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RR RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0298/01 1061921
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161921Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9338
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000298 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM SOCI SCUL KPAO CA
SUBJECT: REMNANTS OF ANTI-AMERICANISM  IN CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES 
 
REF:  Vancouver 45 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  As President Obama noted in Strasbourg on April 
3, anti-Americanism in developed countries is sometimes both "casual 
and insidious." Canada's traditionally liberal universities have 
often displayed some anti-American biases, as emboff discovered 
first-hand as a part-time graduate student at the University of 
Ottawa in 2008.  Students criticized the U.S. human rights record 
and international human rights stances, and professors claimed that 
international organizations had become ineffective "captives" of the 
U.S.  The new administration of President Obama has provided a 
notable respite from such rhetoric nationwide (reftel), but Canada's 
perennial desire to differentiate itself from its larger neighbor 
means that some anti-Americanism will inevitably creep back in 
academic and public discourse.   End summary. 
 
CANADIAN ANTI-AMERICANISM NOT A NEW PHENOMENON 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In many ways lacking a strong national identity, Canadians 
often define themselves simply by stating what they are not -- 
American.  According to one University of Ottawa professor, Canadian 
identity is based largely on those things Canadians feel they "do 
better" than the U.S.: e.g., implementing government-run social 
welfare programs; abiding by moral underpinnings; establishing a 
harmonious yet multicultural and diverse population; and, 
peacekeeping rather than peacemaking. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In Strasbourg on April 3, President Obama was speaking to 
Europeans about Europe but he could just as well have substituted 
the words "Canada" and "Canadians" when he said, "But in Europe, 
there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be 
insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often 
does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to 
blame America for much of what's bad.  On both sides of the 
Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not 
wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the 
divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They 
fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot 
confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe 
cannot confront them without America." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Apart from surges of solidarity after 9/11 and after 
President Obama's election and -- even more so, his February 19 
visit (reftel) -- many Canadian politicians, pundits, and, most of 
all, academics at traditionally liberal universities have resorted 
too easily to a shallow anti-Americanism.  The war in Iraq and the 
detentions at Guantanamo Bay further added fuel to this fire, which 
is at distinct odds from the overwhelmingly friendly partnership 
between our nations and people.  Emboff witnessed such attitudes 
first-hand as a part-time graduate student at the University of 
Ottawa from winter 2007 through summer 2008. 
 
STUDENTS CRITICIZE U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD... 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) During an international human rights law class at the 
University of Ottawa, students and the professor frequently lobbed 
criticisms of the U.S. human rights record, claiming that the U.S. 
was unwilling to support international human rights measures and 
that the U.S. was not a strong defender of human rights.  At least 
once each class session, the professor would ask which country was 
"once again noticeably absent" from the list of countries that had 
ratified a particular international human rights document, i.e., the 
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 
QOptional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 
UN Convention Against Torture, or the Convention on the Elimination 
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.  Rather than answering 
verbally, students would point at emboff -- their way of saying that 
the U.S. was once again the "culprit."  The professor, also a 
visiting fellow at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and 
International Trade, even apologized to emboff on multiple occasions 
and at times made concerted efforts to explain to students the 
reasoning behind U.S. human rights policies.  Even after such 
explanations, however, students remained extremely critical of U.S. 
human rights policies.  Students stated they could not understand, 
for example, how the U.S. could be opposed to a convention 
supporting the elimination of discrimination against women, or 
defending the rights of children.  Emboff often attempted to further 
explain the U.S. point of view (although generally without much 
success), emphasizing that the U.S. had unique concerns considering 
its geo-political position. 
 
¶6. (SBU)   Class members proudly expounded on their view of Canada 
as a proponent of peaceful conflict resolution, focusing on examples 
such as former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's 
pioneering peacekeeping under the United Nations, and Canadian 
Senator Romeo Dallaire's leadership of the ill-fated UN peacekeeping 
force in Rwanda.  Students and the professor also highlighted 
Canada's membership, and the U.S.'s lack of membership, in the UN 
Human Rights Council.  (This was before the USG's recent decision to 
seek a seat in 2009.)  In addition, students constantly criticized 
 
OTTAWA 00000298  002 OF 002 
 
 
the U.S. for its treatment of Omar Khadr, a Canadian detainee at 
Guantanamo, arguing that the U.S. should return him immediately to 
Canada and claiming he faced no possibility of a fair trial or 
humane treatment in the U.S.   (The Canadian government has never 
requested his repatriation, indicating instead that it will await 
the outcome of ongoing judicial processes.) 
 
 
...AND DISCUSS DECLINE OF U.S. HEGEMONY 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) At a summer 2008 global economic issues class also at the 
University of Ottawa, the professor opened the first class session 
by explaining that the course would focus on how the U.S. had lost 
its economic and political "hegemony," and how China and the EU had 
become leaders in a new multi-polar world.  The professor asserted 
that the "U.S.-led agenda" had failed, and stated that the World 
Bank, IMF, and UN had become ineffective "captives of the U.S." 
After a two-hour lecture on the loss of U.S. economic power and the 
negative impact of the U.S. on the world economy, the professor 
closed the first day of class by claiming that then-President George 
¶W. Bush and the Republican Party were responsible for a drop in the 
percentage of women in the workforce, and that the U.S. was an 
"embarrassment" regarding equality and equal opportunity. 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) In subsequent classes, the professor repeatedly blamed the 
U.S. for the "failed world economic situation" and for the 
"ineffectiveness" of international institutions.  While criticizing 
the U.S. for controlling international institutions, however, the 
professor also claimed the U.S. had lost its power and influence in 
the world.  He asserted that people throughout the world no longer 
watched American movies or paid attention to U.S. culture, and that 
the EU had replaced the U.S. as the world's cultural leader. 
Students argued only over whether it was the EU or China that had 
replaced the U.S. as the world's most influential economy, and 
discussed why the U.S. "attempt at world domination" had failed. 
The professor claimed that since the loss of U.S. hegemony in 
approximately 2000, the world had entered the most "decentralized" 
period in history. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The professor and students were especially critical of the 
Republican Party and then-President George W. Bush.  The professor 
asserted that the Republican Party had "thrown people under the bus" 
to keep capitalism going, and called the Republican Party an 
"unnatural union" that economic and social conservatives had created 
to gain popular support.  Students engaged in similar rhetoric, 
claiming the Republican Party was opposed to "idealism," and blaming 
the U.S. government (especially the George W. Bush administration) 
for allowing so many Americans to go without health insurance and 
other social benefits so commonly provided to Canadian residents. 
 
COMMENT 
--------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Since the end of both 2008 university courses, Canada has 
experienced a wave of excitement and pro-U.S. sentiment in 
connection with the election of President Obama.  Canada was 
enraptured by the U.S. presidential election campaign, with media 
and citizens paying more attention to the U.S. election than to 
Canada's own October 2008 parliamentary election, and Canadians 
expressing overwhelming support for President Obama.  Canadians also 
displayed a marked level of interest and excitement during President 
Obama's February 2009 visit to Ottawa -- his first foreign trip in 
office and a return to what Canadians saw as a tradition of U.S. 
presidents making Canada their first foreign visit.  However, as the 
Qpresidents making Canada their first foreign visit.  However, as the 
excitement of the U.S. presidential election wears off and as the 
reality of the world economic downturn sets in, Canadians -- 
including not only academics and media commentators but often 
politicians -- may well be unable to resist reverting to their 
long-standing concern about U.S. "domination" and their need to 
differentiate themselves from Americans. 
 
BREESE