How Gary Doer won over Washington

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Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer (LUIS M. ALVAREZ / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES)

WASHINGTON -- It's noon on a typically steamy August day in the U.S. capital, and Gary Doer strides into a Capitol Hill restaurant looking every inch the man who's "living the dream" -- an expression he often uses gleefully to describe his job as Canada's ambassador.

Tanned from a break at his Lake of the Woods area cottage and wearing a crisp white shirt, blue tie and blue pin-striped suit, Doer's definition of "the dream" might be open to debate, since he's held the post during an especially tumultuous period of contemporary American politics.

But Doer, now heading into his fourth year on the job, says he feels privileged to be sitting in a front-row seat as well as actively participating in the action by ensuring Canada gets some attention amid the din of domestic, partisan brawling that's emanated from Capitol Hill over the past four years.

"It's been a thrill being here," Doer, 64, says sincerely, flashing his trademark high-voltage smile.

Since the moment Doer stepped off the plane to begin his stint in October 2009, the former Manitoba premier has been cheerfully fending off U.S. protectionism and promoting Canadian interests, particularly TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, to an administration some believe is unfriendly to Canada.

A recent article in the online edition of the Foreign Affairs periodical, by Derek Burney and Carleton University foreign policy expert Fen Osler Hampson, caused a stir in diplomatic circles. The former Canadian envoy to the U.S. cited a litany of alleged snubs and wrongs delivered to Canada by U.S. President Barack Obama.

"You know, those words are subjective," Doer says of Burney's piece as he eschews the fancy fare at the swank Pennsylvania Avenue restaurant and tucks into a hamburger and fries, carefully removing the lettuce from the patty to get down to culinary brass tacks.

Doer says he and his staff at the Canadian Embassy are successfully working through an extensive "to-do list" for 2012 that includes everything from getting Canada into the Trans-Pacific Partnership to agreements on energy and the environment.

"Our to-do list is getting done. Is it a perfect relationship? No. I hear Americans complain about what we may or may not do, and I hear it the other way... But subjective good/bad, friendly/unfriendly, frowning/smiling, all that stuff -- I don't waste time on that."

Rather than being snubbed or ignored by the administration, Doer adds, quite the opposite has been true. The Canadian Embassy has the ear of top administration officials on various issues, while Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have a solid connection.

"They have a very professional relationship, which is very important," he said.

One Canada-U.S. expert credits Doer with helping to cultivate that relationship, even as Canadian officials were blindsided in January when Obama rejected Calgary-based TransCanada's permit until after the presidential election and another State Department environmental analysis.

"That's the minor miracle of Gary Doer," says Chris Sands of the Washington-based Hudson Institute. "He's been able to convey the message that Canada understands the U.S. and the political challenges facing this administration, while also promoting Canadian interests. It's all the more striking because he's working for a conservative government that is not making any secret about its conservatism on the international stage."

The Keystone decision -- the only item on the to-do list currently stalled, Doer notes -- could have created a major rift between Obama and Harper, Sands points out.

"You have to imagine that Harper was livid about Keystone, and what a minefield for Doer. I am sure Harper's natural instinct would have been to blow up, and yet I think with Doer's input, Harper navigated that whole issue without a breach in the relationship."

From a Canadian business perspective, says a stakeholder, the personable, unflappable Doer couldn't be a more effective representative.

"I've never heard a negative word from any of my U.S. colleagues about him," says Birgit Matthiesen, the well-connected D.C.-based lobbyist for the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters organization.

"He's not just charming, he understands the politics down here. He really knows the issues. He came into D.C. and pretty much understood the way things work and took advantage of his Rolodex quickly, and that's a valued commodity in D.C. It's not a city for lightweights."

Doer has indeed become well-known in the U.S. capital for his ability to work a room, win over American strangers and handle the unexpected with aplomb. One U.S. businessman asked a reporter after watching Doer deliver a funny speech: "Why isn't this guy your prime minister?"

"He gets out on the speaking circuit, he speaks to schools, he speaks to all sorts of groups, he goes out and talks to governors, he knows cabinet secretaries and people in Congress," Sands says.

Sands recalls being in the audience at a Canada-U.S. conference when Doer was interrupted by environmentalists who derided Alberta's oilsands amid the tense national debate about Keystone.

"He was utterly unflustered and made a joke about it, but was also very respectful as he defended the oilsands and pointed out that Canada was about a lot more than the oilsands, bringing up Canadian clean-energy technologies. It was deft," he says.

So what's next for Doer? The ambassador insists he's not going anywhere any time soon, but the election of a Republican president could prompt Harper to ponder whether he wants a conservative envoy, and not a former NDP premier, in the U.S. capital.

"My statute of limitations is the to-do list. I'm not a lifer, but I'm here for a while. I've still got items on my to-do list," Doer says as he finishes his burger.

No matter who wins in November, Doer adds, there will be changes that will impact the Canada-U.S. relationship and keep him on his toes.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 18, 2012 0