Don't be too surprised if there are a few more beer summits at the White House in the next few years. Yesterday, Canada's current longest serving premier, Manitoba's Gary Doer, announced he would not seek office again in the province's next election.
As it turns out, it was not the desire to golf or sit around at the cottage after serving as premier for ten years that led Doer to step down, but instead his new appointment as Canadian Ambassador to the United States announced today. Doer will replace Michael Wilson, who has served since 2006 and is most recently remembered for his alleged leak to the Canadian media during the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign that Barack Obama had no intention of carrying through with his promise to re-evaluate NAFTA. (So far, it seems as though he was probably right).
Gary Doer is by far one of Canada's most popular premiers and is very highly regarded in Manitoba. He and his NDP party have won three consecutive majority governments, a success which is often attributed to Doer's left-centrist approach. Much of his success is also chalked up to his pragmatic, very sociable approach to life. He is the type of guy you would share a few laughs with over a beer and is the farthest you could get from a run-of-the-mill, stiff politician.
For those of us in the green camps, having Doer represent Canada's interests in the US is something to excite ourselves over. Doer is a relatively pro-green politician. He has consistently been a strong supporter of the Kyoto Accord, enacted several water-protection and conservation laws and gotten together with several other provinces and states to form a series of international and interprovincial cap and trade accords. It is the latter accomplishments that will transfer to Doer's new post in the US.
He has been a supporter of a North American cap and trade system for some time and his presence in Washington is a signal that the Harper government is really serious about joining onto Obama's ambitious climate change strategy. This is of course, if Doer is given plenty of slack from the Prime Minister's leash. But the two of them seem to be pretty chummy already. Although something tells me Doer will have a lot more fun hanging out with the Obama gang. We can just hope his good-natured approach will offer some aid in the climate agenda.
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