2023 a ‘watershed year’ for Canada-U.S. relations. Could a Trump election change that?

Canada's ambassador to the United States calls 2023 a "watershed year" for Canada-U.S. relations. How would a Donald Trump re-election as president change that?

Two years ago, the new United States ambassador to Canada arrived in snowbound Ottawa for the first time, thinking he knew all about America’s rock-ribbed relationship with its trusted northern neighbour.

But David Cohen soon noticed something was amiss.

“As I began to travel around Canada, I was surprised to learn the pervasiveness of the loss of trust, on Canada’s part, of the United States,” Cohen told business leaders last month in the national capital.

“The constant refrain was, ‘What has happened to our relationship with the United States? Have we done something wrong?'”

South of the border, Cohen’s boss in the Oval Office was acutely aware of the lingering foreign-policy scars his sharp-elbowed predecessor, Donald Trump, left among some historically close U.S. allies.

That is how Kirsten Hillman came to encounter a surprise of her own.

It was early 2023, and Hillman – Cohen’s counterpart in Washington – was at the White House, meeting with top U.S. officials as they prepared for Joe Biden’s first presidential visit to Canada.

She heard something she wasn’t expecting: the president’s most senior advisers talking earnestly and excitedly about their plans – not just the usual pro-forma stuff, but also how to ensure the trip accomplished something bigger.