105th American Assembly on "U.S.-Canada Relations"

On February 3, 2005, seventy women and men from the United States and Canada including government officials, representatives from business, labor, law, nonprofit organizations, academia, and the media gathered at Arden House in Harriman, New York for the 105th American Assembly entitled "U.S.-Canada Relations." Assemblies had been sponsored on this topic in 1964 and 1984, and this third Assembly on bilateral relations was co-sponsored by the Canada Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Canadian Institute for International Affairs (CIIA), and The American Assembly of Columbia University. The participants, representing a range of views, backgrounds, and interests, met for three days in small groups for intensive, structured discussions to examine the concerns and challenges of the binational relationship.

This Assembly was co-chaired by Allan Gotlieb, former Canadian ambassador to the United States, former under secretary of state for External Affairs, and senior advisor at Stikeman Elliot LLP in Toronto and James Blanchard, former U.S. ambassador to Canada, former governor of Michigan, and a four-term member of the U.S. Congress, currently a partner at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary in Washington D.C, and a member of the Canada Institute's Advisory Board. The project was co-directed by Joseph T. Jockel, professor and director of Canadian Studies, St. Lawrence University, and David G. Haglund, the Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Political Studies, Queen's University. The project also was ably assisted by a steering committee of distinguished leaders from both countries, whose names and affiliations are listed as the appendix of the Assembly's report.

During the Assembly, participants heard a conversation between co-chairs Gotlieb and Blanchard moderated by Canadian Consul General to New York Pamela Wallin and formal addresses by Jean Charest, Premier of Québec, Paul Cellucci, U.S. Ambassador to Canada, and David Frum, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. See the links at the right to view the conversation and Premier Charest's speech. can be viewed on this site and at www.wilsoncenter.org/canada and www.ciia.org. Transcripts of all the speeches and the conversation are also available by following the links to the right.

For additional information, as well as photographs and press on the event, visit the American Assembly's web site.