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Canadian Hurricane Aid Hopes to Relieve Tensions

The Canadian government, having sent quick offers of oil, warships, airplanes and other humanitarian aid to the United States to deal with Hurricane Katrina, hopes those measures will help improve testy relations and remind Americans that Canada is their main supplier of oil. Meanwhile, Canada`s cabinet officials have urged citizens to conserve energy use, and Alberta has removed production limits at its oil fields to help overcome fuel shortages caused by the storm`s impact on U.S. production and refineries. Canada produces an average of 3.14 million barrels of oil daily, and it ships more than 2 million barrels of oil and petroleum products a day to the United States.

Concern about the hurricane damage deflated a controversy in Canada over the Bush administration`s decision last month to ignore successive tribunal rulings under the North American Free Trade Agreement requiring the United States to return $5 billion in improper softwood lumber tariffs. The administration`s stance had brought shrill condemnation -- with newspapers using terms such as "schoolyard bully" and "outlaw" -- and rising calls for retaliatory measures.

But Canada was quick to offer aid after the storm, dispatching navy divers in addition to the ships, a Coast Guard cutter and aircraft to help the rescue efforts. It opened its stock of emergency relief supplies, British Columbia sent a 46-member urban rescue team and Quebec provincial officials have announced the shipment of 20,000 beds. The Canadian oil boost also is a reminder that Canada is the largest and most stable supplier of energy to the United States. Because of the storm, Vice President Cheney postponed a scheduled tour this week of Alberta`s giant oil sand fields, which have estimated reserves greater than Saudi Arabia`s.