Confidence In Canada

Since Mr. Martin became prime minister in December 2003, relations with the United States, which soured under Mr. Chretien, have sweetened. According to the St. Petersburg Times, the strains that developed when former U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci criticized Canada for not joining the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq have eased since the arrival of South Carolina's former Speaker of the House David Wilkins. "Canadians find [Ambassador Wilkins] less bullying than his predecessor, though his Southern drawl occasionally perplexes them," the newspaper's senior correspondent reported. "A story he told about a 'peanut bowl' [at his first news conference] had reporters stumped until they realized he was actually saying 'peanut boil.' " Ambassador Wilkins is unlikely to be misunderstood when it comes to U.S.-Canadian relations. Last week, he stressed the importance of avoiding "toxic remarks" and called for "a concerted effort to build each other up." That's the right diplomatic approach. Canada, after all, is in its quiet and undemonstrative way passing through a political crisis. Americans, who have every confidence in Canada, will be good neighbors regardless of how the political wind blows. http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=56057§ion=editorials

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