Positive steps toward a new relationship

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2025 (362 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media that “If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!”

Several hours later, Prime Minister Mark Carney responded, saying that “The old relationship we had with the United States, based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military co-operation, is over … We must fundamentally reimagine our economy. We will need to ensure that Canada can succeed in a drastically different world.”

He added that “What is clear is that we as Canadians have agency, we have power. We are masters in our own home. We can control our destiny.”

Less than 24 hours after that, yesterday morning, Trump and Carney spoke by telephone. Following that conversation, Trump posted this on his social media account: “I just finished speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney. It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things, and will be meeting immediately after Canada’s upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors, that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

To say that the change in Trump’s tone is striking is an understatement. Nowhere in his message do we see the ham-handed bullying that Canadians have witnessed from him over the past several weeks.

Conspicuously absent from his post is any reference to Trump’s oft-repeated goal of making Canada America’s 51st state, and also missing are his incessant grievances over Canada’s trading relationship with America. Instead, he said that the discussion was “extremely productive” and “we agree on many things.” Who saw that coming?

Even more noteworthy is, firstly, Trump’s reference to Carney as prime minister, not “governor,” as he did when referring to former prime minister Justin Trudeau, and secondly, the fact he appears to end his post by thanking Carney for the discussion.

Carney’s readout of the conversation is quite similar. He characterizes it as “a very constructive conversation about the relationship between our two countries,” and says that he told Trump that Canada will proceed with retaliatory tariffs if the U.S. imposes auto tariffs next week.

The readout also says that Carney and Trump agreed to begin “comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship immediately following the election.”

What are Canadians to make of the sudden change in Trump’s tone and demeanour? Does this signal a return to the amicable U.S.-Canada relationship that existed prior to Trump’s inauguration in January? Does it confirm, as Liberals argue, that Carney has the skills and experience to steer Trump toward a more respectful, constructive relationship with our nation?

It’s far too soon to tell, based upon just one social media message, but yesterday’s conversation appears to be a step forward. Given Trump’s erratic and offensive nature, however, it would be a mistake to conclude or even assume that the frayed U.S.-Canada relationship between the two nations has changed, let alone been repaired.

Note that Trump’s message does not mention the tariffs that he has already imposed against Canada, nor those he has threatened to impose in the future. Similarly, the lack of any reference to our trade surplus with America does not mean that he is now taking a more realistic view of the issue.

Most importantly, his failure to repeat his desire to annex Canada does not mean that he no longer covets our land, water, resources and rare earth minerals. It is hard to imagine he would abandon those objectives based on one brief phone call.

The more realistic interpretation of yesterday’s discussion is that Carney is accurate in stating that the previous economic, military and security relationship between Canada and America is at an end. That conclusion is supported by the fact that the two leaders agreed that “comprehensive negotiations about a new economic and security relationship immediately following the election.”

What that new relationship will ultimately become is impossible to say at this point, but the reality is that Canada will always be neighbours with the U.S., and that means we will always have some form of trading relationship. Given the broken state of the current relationship, a new, clearly defined relationship is required.

If yesterday’s conversation moves us closer toward that objective, it is a positive development.