The Canada-U.S. relationship needs to be reinvigorated by a series of “bold initiatives,” according to Gordon Giffin, former U.S. ambassador who now is the chair of public policy and the international department at the Atlanta-based law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.

During a luncheon address at the Southeastern U.S.-Canadian Provinces Alliance conference held in Savannah June 16-17, Mr. Giffin said that the two countries had “become a hostage to the morass of small ideas.”

They had failed, he added, to reach a consensus on issues ranging from shared security threats to challenges in their economic growth and development.

He cited specifically the need for more “material progress” as opposed to “simply more process” on a variety of issues including collaborative security, mobility of people, border management, integrated transportation, energy and environmental planning.

Mr. Giffin also called the Canada-U.S. relationship “a well-kept and misunderstood secret” and vigorously defended Nafta while also calling for a re-examination for closer U.S.-Canada ties.

He said that a lack of awareness of the gains attributable to Nafta made it vulnerable to being used as “a political football” during the U.S. presidential election, adding:

“Nafta is no more responsible for the loss of industrial jobs in the American Midwest than is the Treaty of Versailles,” the 1919 treaty that officially ended World War I.

He called for more education of the public concerning the reasons open borders, international collaboration and unfettered commerce “between best friends and neighbors is in their interests.”

In addition, he said that despite Nafta the U.S. and Canada should be aware that “it only takes two to tango,” and that “We should not put all aspects our relationship in a tri-lateral context.”

“I want to emphasize that I am a huge proponent of Nafta and believe strongly that we must work together even more actively to assist Mexico as it strives to become a fully developed democracy and market economy,” he added.

“That said, one size in North America does not fit and likely cannot fit all. The tendency in Washington and Ottawa post-Nafta is to tri-lateralize every policy discussion.”

He also said trilateral discussions hindered the development of U.S.-Canada bilateral relations. “Frankly, there are many initiatives simply in the realm of border management that are feasible at the 49th parallel which may not be practical at the Rio Grande. Mexico is not part of NORAD, NATO or the OECD as are Canada and the U.S.”

Trade issues such as beef blockages and a variety of environmental and border issues all could be solved with stronger bilateral relations, he added.

He also praised the U.S. Southeast-Canada Alliance. “This interchange between the vibrant American Southeast and the dynamic Canadian center and east has the potential to meaningfully alter the commercial prospects of our regions and our countries in a very positive way,” he said.

And he underscored the important economic relationship already existing between the two regions. As an example, he cited the free trade agreement that Canada reached with Chile some 10 years ago.

Even with the free trade agreement, he said that Chile exported to Canada only 15% of what Georgia exports there, and Chile imports only one-third the volume that Georgia imports from Canada.

Mr. Giffin recalled his days in Canada having grown up in Montreal and Toronto and then as the 19th U.S. ambassador from 1997-2001.