The District is full of the powerful and political, people whose decisions have a national impact. It’s also full of the people pitching their causes and products to the powerful and political, any way they can. As we have discovered before, many a cause have used ads in Metrorail stations to catch the attention and, hopefully, good favor of passing riders whose jobs involve power or policy. Defense-related ads are concentrated heavily near the Pentagon or the Capitol, pitching everything from helicopters to high technology for the war against terrorism.

As we recently walked through Metro Center, we stumbled across the ad pictured above, which features an image of soldiers above a message reading, “Boots on the Ground. U.S.-Canada Relations: Security is our Business.” Sponsored by the Canadian Government, the ad promotes a website, CanadianAlly.com, which describes Canada’s role alongside the U.S. in the global war on terror.

We’re not ones to question the allegiances of our neighbor to the north. But we are curious as to why they are looking to promote their security policy and close alliance to the U.S. to Metrorail passengers transferring from the Red Line to the Orange and Blue Lines. Has that ever been in doubt? We do suppose it’s good to know they’re there if we need them, unlike, say, those spineless Mexicans. They haven’t even bothered to buy an ad and pretend.