President Obama will visit Ottawa on Thursday. On the agenda are talks regarding the tanking economy, Canada’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2011, energy securtiy and Alberta’s oilsands. You can bet Arctic sovereignty will receive at least passing mention, though how far either Obama or Prime Minister Harper are willing to run with it is another question. No real news, there.

State-side, Obama very recently signed off on an almost $800 billion dollar bailout package, while the Federal government here has been busy dolling out the money from our own $40 billion deficit spending spree.

Bruce Campbell, not the actor of B-movie fame but the director of Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a left-wing think tank, recently released a report condemning the Harper government for “piggybacking” on the American stimulus package while failing to offer any genuine leadership or initiative to combat the failing economy at home. "Rather than talking about the virtues of free trade with the American president, the Conservative government should be implementing its own 'Buy Canada' policy in order to create jobs here in Canada," Campbell told the CBC.

Indeed, the NDP party was quick to champion a “buy Canadian” amendment to the federal budget, a suggestion that was dismissed with contempt by the Conservatives and, of course, not included in the final budget. Obama, for his part, told Canadians they “shouldn’t be too concerned” with Buy American provisions when he talked to CBC news on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.

In a conversation with Chris Hedges, political philosopher Sheldon S. Wolin spoke of the many troubles facing the Obama administration in the months to come:

As if the shitty economy wasn’t enough, the unraveling situation in Afghanistan refuses to go away too, and Canada is ready to get the hell out when our commitment ends in 2011. To date, over one hundred Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, and with very little that any politician can show for it. For his part, Obama has angered many of those of the anti-war persuasion by committing to raise troop levels in Afghanistan by over 50% in the coming months, something that amounts to approximately 17,000 troops being sent to the area if the New York Times is to be believed.

With such doom and gloom on all major fronts, it is easy to see how Obama and Harper will be unwilling to talk in depth about the “dirty oil” problem facing North America’s energy security. It’s just too goddamn sticky.

However, the pesky issue that many would rather was swept under the carpet is being thrust into the limelight by affected Micisew Cree and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations and the environmental group Forest Ethics, who placed a full page advertisement in USA Today urging the President to consider the implications of using “the diritiest oil on Earth.”

Alberta, for their part, denounced the whole ad as nothing but special interest groups raising disproportionately loud voices, citing their recent “20 Year Plan” for “Greening the Oilsands” as proof of their commitment to the “sustainability” of oil sands development. The 50-page document published by the provincial government, however, offers no insight into how this will be accomplished.

Like a true optimist, Obama told CBC’s The National that “technology” will solve the filthy problems created by stripping the oil out of Alberta’s bitumen deposits. The issue has long been on the people''s agenda for Obama's trip. As a president who made Change his trademark, pulling America from the teat of cheap oil has got to be among his top priorities. He is undoubtedly going to lean on Canada, in some way, to take one for the team, or so he would have Peter Mansbridge believe.

I have no illusions that the grip Canada or America has on the teat will lessen voluntary any time soon, but better we let up now and save ourselves the trauma of a violent separation later.

Speaking of violent separation, Harper has also said he would not even consider bringing up the case of Omar Khadr with the visiting president. All three opposition parties have publicly called upon the Prime Minister to appeal on behalf of Khadr, who was arrested as a minor in Afghanistan in 2002, and who has been held, since, in Guantanamo Bay. That’s shitty, hey?

So, when Obama and Harper are hanging out Thursday, enjoying Ottawa’s finest beef on the public’s tab, we can all rest assured they will be talking about “issues that matter.” Our respective media establishments have assured us that it is so, and thus we can go on with our dreary, doom filled day with no fear: America’s president and his semi-elected Canadian counterpart are on the case. Hell, Obama’s friends with Spider-Man, right? Shit, no problem! They got this shit on lock-down, right? Right?!?


Dean Jensen lives in Winnipeg, MB, where he writes for The Manitoban.