Former ambassador Gary Doer says a Republican-controlled House would be better for Canadian trade, despite the anti-trade politics of the party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Speaking to Evan Solomon, host of CTV's Question Period, Doer predicted Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is more likely to win the White House, and that whichever party takes the presidency will also win the Senate. Doer, who served as Canadian ambassador to the U.S. from 2009 until earlier this year, also predicted Republican House Leader Paul Ryan will win the House.
While the House speaker in Canada (as in other Westminster parliamentary systems) is a non-partisan job, in the U.S. the role is the opposite. The Speaker of the House of Representatives is nearly as powerful as the president and takes an active role in carrying out the party's platform.
Doer said a House of Representatives with Ryan at the helm would likely be easier for Canada than a Democrat-controlled House. He referred back to Buy American measures, similar to a previous Buy America Act, in recession-era legislation that gave preference to U.S. products in government procurement projects.
"We had a lot less problems with Buy America with Paul Ryan as speaker of the House than we did with [Democrat] Nancy Pelosi, even though you would think my values are more democratic," said Doer, a former New Democrat premier of Manitoba.
When it comes to trade, Doer says Canadians put a lot of stock in the failure of the Keystone XL project, but Canadian oil exports to the U.S. have doubled since Barack Obama has been president.
"There were pipelines built," Doer said, noting Keystone was "half-approved."
"We've gone from 19 per cent [of] foreign oil in the United States from when Obama was elected to 44 per cent. Keystone is a huge symbol, no question about it... But on overall trade, I don't think we should define it only on one pipeline."
