Nossal: Which Republican candidate would be best for Canada?

By: /
16 January, 2012
Kim Richard Nossal
By: Kim Richard Nossal

Director of the Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen's University


In American elections, the old saw has it, Canadians always vote Democrat, so it is likely that Canadians will be plumping for Barack Obama regardless of who wins the Republican nomination. While it is not clear which of the candidates in the rapidly shrinking Republican fieldwill be left standing by the time the GOP gathers in Tampa in August, the Republican candidate that would be “best for Canada” is clearly Mitt Romney. Yes, Romney has taken the lead in the race primarily because he has embraced most of the Tea Party movement’s positions, and Canadians would be right to wonder whether he would actually pursue Tea Party policies were he to be elected. But Romney’s political instincts are centrist: as governor of Massachusetts, arguably the most Canadian-like state in the Union, Romney pursued a range of centrist (and very “Canadian”) policies, such as the introduction of universal health care and the tightening of gun laws. Moreover, growing up in Michigan and vacationing in Ontario as a youth, Romney has a far better acquaintance with Canada than any other GOP candidate

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