INDEPTH: CANADA - U.S. RELATIONS
Michael Wilson
Mission: Washington
CBC News Online | February 17, 2006
 Michael Wilson (CP File Photo)
They met while on a Caribbean vacation in 1989. They discovered they both went to the London School of Economics at the same time, back in the early 60s. The two men chose different paths to get through the rest of that decade.
Wilson stuck with economics and began a successful business career by landing a job at the finance department in Ottawa in 1964. At 25, he was being asked for advice on what to do with millions of dollars of federal government bonds. For Jagger, it may have been only rock 'n' roll, but he liked it — enough to set aside his LSE education.
Wilson spent the next decade honing his image as a financial heavyweight. By 1972, he had worked his way up Bay Street, securing the position of vice president at Harris and Partners.
Within a year, he had moved on to Dominion Securities — long before they were bought out by the Royal Bank.
By the late 1970s, Wilson was setting his sights on politics. He ran for the Progressive Conservatives in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke Centre — not quite the upscale Rosedale of his youth, but still affluent enough that many of his Bay Street colleagues called it home.
Wilson's win began a 14-year political career. He was named trade minister in Joe Clark's short-lived government. Four years later, Wilson was back in government after Brian Mulroney swept to power.
Among the new Conservative government's priorities was repairing a somewhat strained Canada-U.S. relationship. Pierre Trudeau irked a string of American presidents, especially Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, as he pursued a made-in-Canada foreign policy and tried to protect large segments of the economy from foreign takeover.
Wilson was given the high-profile finance portfolio, a position he held until 1991. He inherited large deficits from the Liberals — and made some of them even larger. But he points out that when he took on Canada's top economic job, the deficit ate up more than eight per cent of the country's gross domestic product. When Canadians dumped the Conservatives in 1993, the deficit equalled about three per cent of GDP.
Relations with the United States thawed dramatically under the Conservatives. In 1985, a Royal Commission recommended that Canada pursue a free trade agreement with the U.S. A year later, Wilson was one of the key people on Canada's negotiating team. In 1987, the deal was sealed and the Conservatives fought — and won — the 1988 election on the issue.
As finance minister, Wilson took much of the flak for the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in 1989. The unpopular and highly visible tax replaced the invisible manufacturers' sales tax, which was levied on the companies that made the products Canadians consume. The Conservatives would later argue that the GST made it possible for successive Liberal governments to run big surpluses — and start paying down the national debt.
By 1991, it seemed that Wilson would be finance minister for life. But Mulroney decided to give him a bigger stage. Wilson was named Minister of Industry, Science and Technology and Minister of International Trade. His experience negotiating the Free Trade Agreement would be put to work developing the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Wilson decided to return to private life rather than run in the 1993 federal election. His political career had gone well and he was ready to reap the rewards that a world-class C.V. would bring to Bay Street.
But in 1995, Wilson was back in the public eye following the suicide of his 29-year-old son, Cameron, who had battled depression for years. Wilson focused on fighting for better treatment plans for the mentally ill and getting employers to recognize the symptoms of stress in the workplace and the need to make sure their employees get the help they need without worrying that they'll lose their jobs.
Wilson chaired the Mental Health Implementation Task Force for Toronto and Peel and in February 2005 was named as a special adviser to the minister of health on mental health in the federal government workplace.
Among Stephen Harper's key priorities leading up to the Jan. 23, 2006 election, was restoring Canada's relationship with the U.S. Frank McKenna, the Canadian ambassador to Washington under Paul Martin, did not wait long to tender his resignation.
"I believe you would agree that the enormous value of a political appointment to this position is based on the ability to work intimately with the Canadian government," McKenna wrote in his resignation letter to Harper.
"It is this perception of closeness that provides a strong platform for the Canadian ambassador to advance Canada's interest."
Wilson has known Harper for years, but hasn't exactly been a member of his inner circle, although he did help run the Conservative campaign in Ontario. He says Harper's commitment to focus on the relationship with Washington can only make his job easier.
"The prime minister indicated he wants to see a change in the tone from the top…as that tone changes, I think it will make it easier for me," he said.
Jim Blanchard, Washington's ambassador to Canada under former president Bill Clinton, called Wilson the quintessential Canadian: thoughtful, reserved but very strong. He said Harper "hit a home run" by appointing Wilson.
"Michael Wilson comes to [the job] with extensive experience in dealing with the U.S. government and in dealing with the diplomatic issues. He will hit the ground running."
Blanchard expects doors to open for Wilson while he's in Washington. He knows a lot of key people from the presidency of Bush's father.
Wilson may be carrying a little baggage into Washington. He's expressed support for the U.S. war in Iraq and said Canada should have helped out — at least with equipment and supplies. But even that hasn't seemed to have been much of a problem: even interim Liberal Leader Bill Graham called Wilson a good choice for the job.
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Born: Nov. 4, 1937, Toronto
Education: University of Toronto, London School of Economics
First Ottawa job: Finance department, 1964
Political life: First elected as MP for Etobicoke Centre, 1979; trade minister under Joe Clark, ran for PC leadership in 1983, but supported Brian Mulroney after the first ballot; named finance minister in 1984; brokered first free-trade agreement with the U.S.; replaced manufacturers' sales tax with Goods and Services Tax in 1990.
Business career: Vice-president Dominion Securities (now RBC Dominion), 1973; vice-president Harris and Partners, 1972; private consultant, 1993; chairman UBS Canada; chairman Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (2003).
Volunteer: Became heavily involved in mental health issues after the suicide of his son, Cameron, in 1995. Chairman, Mental Health Implementation Task Force for Toronto and Peel. Appointed, Feb. 4, 2005, as special adviser to the minister of health on mental health in the federal government workplace.
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