John Adams |
"Canada must be ours; Quebec must be taken." | While
serving as a delegate to the Continental Congress. 1776. |
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Thomas Jefferson |
"The acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us experience for the attack of Halifax the next, and the final expulsion of England from the American continent. | In a
letter to Colonel William Duane. 1812. |
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
"I read in a newspaper that I was to be received with all the honors customarily rendered to a foreign ruler. I am grateful for the honors; but something within me rebelled at that word "foreign." I say this because when I have been in Canada, I have never heard a Canadian refer to an American as a "foreigner." He is just an "American." And, in the same way, in the United States, Canadians are not "foreigners," they are "Canadians." That simple little distinction illustrates to me better than anything else the relationship between our two countries. On both sides of the line, we are so accustomed to an undefended boundary three thousand miles long that we are inclined perhaps to minimize its vast importance, not only to our own continuing relations but also to the example which it sets to the other nations of the world. The trade agreement which I had the privilege of signing with your Prime Minister last autumn is tangible evidence of the desire of the people of both countries to practice what they preach when they speak of the good neighbor. In the solution of the grave problems that face the world today, frank dealing, cooperation and a spirit of give and take between nations is more important than ever before."
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During a
visit to Quebec City. 1936. |
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"Your course and mine have run so closely and
affectionately during these many long years that this meeting adds
another link to that chain. I have always felt at home in Canada and
you, I think, have always felt at home in the United States." |
Address
to the Canadian Parliament. 1943. |
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Harry S. Truman |
"Canada's eminent position today is a tribute to the patience, tolerance, and strength of character of her people, of both French and British strains. For Canada is enriched by the heritage of France as well as of Britain, and Quebec has imparted the vitality and spirit of France itself to Canada. Canada's notable achievement of national unity and progress through accommodation, moderation and forbearance can be studied with profit by her sister nations. Canada is a broad land -- broad in mind, broad in spirit, and broad in physical expanse. Canada and the United States have reached the point where we no longer think of each other as "foreign" countries. We think of each other as friends, as peaceful and cooperative neighbors on a spacious and fruitful continent. Canadian-American relations for many years did not develop spontaneously. The example of accord provided by our two countries did not come about merely through the happy circumstance of geography. It is compounded of one part proximity and nine parts good will and common sense. The record proves that in peaceful commerce the combined efforts of our countries can produce outstanding results. Our trade with each other is far greater than that of any other two nations on earth. We seek a peaceful world, a prosperous world, a free world, a world of good neighbors, living on terms of equality and mutual respect, as Canada and the United States have lived for generations."
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Address
before the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa. 1947. |
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Dwight Eisenhower |
"Your country, my country -- each is a better and stronger and more influential nation because each can rely upon every resource of the other in days of crisis. Beyond this, each can work and grow and prosper with the other through years of quiet peace. It is still a fact that our common frontier grows stronger every year, defended only by friendship. You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it." |
Address
before a joint session of the Parliament of Canada. 1953. |
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"Change is the law of life and of relations between nations. When two great peoples such as ours, energetic and optimistic, live side by side in all the diversity that freedom offers, change is rapid and brings in its wake problems, sometimes frictions. By mutual respect, understanding and with good will we can find acceptable solutions to any problems which exist or may arise between us. Our forms of government -- though both cast in the democratic pattern -- are greatly different. Indeed, sometimes it appears that many of our misunderstandings spring from an imperfect knowledge on the part of both of us of the dissimilarities in our forms of government. I assure you that it is our desire and intention to keep the doors of consultation always and fully open. There must never be a final word between friends."
