U.S.-CANADA RELATIONS

Re: "Bush fence-mending in Canada," Nov. 30 news story.

Clearly, President Bush is scrambling to restore allegiances he
injured during his first term, touring South America last week and
making a brief jaunt to Ottawa this week. Unfortunately, these
reconciliatory excursions have not reduced bullheadedness in the
administration. The U.S. and Canada have the most valuable two-country
trade relationship in the world. Canada buys one-fifth of all U.S.
exports - $195 billion last year - offsetting our trade deficit more
than any other country. As such, continued regulations hindering the
purchase of Canadian beef are undeserved and shortsighted. Canada's
unwillingness to commit troops to Iraq, wavering support for the Bush
team's overzealous missile defense shield and the country's soft laws
on marijuana seem to be driving the ongoing U.S. sanctions against
Canadian beef producers.

If the Bush administration is truly committed to mending fences in the
north, it should reward Canada for its unparalleled economic support,
not punish Canada for its moxie to have social and political values
divergent from our own.

David Oppenheim, Denver