It would be comical if it was on the big screen, but the decision of the Alaska House of Representatives to unanimously support Canada in its trade war against President Trump has Republican legislators running for political cover.
How is it that Alaska politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike, are so quick to throw in the towel with official statements praising Canada, as though Canada’s success is even more important than ours? Welcome to the Twilight Zone that is the Alaska Legislature. At the time of the vote, it was easier for the politicians to side with Canada and the Democrats in Juneau, so they did. It’s not the first time. It won’t be the last. I hate to break it to you, but if you thought your legislators were in Juneau to represent your interests, think again. Except in the narrowest sense (and usually right around election time) that’s not how legislators in Juneau actually vote. But let’s break it down.
You can read the full text of House Joint Resolution 11 (HJR11) for yourself.
Canada is the single largest recipient of American exports. Fully 34 U.S. states export more to Canada than to any other country. Ironically, Alaska isn’t one of them. When it comes to Alaska, Canada ranks fifth behind China, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.
For years, Canada has strictly enforced quotas on various American goods, with tariffs as high as 300% for dairy exports. Of course, American farmers don’t export goods to Canada at those prices, it wouldn’t be economical, which is exactly what Canada intended when it pursued the quotas and set the tariffs to enforce them. Alaska doesn’t export much dairy to Canada, but for states that do export to Canada the tariffs are a huge issue.
You might think Alaskan legislators, in solidarity with other U.S. states, would have something to say about this arrangement. Indeed they do, but in passing HJR9 they’ve signaled they are all in for Canada. Huh.
House Joint Resolution 11 was first put forward on February 19th as Senate Joint Resolution 9 (SJR9) by Senator Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage) as chair of the Arctic Affairs Committee. One week later, on February 26th, it appeared in the House as House Joint Resolution 11, filed by Rep. Chuck Kopp. The original resolution by Sen. Giessel offered somewhat generic support for free trade, extolled the benefits of our relationship with Canada, and prominently highlighted Donald Trump’s contributions to U.S.-Canada relations by successfully negotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement during his first term in office.
By the time Rep. Kopp filed his bill one week later, the positive references to Donald Trump had been removed from both the title and the conclusion (effectively relegating them to a footnote), and the resolution specifically targeted Trump’s proposed tariffs. The House Resources Committee (led by Democrat legislators Burke and Dibert) finished transforming HJR11 into a thoroughly Democrat bill by removing all positive references to Trump (even the footnote) and highlighting the need to defend Canada’s sovereignty against the Trump administration.
When the vote was taken on March 24th, to replace the original bill with the Democrat version, the vote was 38-0 (with 20 Republicans voting with Democrats to approve the changes).
Among the numerous changes from the senate version, the house voted unanimously to declare:
“WHEREAS Alaska recognizes the importance of a strong and sovereign nation of Canada and firmly supports Canada’s right to self-determination, national security, and economic independence;”
Three further amendments adding additional language to the bill were each passed unanimously in the house. The final version of the bill boasts 18 cosponsors (10 Democrats, 6 other legislators who voted to give control of the House to Democrats, and Republican Reps. Bynum and Schwenke).
To put a point on it, Rep. Kopp stood up just before the vote to publicly declare the need to stand up for Canada by voting for his resolution.
Legislator after legislator rose to speak on the final resolution. Each one, Republican as well as Democrat, spoke in favor of it. Not a single legislator rose to oppose the resolution and what it meant for Alaska’s relationship with other U.S. states, with the president, or with our nation’s trade policy. The focus was entirely Canada First; “what’s good for Canada, is good for us.”
Perhaps sensing a public backlash, after voting to unanimously pass each of the changes to the bill, five legislators stood apart from their peers when it came time to cast the final vote. One left the room (Rep. DeLena Johnson). Four others voted “No” (Reps. Allard, Elam, Prax, Tilton).
The final vote was 33 “Yes” votes, 4 “No” votes, 2 not present that day, and 1 “Absent”.
It takes courage to stand and speak out when the majority is running for the cliff. Unfortunately, courage is the one thing we don’t have in the House of Representatives today.
