What Ottawa Wants from Washington

...To channel advertising revenues away from the U.S., Ottawa no longer allows Canadian companies to write off advertising on American television...

...Canada certainly would be responsive to participating in an earnest dialogue with the new Administration...

...In sum, the Republican President's response to the fisheries treaty, and the thrust of his economic and energy policies are awaited with a mixture of interest, caution and distrust...

...Canadians and their government are wary that U. S. economic policy, never without implications for the dominion, will follow a more adventuresome course than in the past...

...In this context, Reagan's talk as a candidate about a "continental energy policy" involving Canada and Mexico has been a cause of alarm in Ottawa...

...Addressing a conference of political scientists last October, MacGuigan castigated the U.S...

...Although traditionally Ottawa has preferred Democrats in Washington, relations soured during the Carter years...

...laws to Canadian companies is another bone of contention...

...Canadians are worried that Republicans are more inclined toward protectionism than Democrats, and that present economic difficulties in the U.S...

...tries...

...for its apparent lack of .concern about matters of vital interest to Canada, declaring, "I want to give notice to the new administration in Washington that it must consider its relations with us as a priority...

...Peter Towe, surprised American observers...

...A Federal court in Chicago is demanding that Canadian subsidiaries of U.S...

...Although aimed primarily at sunny overseas tax dodges, the change had its greatest impact on energetic Canadian attempts to woo American conventions...

...To date, the Canadian government has shown no inclination to modify its policy of protecting its own television industry...

...Blessed with substantial amounts of petroleum, notably in the difficult-to-refine form of tar sands, Canada is a big consumer and now imports some 200,000of the 1.8 million barrels of oil per day that it uses...

...Canadians are incensed that the Carter Administration allowed influential Democratic senators from northeastern coastal states to postpone the treaty because of perceived adverse effects on their constituents...

...They are aware that the threat of Quebec independence after 1976 and the dramatic Canadian deliverance of six hidden U.S...

...Such vague proposals are viewed as little more than an attempt to grab precious energy...

...MacGuigan's sharp remarks, coupled with earlier comments in the same vein by Canadian Ambassador to the U.S...

...administrations completed, Canadians are looking for a comprehensive response to the conflicts that have given rise to their intense feelings about being largely ignored by the U.S...

...The most immediate bilateral issue facing President Reagan is the still unratified fishing treaty, signed two years ago to eliminate jurisdictional questions over fish stocks and to clarify the rights of fishermen from both counHarold M. Waller, a past contributor, is chairman of the political science department at McGill University...

...Canada may counter by introducing legislation that would prohibit such extraterritorial interference, following the lead of Australia and Great Britain...

...The most explosive issue on the Canadian-American agenda is energy, especially with the arrival of Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office...

...In unusually blunt language he also warned, "Clearly, differences in approaches to foreign policy here reach a point where rational management of a crucial bilateral relationship may no longer be possible...

...concerns, not normally subject to American legal jurisdiction, produce documents relevant to a uranium cartel case...

...Nor can there be any doubt that with the change in U.S...

...Despite some progress in the area of taxation late in 1980, this continues to be a source of irritation, too...

...election, their effectiveness was somewhat diminished...

...A broader question is the general stance of the U.S...

...The anger that step aroused in the U.S...

...on trade matters...

...This disincentive has hurt American border TV stations whose markets consist in large part of Canadian viewers, with particular damage being done to the stations in thinly populated areas on the American side of the border...

...The latest snarl concerns American attempts to apply antitrust laws outside the United States...

...On the other hand, Canadian regulation of foreign (read American) investment is quite popular among the ruling Liberals and other parties here...

...Meanwhile, a more narrowly focused environmental debate has arisen from U.S...

...Proposed negotiations are bound to prove controversial in heavily industrialized border states...

...But the tendency of the United States to take its largest trading partner for granted constantly irks Canadians, whose stable society rarely attracts the notice in American media that more volatile nations do...

...In Ottawa the hope is that the switch to Republican control of the Senate will be followed by a Reagan commitment to ratification, thus easing the treaty's adoption...

...They note, however, that this did not stimulate serious attention to nettlesome issues that remain unresolved as Ronald Reagan settles into the White House...

...oil imports came from Canada...

...A function of American neglect and ignorance more than malice, the situation nevertheless moved Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs, Mark MacGuigan, to underscore the degree of deterioration...

...Indeed, even if it were not importing oil, it would probably try to husband what it has and therefore still resist pressure from Washington to resume the flow southward...

...Moreover, since Canadians are extremely conscious of their subordinate economic position, Reagan managed to touch a very raw nerve...

...I n addition, they could also strengthen the hand of Alberta and the other petroleum-producing provinces against the Federal government in the ongoing Canadian wrangle over oil profits...

...This is far below the American level, but Canada feels it is not in a position to supply the U.S...

...The substantial losses they suffered because of new regulations moved the Canadian hotel and restaurant industries to lobby vigorously for concessions: Their efforts were finally rewarded by a change that exempted meetings held in Canada and Mexico from the restrictive provisions...

...Washington's recent relaxation of the convention rule, though, may eventually prompt a reciprocal unbending...

...THORNY QUESTIONS What Ottawa Wants from \\^Shlri^tX3Il by harold m.waller MICHAEL MACGUIGAN Montreal Basic economic, demographic and political differences make the Canadian-American relationship an always potentially shaky affair...

...But there could be no mistaking the accumulated frustration that spurred the harsh words...

...Environmental problems also are straining ties between the two nations...

...Since they came just two weeks before the U.S...

...The Foreign Investment Review Act, denounced as an impediment by American firms, is regarded by Canadians as an essential element in their determination to maintain some measure of economic independence...

...was not mollified by Ottawa's avowed desire to regain control over a resource industry dominated by the American multinational corporations...

...could provoke barriers to free trade similar to those introduced during the Nixon years a decade ago...

...The application of U.S...

...plans to dam the Garrison River in North Dakota, for this could adversely affect the rivers of Manitoba...

...At the start of the oil crisis in 1973, almost one third of all U.S...

...Nevertheless, at a time when President Reagan is understandably inclined to focus his gaze overseas, it might be a good idea to secure the northern flank first...

...Ottawa soon began cutting back the flow, though, and in 1975 announced that it would stop altogether by 1981...

...diplomats from Iran reminded Americans of their northern neighbor...

...American energy policies emphasizing a free-market approach (and making price increases virtually inevitable), for instance, run counter to Ottawa's insistence on gradual, regulated hikes in the price of oil...

...In line with this policy, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's government announced limitations on American oil companies and their Canadian subsidiaries in last fall's budget...

...Past experience makes one reluctant to describe Canadian-American relations in dire terms...

...Over the years governments in Ottawa have striven to maintain a semblance of parity and mutual respect between the two countries...

...Congress did amend the income tax laws it passed some years back to curtail the practice of deducting expenses for conventions held outside the U.S...

...Acid rain has been getting much attention over the past few years, for example, and Canada argues that it receives more "vinegar from the sky" than it sends south...

...Canadian tax laws, however, remain a trouble spot...