U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson. (Canadian Press)A U.S. jobs bill will be good for Canada even with a Buy American provision, U.S. ambassador David Jacobson said Tuesday.

In an interview on CBC News Network Tuesday, Jacobson said the most important thing the U.S. can do for the Canadian economy, is stimulate the U.S. economy.

"When you compare and contrast that with the, quite frankly, very small economic impact, even if there were a Buy America provision, on balance, this bill as the president originally proposed it, is good - very good - for Canada," he told host Evan Solomon on CBC's Power & Politics.

The story sparked a firestorm of comments on CBCNews.ca, surpassing 650 comments by Tuesday afternoon. The majority of commenters were critical of the Buy American provision, and suggested that Canada respond in kind.

• "Lets all Buy Canadian then!" - trdj85
• "The deeply troubling thing is that it's hard to avoid American retailers in Canada -- Walmart, Home Depot, Zellers (soon to be Target), and dozens of others. Not to mention McDonalds, Burger King, Dairy Queen in the fast food segment. They've essentially taken over our retail market, but refuse to allow access in reverse." - jaybeeg
• "Well Mr. Harper, what are you going to do now? I suggest a bill in Canada that says 'Everything made in Canada'. Any Canadian Government money spent, should be only spent on Canadian goods." - lastkozak
• "It's time for Canada to introduce a buy-Canadian clause. Just think of the billions of dollars the U.S. would lose in exports. Canadians have to be tired of free-trade deals which aren't free and American trade restrictions while our Canadian government does nothing to retaliate." - JeffWilkinson
•  "I can live with that; it's remarkably easy to not buy American products." - Nix_ONeill

A few others said they understood the U.S.'s desire to act in the interest of their economy before Canada's, and didn't think it would impose great penalties on most Canadians.

• "This only makes sense. The Americans are investing in the US recovery not the Canadian one. Creating jobs in Canada doesn't do much for the average American taxpayer." - Tax Me...I'm Canadian
• "Well, of course, the American's ambassador would say this, but he's probably right. The amount of things that Canadian firms could lose out on because of the Buy American provision regarding iron, steel, and mfg goods is not massive. Only a portion of this stimulus money is headed to infrastructure, and the provision is tied to the program, not general government expenditures." - quack424

Some questioned Jacobsen's claim that the provision would also help the Canadian economy.

•  "Wow, David Jacobson with those words you have shown me that you are a true politician. When you can say that laws that prevent parts of your country from buying from us is somehow good for us (our economy). Astounding. Wow." - tempus.voral

Those who voted on Power and Politics' Question of the Day were relatively split between their preferred response to the story - either with a Buy Canadian policy, or to continue to fight for more open markets.

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