The education of Ambassador David Wilkins continues, although now with perhaps more compatible company up in Canada, where he's George W. Bush's man in Ottawa.

He's learned that Grits aren't what he has to have friends send from Greenville for breakfast.

Canadian Grits most likely are less to his liking. Yes, they uppercase the "G" there.

Grits are members of the just-defeated Liberal Party.

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He's learned that a riding isn't an afternoon on horseback.

Ridings are election districts -- think congressional or county council.

And he knows now that a "Throne Speech" isn't what most Americans might think, throne having a far different connotation to them than to Canadians, whose nominal chief of state is Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

Throne speech?

Back to the Throne Speech.

It was delivered April 4 to Canada's Senate by Governor-General Michaelle Jean, but it was written in the Conservative Party's back shop and, more importantly, personally revised by the new Conservative Party's prime minister, Stephen Harper.

The speech was unusually short, but had a telling phrase, especially for Wilkins and, by extension, Washington.

Conservatives pledged to build stronger international ties, "starting with the United States, our best friend and largest trading partner."

Wilkins arrived in Ottawa late in June as the corruption-tainted Liberal Party was fighting for survival, a circumstance that tended to make Washington a convenient whipping boy for Prime Minister Paul Martin while he sought to divert attention from his own escalating troubles with a disenchanted electorate.

Ten months later, we're best buddies and Wilkins is in high cotton.

Of course, he can't say that. After all, ambassadors don't become involved in the internal politics of host countries.

Harper heads a government Republican Wilkins can identify with, one pushing tax cuts, a stronger military, a crackdown on crime, greater accountability, reduced waiting times in Canada's socialized medical clinics. Oops. We'll skip that one.

Tactful words

Diplomatically speaking, Wilkins says, "While I don't want to compare one government with another, anytime there's a change, there's always a feeling of a new beginning and a fresh start. I think, quite frankly, on both sides of the border there is that feeling right now."

Wilkins wasn't formally trained in the art of diplomacy; he's a lawyer, not a striped-pants Foreign Service pro.

But 25 years in the state House from Greenville, the final 11 as speaker, will turn you into either a tactful, diplomatic sort or the opposite.

He learned the former lessons well. Witness his carefully chosen words following House outbursts over the stormy relationship with Gov. Mark Sanford. We won't count his very angry reaction to Pork and Barrel, Sanford's un-housebroken twin piglets.

Wilkins speaks of a "very positive attitude" now in official Ottawa.

"I'm optimistic we're ushering in a new era of cooperation and understanding. It's always been, but we can always work to improve it."

The "best friend" remark he cites as a "great example" of the changes.

That doesn't mean calm seas until he has to submit his resignation to the next president, come Jan. 20, 2009.

Not all roses

Difficult issues remain, but Wilkins won't utter the I-word, intractable.

Two stand out: soft lumber and border crossings.

Canadians complain about unfair U.S. tariffs; Washington complains about Canadian subsidies.

It's a dispute measured in decades, and Wilkins rates the issue the toughest "of my short tenure."

"Certainly there's an awareness at the highest levels on both sides that the issue needs to be taken off the table as a barrier between our two countries. I have every reason to believe dialogue will begin soon."

Border security, specifically Washington's plan to require anyone entering the U.S. from Canada to show official documentation proving his or her identity and citizenship, is high, maybe at the top of the grievance list.

Going from Detroit to Windsor or Buffalo to Niagara Falls, Canada, once wasn't much more complicated than going from the Greenville side of Greer to the Spartanburg side. Canadians and Americans casually cross their mutual border by the tens of thousands daily to work, shop and visit family on the other side.

It's different now

No longer; 9-11 has changed that.

Now the U.S. will soon require identity cards, if not passports, and Canadians are worried that the chokepoints that will ensue will diminish both the crossovers and border economies.

What he hears from everyday Canadians varies by region in the sprawling country with more land area than the U.S., but from those nearest the border -- and that's most Canadians -- it's the passport matter.

Wilkins said another learning experience has been to discover the scope of integration with the U.S., from business to families to friends.

"That's the striking thing about being here, the common bond between Canadians and the U.S.," he said.

Those bonds could fray. Washington doesn't appear to have any give on the Jan. 1, 2008, deadline, and Ottawa says it won't order identity cards. Only 22 percent of Americans have passports, but 50 percent of Canadians do.

Still, are things better now?

"The tone at the top is important, and right now, the tone on both sides is very positive. The answer is yes."