How The Unflappable Gary Doer Won Over America

How The Unflappable Gary Doer Won Over America, Ambassador disarms Washington with charm while disputing that Obama lost Canada. How Gary Doer won over America while disputing that Obama lost Canada, It’s noon on a typically steamy August day in the U.S. capital, and Gary Doer strides into a Capitol Hill restaurant looking every inch the man who’s “living the dream” – an expression he often uses gleefully to describe his job as Canada’s ambassador.

Tanned from a break at his Lake of the Woods cottage and wearing a crisp white shirt, blue tie and blue pin-striped suit, Doer’s definition of “the dream” might be open to debate since he’s held the post during an especially tumultuous period of contemporary American politics.

But Doer, now heading into his fourth year on the job, says he feels privileged to be sitting in a front-row seat for the action, as well as actively participating by ensuring Canada gets some attention amid the din of domestic, partisan brawling that’s emanated from Capitol Hill over the past four years.

“It’s been a thrill being here,” Doer, 64, says sincerely, flashing his trademark high-voltage smile.

Since the moment Doer stepped off the plane to begin his stint in October 2009, the former Manitoba premier has been cheerfully fending off U.S. protectionism and promoting Canadian interests, particularly Trans-Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline, to an administration some believe is unfriendly to Canada.

A recent article in the online edition of the Foreign Affairs periodical by Derek Burney and a Carleton University foreign policy expert caused a stir in diplomatic circles. The former Canadian envoy to the U.S. cited a litany of alleged snubs and wrongs towards Canada by U.S. President Barack Obama.