Americans don't often think about their relationship with neighboring Canada - a relationship that has been bruised in recent years by national political disputes, former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard said Thursday.
"This relationship affects the air we breathe, the water we drink and our very economic livelihood," Blanchard said. "It's a relationship that if you're not working at it, and working to improve it, it will slide."
Blanchard, who was governor from 1983 to 1991, delivered the keynote address to a few hundred people at a forum held at the Kellogg Center to discuss strengthening U.S.-Canadian relations. He also took part in a panel discussion with five other officials during the forum, which was organized by MSU's Canadian Studies Centre.
"There's nothing more important than U.S.-Canada relations for the state of Michigan right now," said Provost Kim Wilcox, who introduced Blanchard. "Our economies have been intertwined for a long time."
The panel discussion was the first of what will become an annual series, funded by a gift from Canadian National Railway, or CN.
The railroad owns one of the tracks that runs through campus, and is a key stakeholder in two traffic underpasses that will begin construction on Farm Lane as early as 2007.
CN created a $200,000 endowment for MSU, and the Canadian government plans to give another $50,000 to the underpass project. The interest from the endowment paid for the forum.
"We operate right through the middle of campus," CN spokeswoman Gloria Combe said. "We believe that the appropriate place to put our corporate investments is in an area where we have a presence."
The money also will help fund a scholarship competition beginning next year for MSU graduate students, with a top prize of $500, said Philip Handrick, acting director of the Canadian Studies Centre.
Many of Handrick's ISS 336 students were in attendance for Thursday's forum. Handrick offered them extra credit to come, but several said they showed up to support their professor.
"I'm Canadian, so I'm actually interested in the issue," marketing senior Kris Horn said. "The bonds have to be strong, especially with the times the way they are."
The event's panelists, which included Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis and Canadian Consul General Rocco Delvecchio, underscored the point that although differing points of view on issues such as trade and the war with Iraq have soured relations between the countries' governments, regional ties between the United States and Canada haven't been damaged.
"The beauty about our relationship is the day-to-day relationship continues to strengthen," Francis said.
Michigan does $70 billion worth of trade with Canada each year, the panelists said. Francis added that 20 million cars and $150 billion cross from Windsor to Detroit each year. In fact, Canada does more business with The Home Depot in the United States than it does with France.
But a recent dispute over U.S. taxation of Canadian lumber, in particular, has created tensions.
"The reality is, the government of Canada doesn't trust us on trade," said Blanchard, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Canada from 1993 to 1996.
A new U.S. law that will require citizens returning to the country to display passports at Canadian borders has raised discomfort about how the move will affect tourism and daily traffic.
"What we're trying to do is lobby the federal government here," Francis said. "There has to be another way. Not everyone can get a passport."
