Make Canada boring again

Richard Sanders

Former Senior Foreign Service Officer & Diplomatic Advisor

The Hill

March 9, 2025

Almost 40 years ago, New York Times foreign affairs columnist Flora Lewis wrote a piece titled “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative.” Upon seeing it, the New Republic’s Michael Kinsley challenged his readers to come up with a more boring headline. And although many have tried, it has been hard to top.

“Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” has become a long-running joke, periodically resurrected by journalists in need of ideas. It may have stuck because of an underlying truth: The issues on the U.S.-Canada agenda do not excite Washington’s foreign policy elite. Normally, nothing Canada-related could compete for attention with crises such as those in Ukraine or Gaza.