AmCham Canada, with its co-hosts the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, will host a luncheon featuring a keynote address by Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at The Intercontinental Hotel. Mr. Donohue will speak on the U.S. business community’s efforts to engage the Obama administration, U.S.-Canada trade and NAFTA.

Event co-sponsored by FedEx, Kavinoky Cook LLP, Ross & McBride LLP, the State of Tennessee, and the U.S. Commercial Service.

Open to AmCham Canada members and the business public. Advance registration required. See Events section for details.

Make sure to check out the March edition of Business NAFTA which is put out by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It highlights U.S.-Canada issues, as well as provides useful links relevant to NAFTA. If your organization does business across the border, this is a must read!

Click here to view the March 2009 Business NAFTA 

Obama and the North American Family, by Jeremy Kinsman 

Ronald Reagan often spoke of Canada-US relations in terms of the North American ”family.” What are the prospects for harmonious relations in the family in the new era ushered in by the arrival of Barack Obama? Contributing Writer Jeremy Kinsman, one of Canada’s most experienced foreign policy hands, observes that Canadians will recognize much of their own style of multilateralism in Obama, who is reaching out to America’s friends and foes alike, a refreshing change from the unilateralism of the Bush years. This bodes well for Canada in the North American family and beyond.

Click here to read the full article

Canada's economic relationship with the United States by Earl H. Fry

The Canada-US economic relationship is in a period of upheaval. The United States is mired in its longest and most disruptive recession since the Great Depression. Because of its deep and expansive economic ties to the United States, Canada is now experiencing the full force of the US downturn. In this time of turmoil, President Barack Obama envisions the greatest restructuring of American society since the New Deal. In order to win key allies on Capitol Hill for his ambitious agenda, Obama may be tempted to enact some protectionist measures that would be injurious to Canadian businesses and workers.

Click here to read the full article

The age of Obama: Canada and the US by David T. Jones

Barack Obama came to Ottawa, packed a lot into seven hours on the ground in Canada and was home at the White House in time for dinner. But his visit, quick as it was, was a point of departure, a turning of a new page in the relationship between Canada and the United States. The priorities: recession and recovery, the environment and energy, Afghanistan and global security. From Washington, former diplomat David Jones shares a US perspective on the visit and a look ahead to the Obama years between our two countries.

Click here to read the full article

Engaging Obama by Derek H. Burney

A former Canadian ambassador to the United States, Derek Burney sees the arrival of Barack Obama as an opportunity to renew Canada-US relations, starting at the top. “The key question that now confronts Canada’s government,” he writes, “is this: What does Canada want out of the US-Canada relationship — a relationship that is the lifeblood of the Canadian economy and the foundation of Canada’s security — and how forcefully are we prepared to press for change” — on recovery from the recession, trade, energy, the environment, managing the border and mutual security.

Click here to read the full article