It was great to be among so many fellow Canadians in Washington last week for a North America Summit aimed at strengthening cooperation between Canada, the United States and Mexico. Our southern colleague Jamie Tronnes of the Center for North American Prosperity and Security / CNAPS and our new board member Lisa Gable are going to great lengths to strengthen ties and ensure our interests are properly communicated in Washington. It was a real pleasure for Christopher Coates, Calvin Chrustie LLM and I to share our perspective on the state of public safety, defence and security in Canada. David Perry, David Pierce made excellent contributions as well.

Ambassador Mark Wiseman gave an impressive speech, listing the countless ways in which Canada supports American prosperity and vice-versa. Our two nations are intimately intertwined, have fought alongside each other in numerous conflicts for noble causes, and can boast the world’s only binational military command in NORAD. We are more similar than we are different, and have a unique and irreplaceable relationship. The Federal government has done much to increase our defence spending and address border security concerns in a short period of time. More certainly needs to be done, but I think a positive message on our efforts was well-received.

I especially liked what Ambassador Wiseman concluded with: “America first does not mean American alone”