Obama and Canada's Harper meet today on world's largest 2-way relationship

President Barack Obama makes his first foreign journey today, a quick day trip 455 miles up to Canada's capital and back to his own White House bed tonight.

It's basically a get-to-know you opportunity for Obama and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They'll meet on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a cold, old canal town that was chosen as Canada's federal capital by a queen in England (who never went there) as a compromise between the country's toujours feuding linguistic realities, les anglaises and the French.

Here's one idiosyncratic briefing for the traveling president.

Perhaps more importantly, however, such an early American visit to its next-door neighbor and by far largest trading partner provides not only a welcome sign of respect by Americans but an invisible indicator to each country's government bureaucracies and private industries of how much importance their leaders attach to this enduring cultural and economic relationship that forms the largest bilateral partnership on the planet.

Fact is, the economies are so large and so integral to each other that neither political leader can control the relationship; they can just affect it by, for instance, combating protectionist tendencies of their bases.

One cultural reality is that Canada, which is geographically 10% larger than the United States with but 10% of the population (most of them clustered within 300 miles of the border), stands far smaller in the American mind than vice versa.

As a test of that awareness for our Ticket readers, we're playing a little game this morning. It's called "Canadian or Dead?" Here's how it works:

We'll list a whole bunch of names here. Readers can guess which of these famous people from different eras are Canadian and which are just dead. (For the answers, scroll down to the jump.) No fair, calling Canadian neighbors (or neighbours).

Mordecai Richler, Saul Bellow, Jack Kerouac, Ross Macdonald, John Kenneth Galbraith, Margaret Atwood and Will Durant. Brian Adams, Glenn Gould, Gordon Lightfoot, Guy Lombardo, Avril Lavigne, Leslie Nielsen, Raymond Burr and Rush.

Lorne Greene, William Shatner, Walter Pidgeon, Raymond Massey, Hume Cronyn, Kate Nelligan, Mort Sahl, Fay Wray, Margot Kidder, Genevieve Bujold, Jack Warner, Louis B. Mayer, Mack Sennett, Christopher Plummer and Mary Pickford.

Morley Safer, John Candy, Gilda Radner, Rich Little, Dan Aykroyd, Peter Jennings, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas and Lorne Michaels.

--Andrew Malcolm

In the interests of bilateral bipartisanship today, both Americans and Canadians can click here to register for Twitter alerts on each new Ticket item. RSS feeds are available over here.  And we're now on Kindle as well.

Results of The Ticket's "Canadian or Dead?" Quiz:

All right, it was a trick question. All of those people are Canadian, dead or alive.

Photo credit: Getty Images (Mary Pickford, known as "America's Sweetheart," but wouldn't you know she was actually Canadian)

Comments

[Doug in Toronto]

Would it be too much to ask for Obama to take Harper back to Washington with him? We Canadians have no use for our Prime Minister, who is so divisive and incompetent that he makes Dubya look like a statesman.

[A proud Canadian]

Mr. Malcolm,

It's this type of mind set that maintains antagonistic relations between Canada and the U.S.. "Canadian or dead"? Pretty disgusting, actually. About as entertaining as Canadians making fun of the principle role the U.S. played in the current international economic crisis... one that has affected Canadians marginally in comparison.

What a complete waste of space.

(Oh, please. Like The Ticket controls the US-Canadian relationship. $$$ control the relationship--#1.6 billion per day 2-way. If there was real antagonism, no Canadians would shop at Sears, or eat at KFC or McDonald's or those other fine Canadian institutions. Canadians dkidn't seem to like GWB, now they seem to love Obama. Fine. Bottom line: We're all stuck in the same neighbourhood, like it or not.)

[IAM Canadian]

Andrew Malcolm forgets that Ottawa was chosen as Canada's capital also because it wasn't as easy for invading Yankee forces -- ooops, I mean, our American friends -- to reach. ;)

(Actually, we've written about the part of the relationship several times before--the British raids into New England during the Civil War, the U.S. sacking of York and the retaliatory burning of Washington. Pls read us more often.)

[Chris H]

Funny. Just one error that I saw. Gilda Radner was American.

(Thanks for reading so closely. Actually, Gilda is a Canadian.)

[Canuck]

Here's what Americans can learn from their cousins to the north. We are basically, polite, unarmed, slightly more sensible Americans with heath care.

Despite spending less per capita on healthcare than your country, we live longer have lower infant mortality rates and better health index scores. Despite having far fewer people in jail (per capita) and limited access to firearms, we have lower rates of crime.

Despite not being able to deduct mortgage interest payments from our income (which alone costs you about 100 billion per year) we have the same rate of home ownership and relatively tiny rates of foreclosure.

America has a lot to be proud of and many great attributes. I think it has the resiliency to address its current economic and social problems. Canada has its share of warts and things it could do better. However, most developed countries provide medical services to all their citizens and have reasonable levels of gun control.

[madison]

Andrew Malcolm aren't you the "Andrew H. Malcolm" who wrote "The Canadians"? And aren't your parents from Canada? -- Madison

[Observer98]

I wonder how long it will be until China's trade relationship with the US surpasses Canada's... with the current economic downturn, a few more years, I suspect.

As for the actors, etc.... there are an awful lot of comics not listed there: Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Norm MacDonald, etc.

I think Gilda Radner was American. Will Durant was an American, too, although his parents were Canadians who moved to the US before he was born. (according to Wikipedia on both points)

[Chris]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilda_Radner Born in Detroit, lived in Canada briefly. Born, lived and died an American :-)

[Canehdian]

By all accounts, Gilda Radner was born in Detroit, and the last time I checked, Detroit was in the US side of the border.

But then, we all know they don't teach much geography in your American schools. :-)

[Chris]

I'm reading some of the negative comments like from Doug from Toronto and A proud Canadian. Lighten up people.

See America, you take all of our people with good senses of humour (Candy, Myers, Carrey, pretty much most of the talent from SNL, etc) and we are left with guys like these.

hahaha.

Thanks for the article.

[A Canadian in LA]

In no particular order: Oscar Peterson, Paul Anka, Jim Carrey, Robert Macneil, Donald Sutherland and Ann Murray. By immigration, Alexander Graham Bell. As a bonus, Walt Disney's father. And important for many, Fred Banting, discover of insulin.