U.S.-Canada Partnership Vital to North American Security and Prosperity

0:00 Speaker 1 Well from the great state of North Dakota. What is today is Senator Kevin Kramer. And Senator Kramer is in New York and he has a few things to say. And and I guess you’re in New York. You want to go to that soccer game?

0:15 Speaker 2 I do. I’m going to the Brazil versus Morocco World Cup game on Saturday. And I love soccer. I have a son who played very high level soccer and decided he’d rather make money right after graduating. So I’m good with that. But we’re going to that game. And I used to be a college soccer referee, which was perfect,

0:35 by the way, training for Congress. In fact, what was even better was a youth soccer refereeing because there’s nobody in the stadium dumber than the than the referee. And if you don’t believe, just ask all the moms.

0:48 Speaker 1 Now, North Dakota is right on the coast of Canada. What the heck is going on between Canada and you?

0:57 Speaker 2 Yeah, I know, well, first of all, not to gooda gets long with Canada. Just fine. We’re having a little bit of an international problems, as you know, John, I think it’ll all be worked out Canadians are funny people.

1:10 They’re nice people, they’re kind people. But they’re a little too sensitive. I’ve I’ve told them that, you you know, I don’t.

1:16 Speaker 1 I love the people. Yeah, but they’re too sensitive. They learned to take jokes.

1:24 Speaker 2 I told the National Post, and they quoted me. It was kind of a funny sort of feature story about me being, you know, Canadian whisperer in Washington. But they said, do you have any advice for Canadians. I said, yeah, don’t be so sensitive. I said, just remember it’s always warmer in Miami than it is in Winnipeg, So don’t

1:44 rob yourselves of the joy of a vacation to Florida just because you’re mad at the president of the United States. I hate the messages on the outside of my mug at Starbucks, but I love the coffee, so I have a gold card. You know. I’m simply not gonna let there Paul offend me to that point. I do think

2:02 they’re too sensitive. Having said that, they are also quite dependent on the United States, and I think they don’t like that very much. But Donald Trump understands that. But we also have a really good supply chain, connected supply chain.

2:18 We are very integrated, and that’s being disrupted right now by some of the upheaval over the USMCA, the US Mexico Canada agreement and the time for renewal. Right now, it’s not renewal so much as it is for a review, and that’s what we’re in the middle of right now.

2:36 So we’ll see how the banter goes back and forth. They didn’t want to be the fifty first date. I don’t know why. I won’t. I don’t want them to be.

2:41 Speaker 1 But they didn’t. They didn’t realize Trump.

2:45 Speaker 2 I did tell the President though, I’ll take Alberta and Saskatchewan every day of the week, and I’d even take I’d probably even take Manitoba and Ontario. My friend Doug Ford. You probably know Doug.

2:56 Speaker 1 Let me tell you something. I put Doug Ford together. They had never spoken before with Congress from me, Claudia, Tenny, and now they love each other.

3:05 Speaker 2 Yeah. Well, Doug’s easy to like. He was just in my office last week and uh, and we had a good discussion. Whenever I just feel like talking Canadian, I call Doug and I think I find him to be a fascinating, solid businessman and good politician. The thing I grieve though, is and I’ve told Donald Trump this. He

3:24 practically is Donald Trump. I mean he’s like the Donald.

3:27 Speaker 1 Trump of Yes, he is Donald Trump of Ontario. And he is a smart guy. He’s a businessman, and he knows how to do business and and he knows how to you know, communicate communications and he does That’s important.

3:43 So I’m glad North Dakota is doing well. I’m glad now like Claudia Tenny, who’s right on the border with Doug, he’s doing well. I mean I’ve talked to I was with Prime Minister Cornie a few weeks ago in New York.

3:58 He came to the New York he Can Club and we’ve got a along well, even though we had our differences about New Westrinches in British Columbia, and I got along well with Mike Weissman, do you ambassador, Yes, Greatsia the ice Man and uh he was used to be with uh celebrating Cromwell. Yeh, one of my law firms

4:20 that I do business and and I also did well with the new Trade Tom Clark, I think.

4:27 Speaker 2 Yeah. So it’s interesting because one of the things that Prime Minister Carney has done, which I’m not sure those of us in the United States fully appreciate their form of government, as you know, this parliament parliamentary form of government. Obviously, the prime ministers in his cabinet are members of parliament.

4:46 And it’s rare to bring somebody, even into the diplomatic corps who’s not a politician. And in this case he has brought in bankers like himself. He even started a new organization called the di AS. I think it’s called DIA, the Defense Industry Group and their quasi government. But they’re led by a banker, not not one of his, not

5:11 not a parliamentarian. And and I think that part of Canada’s past that Justin Trudeau, who put socialism on steroids, bringing bringing some business minded people to Canada makes all the sense in the world. I just want us to get our relationship with Canada squared away so that we can be part of the North America has so much

5:33 to bring to the to the table as a continent, not the least of which is the end.

5:38 Speaker 1 JI with Prime Minister Karnie at the New York Economic Club and he said it exactly right. He said that that our friendship together is more the parts the whole is worth more than the parts, and they’re working together.

5:57 North America is a great power.

5:58 Speaker 2 So that’s a great point because this is what I think we have to understand is, you know, over three hundred million, roughly almost three hundred and fifty million people with you know, twenty five percent of the wealth of the world. We are the consumers of the world, even though we’re five percent of the population. Canada’s forty million

6:17 people really adds up to more than forty more people when you combine the resources of the continent. When it comes to energy, John together, we are a powerhouse. We’re multiple times Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

6:31 Speaker 1 We are a powerhouse North America, not even with Alaska, not even including the Aotic Ocean, which we should take a better charge of. We are the powerhouse of question of the world. Now.

6:45 Speaker 2 One thing Mark Karney did do, and this was something I advised him the first time I met him, I went up to see him about a week after he was elected, is he he has gotten on board with National Defense and our generals have confirmed that with me that they are now at over two percent of GDP

7:01 in Canada. This is something This was something that Justin Trudeau was proud that he was reducing Canada’s contribution to its own national defense and more importantly to NATO. They’re founding member of NATO. He’s now got them at two percent, going toward five percent. Even the United States is only at about three and a half percent. So these are

7:22 big leaps for Canada.

7:24 Speaker 1 And I hope all of that is and I think that maybe the Europeans are finally realizing we still have a major problem with NATO. The European community has their own problem, and I think Greenland is very important to defend Europe and to be able to defend all in North America.

7:44 Speaker 2 It is, whether it’s our country or just a good ally, it’s very important. But I do I think that this is one of the great gifts that Donald Trump has given to the world, even though to those who don’t know it’s a gift yet, and that is getting Europe to take more ownership of our own security. As we

8:02 look at the big fight in the you know, in the South Pacific, and look at the big fight in in uh in China, we we can’t spread ourselves that thin. We still have to do more, John, We have to add to our National Defenses we passed I’m on the Armed Services Committee. We passed the National Defense Authorization Act

8:19 out of committee last week. Hopefully we can get it on the floor within a week or two and and demonstrate, Hey, you know, we’re for real. We’re gonna build up our munitions, We’re gonna build up our modernization effort. We’re gonna we’re gonna continue to blow away from from China in space.

8:38 But everybody else has to do more as well.

8:41 Speaker 1 I agree with you a hundred percent. Senator Kevin Kramer from the great state of North Dakota, a big oil producer for the United States too. Thank you so much for coming in. Thank you for your common sense, and thank you for just being yourself.

8:54 Speaker 2 I like being myself. It’s the only person I know how to be. John, thank you for the opportunity.