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Address to
Canadian Parliament. 1958. |
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John F. Kennedy |
"Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder. What unites us is far greater than what divides us." | Address to
Canadian Parliament. 1961. |
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Lyndon
Johnson |
"No nation in the world has had greater fortune than mine in sharing a continent with the people and the nation of Canada." |
Remarks
at welcoming ceremony at Vancouver International Airport. 1964. |
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"... Our partnership has been built on four pillars The first pillar is peace. The second pillar is freedom. The third pillar is respect. The fourth pillar is cooperation. You have your own difficulties. We watch, with friendly confidence in your capacity to merge differences in the grand dream of Canadian design." |
Remarks
upon proclaiming the Columbia River Treaty, International Peace Arch,
Blaine, Washington 1964. |
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| "We of the United States consider ourselves blessed. We have much to give thanks for. But the gift of providence we cherish most is that we were given as our neighbors on this wonderful continent the people and the nation of Canada." | Remarks at Expo
'67, Montréal. 1967. |
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Richard
Nixon |
When I spoke at the St. Lawrence Seaway ceremonies in 1969, I borrowed some words from the monument there which I had joined Queen Elizabeth in dedicating just 10 years before. That monument, as its inscription puts it, "bears witness to the common purpose of two nations whose frontiers are the frontiers of friendship, whose ways are the ways of freedom, whose works are the works of peace | Address
to a joint meeting of the Canadian Parliament. 1972. |
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Ronald Reagan |
"We are happy to be your neighbor. We want to remain your friend. We are determined to be your partner and we are intent on working closely with you in a spirit of co-operation." | Address to
Canadian Parliament. 1981. |
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| In 1939 Winston Churchill, describing the 5000-mile peaceful border dividing Canada and the United States, said: "That long frontier from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, guarded only by neighborly respect and honorable obligations, is an example to every country and a pattern for the future of the world. | Radio
Address to the Nation. 1985. |
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We're more than friends and neighbors and allies; we are kin, who together have built the most productive relationship between any two countries in the world today. |
Remarks at
welcoming ceremony, Quebec City. 1985. |
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As two proud and independent peoples, there is much that distinguishes us one from the other, but there is also much that we share: a vast continent, with its common hardships and uncommon duties; generations of mutual respect and support, and an abiding friendship that grows ever stronger. The United States trades more with the province of Ontario alone than with Japan. We can look forward to the day when the free flow of trade, from the southern reaches of Tierra del Fuego to the northern outposts of the Arctic Circle, unites the people of the Western Hemisphere in a bond of mutually beneficial exchange, when all borders become what the U.S.-Canadian border so long has been: a meeting place, rather than a dividing line.
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Address to a
joint session of Parliament. 1987. |
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Bill Clinton |
Shared history, shared borders - they are the foundation of our unique and intensely productive relationship, an alliance the likes of which the world has really never seen before. |
Remarks at a
Luncheon, Ottawa. 1995. |
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Ours is the world's most remarkable relationship - the Prime Minister said, whether we like it or not. I can tell you that on most days I like it very, very much. We're neighbors by the grace of nature. We are allies and friends by choice. In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that literally tear nations apart, Canada has stood for all of us as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity, and respect. The United States, as many of my predecessors have said, has enjoyed its excellent relationship with a strong and united Canada, but we recognize... that your political future is, of course, entirely for you to decide. Every day, people, ideas, and goods stream across our border. Bilateral trade now is more than a billion Canadian dollars every day ... and about 270 billion United States dollars last year, by far the world's largest bilateral relationship. Friendship, engagement: Canada and the United States have shown the best there is in partnerships between nations, all the great potential that awaits all the free peoples of this Earth if they can join in common cause. The border separates our peoples, but there are no boundaries to our common dreams.
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Remarks to the
Canadian Parliament, Ottawa. 1995. |
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George W. Bush |
"I view the relationship with Canada as a vital relationship for the United States. The relationship, of course, is defined government-to-government. It's also defined people-to-people, and there's a lot of people in my country who respect Canada and have great relations with Canadians, and we intend to keep it that way." | In Cancun,
Mexico after meeting with Stephen Harper. 2006. |
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"I would like to praise the Brits, the Canadians, the Dutch, the Danes and other countries for their contribution of shooters, fighters, people that are willing to be on the front line of this battle [in Afghanistan]. These are brave souls. They're working side by side with the Afghan forces and U.S. forces to deal the Taliban a blow. And I've only got praise for them." |
Made sometime in 2007. | |||
Barack Obama |
"Look, I think that Canada is one of the most impressive countries in the world, the way it has managed a diverse population, a migrant economy. You know, the natural beauty of Canada is extraordinary. Obviously there is enormous kinship between the United States and Canada, and the ties that bind our two countries together are things that are very important to us." | Made in February 2009 in an interview given to the CBC prior to his first official visit to Canada. | ||
