'Canada is a sovereign state': Trump's ambassador pick distances himself from annexation talk
At confirmation hearing, Canada ambassador nominee Pete Hoekstra pressed over president's rhetoric
The man with the delicate task of representing U.S. President Donald Trump in Canada has offered an indication of how he plans to go about it.
Canada, meet good cop.
At his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra steered clear of annexation talk and saluted the countries' long-standing partnership.
He was peppered with questions from Democrats about what they described as disrespectful language from Trump that's poisoned an old alliance.
The president keeps calling for Canada to join the U.S., and in fact did so, again, on Thursday, a timely reminder of the diplomatic reality awaiting Hoekstra. At one point in the confirmation hearing, Trump's annexation talk came up.
"[His] negotiation tactics have profoundly unsettled our relationship with Canada," said Democrat Chris Coons, of Delaware.
"Would you agree that Canada is a sovereign state and should not even jokingly be referred to as the 51st state?" Coons asked Hoekstra.
Coons raised his fingers to make air quotes around the words "negotiation tactics," a reference to the dominant view in Washington that Trump's talk is some sort of bargaining ploy.
Hoekstra concurred on Canada being independent. And he professed to be unaware of what the president is doing when he talks about making Canada a state.
He appeared to suggest it might have been intended to needle Canada's outgoing prime minister, Justin Trudeau, but said he wasn't sure.
"Canada is a sovereign state — yes," replied Hoekstra, a former congressman from Michigan, a former U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands and a Trump campaign organizer.
"The president and the relationship between the former prime minister in Canada, and the characteristics and nature of that relationship, I don't know, OK, [whether] it's humour," he said.
The notion that Trump was simply needling Trudeau is undermined by the fact that the U.S. president has kept making that comment. Even Thursday, Trump said Canada would be a great additional state: "Maybe our greatest state."
But at the hearing, Democrats called for the president to cut it out.
Coons said the annexation talk has to stop, as do the reported threats about kicking Canada out of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. With a new incoming prime minister in Canada, Coons said, there's an opportunity for a reset and he hoped Trump takes it.
A couple of Democrats also ridiculed the president's initial justification for imposing tariffs: trade in fentanyl.
They referred to the relatively paltry flow of fentanyl from Canada into the U.S., with one, Jeanne Shaheen, noting that more drugs flow the other way.
She also challenged the notion of Canada as an unfair trader, arguing it has among the lowest tariffs in the world — dairy protectionism aside.
Democrat doesn't blame Canadians for being angry
Shaheen said she understands why Canadians are furious. The New Hampshire senator said businesses in her state are already suffering from this trade war. But the damage, she said, goes beyond international trade.
"I don't blame 'em. I've gotta be honest," Shaheen said of the Canadian fury.
"The U.S.-Canada bilateral relationship is at a historic low point.… I find it very troubling to see our national anthem booed at ice hockey games."
She asked Hoekstra how he planned to turn it around.
Hoekstra acknowledged that the tensions have been on his mind.
"Great question. I've obviously been spending a lot of time thinking about that myself," Hoekstra said. "[About] having to go there and being kind of the tip of the spear myself."
He said the U.S. has a great national security alliance with Canada, but that Canada should increase its defence spending.
His goal, he said, is even more co-operation — with freer trade and fewer barriers, extending the countries' long-standing ties.
"We have co-operated with Canada on so many things," he said, listing the Great Lakes, trade, national security and intelligence.
"We have a great history of working together. And we know how to make this work.… Now let's do it and apply our experience to the priorities that the president has outlined: freer, fairer trade. So that we can actually grow the business relationship."
He noted that his parents came from the part of Holland liberated by Canadian soldiers during the Second World War, while mentioning his own personal history.
He also revealed that he had a good phone call with Joe Biden's ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, who pledged his help with the transition, should Hoekstra be confirmed by the Senate.
Hoekstra's confirmation hearing took place Thursday on Capitol Hill in a meeting with two other witnesses: Trump's nominees for ambassadors to Mexico and Japan.
Sen. Tim Kaine called it a rare event — a hearing involving three major allies. The Virginia Democrat said the U.S. is better off when it recognizes who its friends are.
He said they'll always have disagreements, but should be handled respectfully.
"I'm troubled by [Trump's] actions in the first couple of months. Some of which may be negotiation tactics," he said.
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