In 1995, I interviewed Matthew Coon Come, who served as grand chief of the Grand Council of the Cree in Quebec. The Cree and Inuit have rights over the northern two-thirds of Quebec and rejected separatism. They decided to stage their own referendum and I asked the chief what his people would do if the rest of Quebec voted to separate.

He said they would ask the Canadian military to protect them and, if that didn’t work, they would petition the United Nations for help. Finally, if all that failed, he said: “We’ll have target practice with power transmission towers in Quebec, put the eastern seaboard of the United States into darkness and the U.S. Marines will be here in 24 hours.”

Coon Come understood the power structure of the bilateral relationship between the two countries better than most Canadian leaders do today. Denying energy or commodities that are essential to the United States is simply a non-starter.

It’s seems unfair, but Canada has remained subordinate to America after generations of unambitious federal leaders, culminating with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “lost decade.” Essentially, Canada was a sleepy a British colony that allowed itself to effectively become an American colony.

Fortunately, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith understands the geopolitical and geo-economic realities, and her strategy reflects that. She believes that Canada is a reliable supplier and must remain that way.

“My interpretation of the president is he likes to win, so it’s up to us to demonstrate how we can get a double win here. I think it’s a double win to sell more to the United States, buy more from the United States, have a joint energy security strategy that leads to a national and international security strategy,” she said.

However, she said that an election must be held immediately, in order to get a government with a clear mandate to negotiate with the Trump administration. But the country has been paralyzed since Trudeau announced his resignation and prorogued Parliament until a new Liberal leader can be chosen.

“At this critical time, Canadians need and deserve a prime minister and federal government with a clear mandate won from the Canadian people to negotiate with (Trump) on one of the most important international negotiations we have ever faced as a country,” Smith wrote on social media.

“The Liberal party has no such mandate from Canadians and they are putting their selfish political interests ahead of the Canadian people by paralyzing Parliament and suspending democracy for months while they fight a divisive internal leadership contest. It is one of the most irresponsible and selfish acts of a government in Canadian history.”

Canada must also expedite security measures at the border, as promised, fix the immigration system and increase defence spending, whether or not tariffs begin on Feb. 1. Trump has been furious for years about freeloading NATO members, like Canada, that have never met their commitment to spent two per cent of gross domestic product on defence. Last July, after much pressure, Trudeau announced he would meet the two per cent commitment by 2032-33. The tab is staggering.

“Defence spending would have to nearly double as compared to projections of spending for the current fiscal year (2024-25),” according to the parliamentary budget officer. Currently, Canada spends around $41 billion annually on defence, or 1.37 per cent of GDP. To reach two per cent by 2032-33, Ottawa would have to spend $81.9 billion, nearly double the current amount.

These are among the obscene IOUs that Trudeau’s Liberals have left behind for Canadian taxpayers to pay. Since 2015, they have mismanaged the economy, neglected natural resource and Arctic development, and saddled Canadians with debt.

Finally, the nature of Canada’s flawed democracy should be addressed. Prime ministers should not be allowed to ignore the public’s right to replace a non-functioning government with a quick election during a dangerous crisis. The existential crisis that Canada finds itself in is, frankly, made in Canada and must be fixed here, too.

Financial Post

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