Doer's unmatched US network By Leslie Campbell Published September 2, 2009

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WASHINGTON—Seldom has a political appointment generated so much unbridled enthusiasm, so much effusive praise and, frankly, so many impossible-to-meet expectations as Gary Doer's assignment to Washington.

Prime Minister Harper surprised many by crossing the ideological divide for such an important posting, but, in hindsight, the decision was a no-brainer.

Not only is Doer one of Canada's most accomplished and respected politicians, he is one of the very few contemporary Canadian politicians who can claim a bona fide American network, including governors, senior Obama administration officials, members of Congress and the business community.

Doer's strengths—speaking ability, charisma, collegiality, plain talk—will take him far in Washington. Canada needs a high-profile ambassador—one willing to mix it up on Fox News, comfortable in the Senate corridors and able to schmooze with the truly important and those who just think they are important.

Even with the premier's formidable strengths, it won't be easy. Doer is a big fish in a small pond about to jump into a piranha-filled swamp. Canada rates low in the Washington hierarchy—miserably low. The only doors automatically open to the Canadian ambassador are at the State Department, but the diplomatic relationships he'll build there are, to put it charitably, of limited use.

The real action is in Congress, at the White House and within industry lobbies. In all of these, Canada is just one more supplicant, another special interest pushing for concessions. The competition Doer has to worry about in Washington is not so much among fellow diplomats but among the competing interests clamouring to get their issues on the public agenda.

While most Canadians like to imagine they understand the US, Doer really does. He's made dozens of personal and professional trips south of the border and boasts good relations with US politicians—not just those from Manitoba border states, but further afield, including Governor Rick Perry of Texas, former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Lest it seem he might be a pushover for our aggressive southern cousins, he's also tough on Canada-US issues—one of the toughest—when necessary.

Manitoba has been fighting plans for large-scale water diversions from the Missouri River watershed for decades, fearing adverse impacts on Manitoba's vast Hudson Bay drainage basin.

Water flows north from much of Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota. Some of that water eventually flows into Manitoba's rivers and its important fishery and tourist destination, Lake Winnipeg, before draining into the Hudson Bay. Farming, irrigation, drainage, development and environmental policy in the northern and western states are of intense interest to Doer.

Manitoba's opposition to the draining of North Dakota's Devils Lake into the Sheyenne River, then Red River and on into Lake Winnipeg, has taken Doer to Washington at least a half-dozen times. He has won many American allies in an environmental debate that has sometimes pitted him against powerful North Dakota senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad.

Gary Doer made environmental protection a key policy issue since first elected Manitoba NDP leader in 1988. Doer had Manitoba sign on to the Western Climate Initiative and the Midwest Governors Greenhouse Gas Accord. He also signed a 2006 MOU with California Governor Schwarzenegger on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Manitoba was aggressive in critiquing the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), helping cajole Ottawa into action and allying with like-minded American interest groups. The province was also an early adopter of enhanced drivers' licenses to allow quicker border crossings.

Few provinces have been more affected by the recent Country-of-Origin Labelling (COOL) rules which effectively collapsed weanling pig exports from Manitoba farmers. Doer repeatedly registered formal objections with the US administration and has urged the federal government to pursue WTO action against the US.

On Doer's watch, the Manitoba government developed surprising diplomatic capacity of its own, creating a Canada-US and International Relations division and maintaining a Washington presence to manage its affairs in the capital.

Canada has long needed a game-changing strategy in Washington and, with the appointment of Doer, change may be on the horizon. An ambassador who can belly up to the bar and shoot from the hip will be a welcome change. Folksy but assertive, Doer will open many doors in a US capital that respects swagger.

Whether or not he can shake up the Canadian diplomatic structures in the US remains to be seen. Premier Doer, top policy-maker in the Manitoba government, chief executive of the province, unchallenged leader of the Manitoba NDP for 23 years, will become Ambassador Doer, one cog in the Department of Foreign Affairs machine.

He'll have one, maybe two, loyalists he can bring with him, but otherwise he'll be relying on the career foreign service officers who report through the Ottawa DFAIT HQ to Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon. If it were easy to change the trajectory of US-Canada relations it would have been done long before now and caution, not boldness, is the currency of Canada's foreign service.

Doer may have to break some china within DFAIT to breathe new life into the US mission. If he chooses that route, he'll likely enjoy the support of Prime Minister Harper and Foreign Minister Cannon. If not, he may be a frustrated former premier before long.

Embassy columnist Leslie Campbell served on Gary Doer's staff from 1988 to 1990. He wife Marianne Rude is Manitoba's representative in Washington.

editor@embassymag.ca