a lot of people don't seem to really understand. and, it's understandable that people don't understand, because it's an issue that doesn't come up a lot. we just all kind of take the status quo for granted.

but, remember this: there's a section of the american constitution that allows for the annexation of canada. that's not just empty language. and, it's not a relic of the past, either.

there's only a handful of things they expect of us. so long as we're reasonable about those things, we can keep our sovereignty on social issues. if we're not reasonable...

elephants in the room, or meth labs downstairs, don't really get to the point of it. i think the initial quote was misinterpreted. an elephant in the room can twitch, sure. it can also stampede.

it's really more like sleeping with a knife dangling over your head. and, to an extent, we collectively have stockholm syndrome about it.

one of the things they expect from us is military co-operation, and we should be willing to provide it. it's really up to the occupant of the oval office as to whether this is something we can do on our own terms without consequence. i do hope that justin has this very sober talk with jean, if he hasn't already.

but, whatever the bilateral relationship is at the moment, trudeau needs to be looking forward. he will no doubt outlast obama's successor, whether that successor gets four or eight years. perhaps not by much, but nonetheless. and, serious decisions should consequently be put on hold until that shapes up.

it's going to be the relationship with obama's successor that defines american-canadian relations under this government. right now, time is frozen. and, that's a circumstance in trudeau's favour - it gives him an opportunity to prepare.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-barack-obama-apec-chris-hall-1.3326179

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Zeeman
Of concern is the loudness of the SILENCE on the TPP by the Liberals.

jessica murray
looking back, i think a lot of senior liberals would argue that we would have been better off negotiating nafta if the negotiations were between chretien and clinton than between bush/reagan and mulroney. history seems to have repeated itself. hopefully, we can learn something from it.

the smart thing to do is wait it out. it doesn't look to me like the americans will ratify this before next year, meaning how to approach ratification is going to be a decision left to the next president.

the idea of waiting it out, studying it to death, running simulations and really, seriously understanding it is the right one. let's hope they actually follow through on it.