Thanks, Mr. Trump. You are changing Canada for the better
Ottawa announced this week a pact to provide Germany with liquefied gas and critical minerals. The Canadian government is investing in major infrastructure projects to create strategic gateways to the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts. Places other than Trumpland.
It’s part of Canada’s smart rush to de-Americanize, to become more independent in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs and shock threats to our sovereignty.
The Canadianization is happening on many levels. We’ve never seen anything like it. It’s happening on the economy, on trade diversification, on military spending, on culture with our changed travel and purchasing practices, and on alliance-building abroad.
It’s a parting of ways, a break with the American bonding that has gone on for a century, a cutting of the ties that bind. And we can thank Mr. Trump for it. Six months into Trump 2.0, his attempted shakedown is having the opposite of the intended impact. It’s making us stronger not weaker, taller not smaller.
A most obvious Trump impact has been to bring on more patriotism in this land than at any time I can remember since the hockey series triumph over the Soviets in 1972. He’s made Canadians more proud. He’s made us feel better about who we are. Nothing pulls people together like a looming external threat. We’ve never had a bigger threat to our sovereignty than Mr. Trump’s annexation talk – even if it was not much more than talk. And so the Buy Canadian and Boycott American movement took form, and we’re staying away from that country in droves.
It’s not just his threats that have heightened the level of Canadian pride. It’s what he is doing to his own country – his shredding of its democratic traditions, his dark turn to authoritarian nationalism. It makes us appreciate our values and our systems so much more. Moreover, there’s the fact that about half the American population appears to be supporting what he is doing. We couldn’t have imagined it. We thought the great majority in that country had similar democratic values to our own.
Of great consequence is the drive that the tariff-mad Trump administration is triggering here for greater economic independence. This has the makings of a historic turn. It’s a repudiation of continentalism, of the integration-with-America mentality, of the Brian Mulroney vision.
From the north-south economic axis, the thrust now moves to east-west, harkening back to the national policy that built this country under John A. Macdonald. Because of geographic dictate and America’s megapower status, it will remain our dominant trade partner. But the need for Canada to free up its own domestic markets, and the need for Ottawa to pursue new trade markets abroad, have been driven home like never before.
If all this isn’t enough, there’s the impact of the Trump administration on our defence posture, as seen in the huge hikes being planned by Ottawa in military spending. It’s yet another major departure from tradition. We will move from a country reputed since the Second World War for soft power, to one which gains some respect in international councils for hard power. It will increase our sense of confidence and security.
By threatening our independence, Mr. Trump is strengthening our independence. Not much of the foregoing would have happened without him. He has ended our complacency. He is the shock to the system this country needed. He is terminating what Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Sabia has called our “ ambition deficit.”
Not to be understated, of course, is the havoc Mr. Trump’s trade wars and other reckless initiatives could bring to our economy and others. We’re still the small player by comparison and, no matter what measures we take, highly vulnerable. There is no telling with him how things will evolve. It could be that in pursuing his tariff wars, the brutal political fallout from inflation will force him to pare back. It could be that Canada gets a new trade deal, one that isn’t too punitive, to replace the USMCA. It could be that Trumpism is beaten up badly in the midterm elections, or the 2028 presidential election, or that it is endorsed and endures.
But whatever the case, Mr. Trump’s impact on Canada will be lasting. He has changed our mindset to a realization that our future is no longer embedded in the United States. We will become, thanks to this vampire President, a more independent country – and in so doing, a prouder one. He may come to be seen as one of the best things that ever happened to us.
Trump. You are changing Canada for the better
Lawrence Martin Public affairs columnist
Special to The Globe and Mail |
