Prime Minister Stephen Harper (L), walks with Canadian Ambassador to the United States Gary Doer (C), and State Department Assistant Chief of Protocol Randall Baumgardener at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., May 18, 2012. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It may be New Year's Day, but Gary Doer isn't sleeping in.

Instead, Canada's Ambassador to the United States is closely monitoring the frantic 11th-hour negotiations going on here to avert the worst impacts of the so-called fiscal cliff.

As of midnight Tuesday morning, the country had technically taken the plunge.

According to Alexandra Vachon White, deputy spokeswoman for the Canadian Embassy, Doer has been updating the Prime Minister's Office on the ever-changing developments, which Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has warned would impact Canada's economy, too.

"The Embassy is continuing to closely monitor and report on the three elements of the fiscal cliff situation," Vachon White wrote QMI Agency in an e-mail Monday. "The Ambassador and his team are working today (Monday) to report on the outcome of negotiations, as this issue directly impacts the Canadian economy."