'This is the Canada team,' former U.S. ambassador to Canada says of Harris VP pick

Following the news of U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris' pick for a running mate, former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman says he believes the pair would be ideal for Canada-U.S. relations.

Harris named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice-presidential pick for the Democratic ticket in a post on social media early Tuesday.

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In a post of his own, Walz wrote, "It is the honor of a lifetime to join Kamala Harris in this campaign. I'm all in... It reminds me a bit of the first day of school."

"(Harris) spent early years, or formative years, in Montreal growing up," Heyman said in an interview with CTV News. "(Walz) lives next door to you and looks forward to much trade, our number one trading partner in Minnesota is Canada."

"This is the Canada team," he said.

Then-U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman speaks at a breakfast function in Ottawa, Feb. 26, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Walz is a former teacher, coach and veteran who has served as governor of Minnesota since 2018.

With Minnesota sharing an 885-kilometre border with Canada, Walz has often emphasized how Canada is his state's number one export market, with $9.6 billion in goods going north of the border each year.

"We share history, trade, investment, tourism, education, culture, hockey, rivalries and much more," Walz said in a Canada Day message posted to Facebook in 2020, still in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walz also led a trade mission to Ontario in June, visiting Queen's Park and posing for photos with Premier Doug Ford. During the visit, Walz gifted Ford a Minnesota vanity licence plate and Ford gave Walz a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey.

"Ontario and Minnesota do billions of dollars in two-way trade every year," Ford wrote on social media at the time. "We agreed on the need to protect and grow our strong economic ties, including our growing agriculture and energy sectors."

Canadian officials have been engaging with their American counterparts for months in a so-called charm offensive in the event that former president and current Republican nominee Donald Trump heads back to the White House.

"You've got the best team for U.S.-Canada relations, in the Harris-Walz team, and maybe the best team that has existed, maybe, since (Barack) Obama-(Joe) Biden, where I worked as the U.S. ambassador," Heyman said. "This is clearly significantly better than the Trump team."

On the campaign trail, Trump has promised to impose 10 per cent import duties on goods from across the globe if he wins the election in November.

"Mr. Trump doesn't worry us. We were able to work with him effectively," Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman told reporters in May at the Service Employees International Union conference in Philadelphia.

Hillman pointed to Canada's ability to successfully renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement — now known as CUSMA — as an example of successful dealings with a Trump administration. The trade deal between Canada, the United States and Mexico came into effect July 1, 2020, after many rounds of negotiations.

Heyman believes Canadians wouldn't have to worry if Harris wins the election, saying geography isn't the only thing that links us as nation.

"If there's one state where people come from that remind me of Canadians, it's Minnesota. And the folks in Minnesota are 'Minnesota nice,' the same way as 'Canadian nice,'" Heyman said.

While some say Walz's kindness and folksy demeanour are a stark contrast to the attack-style politics of the Republicans, Heyman warns, "Don't underestimate the strength of a person from Minnesota, and I never do of Canada."

The former U.S. ambassador to Canada is encouraging Americans living in Canada to vote for Harris and Walz, "and you can make a big difference in this election," Heyman said.