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### Viewing cable 09OTTAWA298, REMNANTS OF ANTI-AMERICANISM IN CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09OTTAWA298 | 2009-04-16 19:21 | 2011-04-28 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Ottawa

`

    VZCZCXRO1852
    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

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