In the perpetual Washington diplomatic scramble for coverage by American media, Canada has long laboured under the burden of being a relatively low-maintenance neighbour, and therefore of no extraordinary interest. One event that can transcend that reflexive shrug is a bilateral visit, but as longtime, capital-hopping reporter Don Newman writes, even those sometimes barely make the radar.

Don Newman  

Whether you are a Canadian correspondent based in Washington or a Parliamentary Press Gallery reporter assigned to a meeting between a Canadian prime minister and an American president, you quickly realize that the story you are covering is a lot more important to you, your editors and your readers and viewers than it is to your American counterparts.

Thirty-three years in the Press Gallery covering summits in both Washington and Ottawa and seven years as a resident Canadian correspondent in Washington provided me with ample evidence of that. It has also provided ample evidence to Canadian PMs on visits to Washington for White House meetings with US presidents.

One of the most glaring examples was in April 1997. Weeks before calling an election, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was invited to Washington by President Bill Clinton for a full state visit at the White House. Military honour guards were rolled out, ceremonial troops paraded and a state dinner—the last one held for 19 years until Barack Obama hosted Justin Trudeau—complete with guests such as Howie Mandel and Diana Krall, was given in the Chrétiens’ honour. The visit was to be capped off with a joint press conference on the White House grounds. Out came the White House press corps for the chance to question the president. Out came the Canadian correspondents in Washington—the numbers heavily increased by reporters travelling with Chrétien from Ottawa—to question both leaders about the all-important bilateral relationship.

The Canadians did, but not the American reporters. All of their questions were for Clinton on either domestic or other foreign policy issues unrelated to Canada. Some Canadians privately took affront. But the next morning it seemed all was not lost. On the front page of the New York Times was a picture of Chrétien and Clinton together at the press conference. The newser was the first public appearance by the president since breaking an ankle at a party in Florida, and he used small crutches to maneuver at the podium. The Times photo was to show Clinton and his crutches. Chrétien was not identified in the picture. Oh, Canada.

Pierre Trudeau had endured something similar 20 years earlier. It happened at a press conference with President Jimmy Carter in the iconic White House briefing room in September 1977 to announce that the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline though Canada would deliver Alaska Natural Gas to the lower 48 states. American reporters crowding the room had not one question for Trudeau or Carter about the pipeline. Instead, they wanted information from Carter on a report that the US had not ruled out the first use of nuclear weapons in the event of a showdown with the Soviet Union.  

By far the glitziest and most substantial prime ministerial-presidential summit I covered was in March 1985. Recently elected Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had made much of the “Two Irishmen” in North America theme when, as opposition leader, he had scored an unusual White House visit to see Ronald Reagan a few months before the election in September 1984. Now, he wanted to reciprocate in grand style. Underlying the “Irishmen” theme, the summit was held on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, at the Citadel in Quebec City, the same venue and in the same room where Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt held their two “Quebec” summits in 1943 and 1944 during the Second World War, with Mackenzie King as their host. 

Perhaps because it was held in Canada and because Americans working at the US Embassy here knew me, in a conversation shortly before the meetings were to begin, one of them let slip that the big announcement of the meetings would be the creation of a joint commission to study acid rain. 

Canada had been trying to get action on acid rain for years, but either the White House or Congress had moved to block any progress. To get President Reagan to accept at least a Canada-US study on the problem was a big step forward.

That made the American leak to me a significant scoop, which I happily revealed to the world at a press conference with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney a few hours later. Mulroney wasn’t too happy about being scooped on his own announcement, but that didn’t deter him for long. On the final evening at the last event, the Mulroneys hosted the Reagans at a stylish black-tie dinner complete with orchestra and entertainment. The entertainment ended with both couples joining the cast of entertainers on the stage to sing “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”—a first as far as summitry goes.

But that was not the coup de grâce. On the final stanza of the song everyone was in good voice. They all suddenly they stopped singing, except one person. It was left to a soloist to sing the final words: “…sure to steal your hearts away!” That soloist was the prime minister of Canada. No one has equalled such dramatic chutzpa since. Nor have they tried. In the press room reporters were working on the final stories of the summit when work suddenly stopped. 

“What the hell was that?” people began asking. As tape recorders and video machines were rewound and then played back, the voice of the prime minister was heard over and over again. Some people were shocked, some people thought it hilarious. Either way, Mulroney’s singing made every Canadian newscast and paper. Not so in the United States.

The only Canada—US leaders meeting that attracted extra attention in Washington was the last state dinner given for a Canadian prime minister in early March 2016, when Barack and Michelle Obama hosted Justin and Sophie Trudeau at the White House, 10 months before the end of Obama’s term and at the beginning of Trudeau’s. It was a glittering affair and it made the front page of The Washington Post. The story was headlined “Having the neighbors over for dinner,” and it featured the media-savvy Canadians as the new international “it” couple. It had nothing to do with any substantive issues. Still, it did raise the profile of Canada, and if raising the nation’s profile is the real reason for Canada—US summits, then score that one a success.

But it doesn’t change the reality of how coverage is weighed. If your prime minister and first spouse are relatively young, good looking, and bring a touch of glamour to the job by being social media stars photographed in Vogue, the celebrity-obsessed American media will respond accordingly. If not, be prepared for the Jean Chrétien treatment.

And don’t be obsessed with it. After all, you may be no big deal in the United States, but in Canada you are still the biggest deal there is. And Canada is where your voters are.  

Contributing Writer and Columnist Don Newman has covered prime ministers and presidents for more than 40 years as an Ottawa and Washington based television correspondent and host for CTV and then CBC News. He is Executive Vice President of Rubicon Strategies in Ottawa.