of the cabinet. I personally participated in many of these discussions, the White House got involved. So it was a matter of serious concern, but no one in the United States, as far as I know, has ever told Canada, ‘you have to solve this problem’… It was very serious. It had to be taken seriously and it was taken seriously. “
Solomon: I talked to Congressman Higgins from New York, I talked to Canadian mayors, they want the ArriveCAN app to be dropped because it hurts trade. Should Canada abandon the ArriveCAN application? Is trade and tourism harmful now?
Ambassador Cohen: “I don’t know enough about that. I say as a person who has now traveled several times between the United States and Canada, I have not experienced the problems with the ArriveCAN application, which …
Add Comment