Watch: Former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Gordon Giffin talks to Tom Clark about how relations got so bad and what it will take to patch things up.
Sometimes you need to look at the smaller pictures in order to understand the big picture.
The bigger picture of relations between Canada and the United States shows frost and strain — more, probably, than since the War of 1812 or at least since the days of John Diefenbaker.
So what do the parts making up that bigger picture show?
Cast your eye on the ferry terminal in Prince Rupert, B.C., a crumbling hub in Canadian territory leased to Alaska.
There was an upgrade in progress , but that $20-million contract was dropped last week after Canada refused to accept a U.S. condition obligating the contractor to buy only American steel.
WATCH: The West Block primer looks at how a cancelled ferry terminal upgrade illustrates the sad state of Canada – U.S. relations
Though only a tiny fraction of the pieces comprising the overall relations between Canada and the U.S., the story of the ferry terminal could present a perfect microcosm of the issue — though some hope it’s not.
“It’s an indication of a frustrating circumstance that there should have been a way through. But I guess it’s hung up now and not going forward,” Gordon Griffin, former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said in an interview on The West Block with Tom Clark.
READ MORE: U.S. Senate passes Keystone XL pipeline bill, defying White House
“So it does indicate that the dialogue is not as smooth as it should be between our two countries right now.”
Griffin said it’s anybody’s guess as to how relations became as frosty as they are, but said he would wager the contentious Keystone XL pipeline project has created enough friction over the years to underscore all other discussions.
Another matter, closer to the surface, could be a perceived lack of chemistry between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama, who have only visited each other three times in the past six years.
But Griffin said he believes tensions across the board will ease when the Keystone matter is “resolved,” which he said could happen in the next four or five months.
“The chemistry between two leaders certainly throughout history has made things easier … but I think the relationship, the historic relationship, goes beyond whoever happens to occupy 24 Sussex or the White House at a given moment,” Griffin said.
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