MONTREAL – A Canadian politician once observed that “the United States is our best friend – whether we like it or not.” That more or less describes the last century of Canadian-American relations.

In recent years, however – and especially since President Bush’s election in 2000 – the friendship between the two countries has deteriorated significantly. Canada has increasingly distanced itself from American foreign policy and several trade disputes important to the economies of both nations remain unresolved.

That’s why Mr. Bush’s visit this week to Canada is so important. It’s his first official visit to Canada since he won the election, and this is his first official foreign visit since his re-election.

Mr. Bush was in Ottawa yesterday, meeting with Prime Minister Martin and dining at a gala dinner with dignitaries. Today he will travel to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to thank residents for their generosity in playing host to 33,000 stranded Americans on September 11, 2001.

Making Canada the re-elected president’s first trip is symbolically important. Canada is usually picked as the first foreign trip destination of American presidents. In 2001, however, Mr. Bush went to Mexico first. Canada felt slighted, and that event marked the beginning of worsening bilateral relations.

Part of this is due to ideological differences. Mr. Martin and Prime Minister Chretien (who held power from 1993 until the end of last year) are from the Liberal Party, which is philosophically similar to the Democrats.

While Canada supported the invasion of Afghanistan with ships and troops, it did not join the coalition to depose Saddam Hussein. To this day, Canada has not officially joined the effort in Iraq, although it has contributed some reconstruction money and helped train Iraqi police in Jordan. There is also talk of Canada playing a role in the scheduled January elections in Iraq.

Mr. Chretien, who was in power at the time of the Iraq invasion, said he was opposed to the war because it didn’t have the approval of the United Nations. That might have been true, although it’s doubtful.

In the end, personal relationships influence international relations. While Mr. Chretien was chummy with President Clinton, he had no love for Mr. Bush. The two men just didn’t seem to care for each other, and a senior Chretien aide was overhead at a NATO meeting in 2002 calling Mr. Bush a “moron.”

What a difference from March, 1985, when then-President Reagan and then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney met at Quebec City at what became known as the “Shamrock Summit.” That meeting produced the famous scene of the two leaders (both of Irish heritage) and their wives singing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” The strong relations between Reagan and Mr. Mulroney led to the creation of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which has provided immense economic benefit to both nations. Mr. Mulroney, from the Progressive Conservative Party, carried over his friendship with Reagan to the first President Bush. Canada supported and played a role in the first Gulf War.

One hopes, then, that Mr. Bush’s visit this week is the beginning of a new start. Mr. Martin appears aware that the relationship is in need of nursing. He recently kicked out of the Liberal Party a vehemently anti-American Member of Parliament, Carolyn Parrish. Ms. Parrish had called Americans “bastards” and “idiots” in the past and most recently stomped on a George W. Bush doll on national television.

Both countries have legitimate complaints. America continues to maintain a ban on importing Canadian beef after a single cow was discovered to have BSE – so-called “mad cow disease” – in May 2003. The ban has crippled the Canadian cattle industry. America also continues to slap tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, which the World Trade Organization has ruled against.

From the American side, Canada has not been a steadfast American ally in the war on terror. The Canadian military is not pulling its weight in NATO. Canada is also moving toward decriminalizing marijuana, which irks the Bush administration.

Like any friendship, the Canadian-American one needs work to remain strong. With $1.2 billion in trade crossing the border every day and the longest shared undefended border in the world, any sort of non-cooperation is mutually destructive.

Some of the issues causing friction will take time to resolve, no doubt. But a good working relationship between the two country’s leaders will help immensely. Mr. Bush’s decision to visit Canada so soon after his re-election is a sign he takes Canada seriously.

Mr. Daifallah, a former Washington bureau man of The New York Sun, is a Sauvé Scholar at McGill University in Montreal.