An open letter to President Obama

Dear Mr. President,

I join with all Canadians in welcoming you to Canada. Our two countries share the world's longest common border. With that comes mutual responsibility and a unified sense of purpose. By working together, our economies can come out of this recession faster, greener and stronger in a more prosperous North America.

Canada and the United States are each other's largest trading partners. Each day over $1.5-billion dollars in goods cross our border. This means countless jobs and countless communities on both sides of the border rely on the quick delivery of goods. If families in these regions are going to weather this economic storm, they need to know their businesses won't be hit with long border delays. It's important that your border security review, and other initiatives, take this into account.

It is vital to the recovery of both our economies that markets and the border remain open. The struggling North American auto industry is fully integrated and so the recovery must be continental. Millions of Canadians and Americans rely on it. We now have an opportunity, with the right investment and co-operation, to strive to become world leaders in building the greener cars that people want to buy.

One of great collaborative efforts between our two countries was tackling acid rain in the 1980s. Through an aggressive and coordinated strategy between Canada and the United States, industry and government were successful in reducing sulphur dioxide. Today countless lakes, waterways and green spaces on both sides of the border have been rehabilitated. Our generation's challenge is to do the same with carbon dioxide.

New Democrats are fully committed to the creation of a fair and meaningful carbon pricing system for greenhouse gas emissions. Like you, we campaigned on a policy of cap-and-trade, complete with hard targets for reducing absolute levels of carbon emissions. Our two countries must act together to address the climate change crisis and seize the opportunity to retool and transform our economies, decisively and without further delay.

As you note, Canada's tar sands developments leave a significant carbon footprint. Canadians from all regions of the country, including Alberta, are working hard to convince lawmakers at the provincial and federal levels to ensure that before new tar sands developments are authorized, we know the full environmental and social impact and have plans in place to counter them.

We support your call for a full strategic review of the mission in Afghanistan and the adoption of a much more comprehensive approach that respects human rights and places dialogue at the centre of a comprehensive peace process. While Canadians and their political representatives may disagree on the timing of the end of our combat mission, we all agree that it is clear that we could not respond favourably to any request to continue beyond 2011.

Canada can help you in charting a new path in Afghanistan, though not with combat troops. Our troops have suffered the highest casualty rate, per soldier, of all the allied forces in Afghanistan. As Canadian retired Major-General Lewis MacKenzie has pointed out, "The painful truth is that Canada will not be capable of remaining in Afghanistan in a combat role beyond 2011."

We applaud your commitment to human rights. We commend your decision to close the prison in Guantanamo Bay and believe that this leadership and moral authority demonstrated so early in your administration is recognized around the world. We have joined with Canadians in expressing concern for Canadian citizen Omar Khadr. New Democrats are calling for his repatriation in the belief that, as a child soldier, he should be returned to Canada to face due process here.

I wish you the best for your first official trip to Canada as President and we look forward to a strong working relationship in the future.

Sincerely,
Jack Layton
Leader, Canada's New Democrats