Election will boost US international relations, says top Democrat

[Ron Burgundy]

AFP - US relations with other countries will get a boost after elections earlier this month put Democrats in charge of Congress, US Democratic Party leader Howard Dean told Canada's Liberal Party.

"I believe there will be many changes now that the Democratic Party has finally regained control of the Senate and the House of Representatives," Dean said.

"One of these will be renewing our relationship around the world," he told the Liberals as they met to choose a new leader.

Dean, 58, said that besides being top trading partners -- bilateral trade in goods and services is worth almost 500 billion dollars annually -- the US and Canada "are connected by shared values. We share ideals. And chief among them is our belief in democracy."

His visit on the eve of the Liberals' vote for a new leader who could challenge conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in elections likely next year, stressed the links between the Democrats and Liberals.

"We -- Democrats in the United States and Liberals in Canada -- share a belief in the same thing: fiscally responsible, socially progressive values," said Dean.

After 12 years in power, the Liberal Party lost to the Conservatives in the January 23 elections, prompting the resignation of ex-prime minister Paul Martin as party leader.