Canada Sees Aid Mending U.S. Ties

Canadian producers already are near capacity, and the increase is partly symbolic, according to Derek Burleton, a senior economist with TD Bank Financial Group. Most of the Gulf Coast's loss in oil production will be made up by the release of U.S. strategic reserves and increased exports from the European Union, according to analysts. But Canadian producers say they are doing all they can. "There is a profit incentive obviously to do this, but there is a real thought around Alberta from top levels of government to real citizens to help the people hit by the hurricane," said Darin Barter, a spokesman for the Alberta regulatory board that on Saturday approved the production increase. Concern about the hurricane damage deflated a controversy in Canada over the Bush administration's decision last month to ignore successive tribunal rulings under the North American Free Trade Agreement requiring it to return $5 billion in improper softwood lumber tariffs. The administration's stance had brought shrill condemnation - with newspapers using terms such as "schoolyard bully" and "outlaw" to describe the United States - and rising calls for retaliatory measures. But Canada was quick to offer aid after the storm, dispatching navy divers in addition to the ships, a Coast Guard cutter and aircraft to help the rescue efforts. It opened its stock of emergency relief supplies. British Columbia sent a 46-member urban rescue team, and Quebec provincial officials have announced the shipment of 20,000 beds. Those offers "certainly won't hurt" relations, Burleton said. http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050907/1001022.asp

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