Claudia Casper

Basically, what Canadians have heard from President Trump (and his Cabinet) since January 2025 is the following: “you are the equivalent of a piece of s**t. We don’t need you; you are nothing without us. We will use economic pressure to force you into submission. It doesn’t matter that we have a free trade agreement between us, setting out the rules. It doesn’t matter that that agreement was my idea. It doesn’t matter that I praised the agreement as being “the best one ever.” No matter what those rules say, I’ll do whatever I want to you whenever I feel the urge to do so. It kind of gives me pleasure to hurt you economically; I especially enjoy humiliating you. You should sit back and welcome that. You absolutely shouldn’t complain about it. If you dare hit back, I’ll strike you even harder. We can retaliate; you cannot! And don’t even think about looking for any new relationships. If you try that, I’ll scorch the earth under you – and I’ll make any country entering into agreements with you regret doing so.” This meets the classic definition of an abusive relationship. It still shocks us that the U.S. now behaves this way. Canadian businesses and individuals treasure the connections we have to Americans. These bonds have been formed over centuries and have greatly benefitted both Americans and Canadians. We wish more Americans were acting to stop their Administration from destroying what we’ve built together. Sadly, the only predictability – for the time being – is more of the same from the Trump Administration. All threats, all the time. Our government understands that Canadians, overwhelmingly, see no plus sides in succumbing to this grotesque harassment. We can’t have confidence that this menacing behavior will stop anytime soon; we know, based on common understandings of how bullies behave, that ignoring or tolerating such abuse simply invites more of it. In recent times, albeit in different ways, Russia & China have been the most consistent big power “aggressors” in international relations. Under President Trump, the U.S. has chosen to join that group. Canadians are coming to understand the costs we’re likely to bear from preserving our self-respect and our sovereign rights as a country to pursue our collective interest. It’s all very unfortunate (to put it mildly). Weaning ourselves from disproportionate dependence on buying from and selling to Americans will be hard. But our leaders have been left with few options. Mercifully, there are still many jurisdictions in this world that behave ‘normally’. That aren’t predators. That are interested in partnership, not dominance. We need to deepen our relations with as many of those as we possibly can. Who knows what “Associate Membership” in the EU will mean, if it ever comes to pass. Canada isn’t interested in being governed by Brussels any more than we’re interested in being governed by Washington. So, this may lead only to deepened trade relationships, maybe only in certain sectors. If so, that’s still better than being so heavily exposed to the whims of an ever-more-hostile U.S. Administration.