The path toward a stronger Canada

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2025 (275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“We built a country east and west and north. We built it on an infrastructure that deliberately resisted the continental pressure of the United States. For 120 years we’ve done it. With one signature of a pen, you’ve reversed that, thrown us into the north-south influence of the United States and will reduce us, I am sure, to a colony of the United States because when the economic levers go, the political independence is sure to follow.”

Those words were spoken by Liberal Party Leader John Turner in October 1988, during an election debate with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The subject was the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement. Mulroney dismissed the concerns as unserious but, more than 36 years later, it is time to finally acknowledge that Turner was right.

The Canada-U.S. free trade agreement evolved to include Mexico as part of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and that agreement eventually evolved into the current Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade Agreement (CUSMA). Through the three-decade process, the economies of the three countries became increasingly intertwined and, as Turner warned, Canada’s economic independence withered.

Instead of preserving a Canadian economy that produced many of the products and commodities that Canadians required, and relying upon trading relationships with countries around the world, we became a junior partner in an integrated continental economy. With each passing year, we have become increasingly reliant upon America as our primary trading partner, to the point where the viability of our economy hinges on its trade relationship with the U.S.

That dependency has caused many in the U.S. to view Canada as a weak, vulnerable neighbour that has been coasting on America’s economic and security coattails. That perception has led us to where we are today, with threats of punishing tariffs by the U.S. putting the health of Canada’s economy — and the economic interests of millions of Canadians — in jeopardy.

Monday’s decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to delay the imposition of tariffs on all goods, commodities and services entering the U.S. from Canada has been welcomed by many Canadians as the end of a budding trade war that should have never happened.

That’s a dangerous mistake, because the dispute hasn’t ended. Trump’s tariffs have simply been postponed for 30 days, not withdrawn. They continue to represent a serious threat to our economy, including the economic well-being of millions of Canadians who could lose their livelihoods if Trump implements his tariffs.

Given Trump’s angry and erratic nature, combined with his belief that tariffs would strengthen America’s economy, there is little reason to believe his tariff threat against Canada has passed, and every reason to believe that it will return at some point in the future.

With Trump’s tariffs still pending, the question to be addressed is how we should respond to such a perilous situation. The answer is obvious: At the government and business level, we must move as quickly to reduce our economic reliance on America.

By building a long list of international customers for Canada’s products, commodities and services, we will lessen our dependence on the American market. That process must include building more pipelines to the east, west and north, so that we can ship our oil and national gas throughout the nation and around the globe. It is ridiculous that a large part of eastern Canada relies on imported oil.

It is equally ridiculous that Canada has electrical transmission lines that convey large volumes of electricity to the U.S., yet we do not have a high-capacity, east-west transmission grid.

We should also consider the creation of a national agency analogous to the old Wheat Board, which would enable Canadian farmers to sell their crops through that agency to international markets.

We must also work to eliminate the many barriers that exist to trade between our provinces. Economists estimate doing so would increase Canada’s gross domestic product by more than 20 per cent.

At the individual level, we must support Canadian businesses by purchasing their products and services. Where certain products are not available in Canada, we should buy them from suppliers outside the U.S., as we have an interest in building sustainable trading relationships with other nations.

If you plan to travel outside Canada, consider non-U.S. destinations. If you drink coffee, you can purchase “fair trade” coffee that is produced in South and Central American nations — and you can find it right here in Brandon.

John Turner was right to warn Canadians of the danger of hitching our economy to the U.S. We ignored his advice, however, and now America threatens the very survival of our economy.

That vulnerability must change. We must strengthen our economy by making it less reliant on the U.S. The sooner we do that, the better for all of us.