The announcement late in the afternoon on Monday, February 3 that the Trump administration would not impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods entering the United States for 30 days does not change anything about the seriousness of the threats that have been made to Canada. The reprieve just gives us more time to be better prepared if the tariffs are imposed, which would lead to Canada responding with its own tariffs.
Canada and the US have been good neighbours for more than 200 years. Even the best of friends and neighbours do not always agree or do everything the same, but our two countries have enough in common that we generally get along and live peacefully and productively together. This recent behaviour from Washington, threatening unnecessarily punitive tariffs, and persistently suggesting it would just be a lot easier if we just joined the US, is causing a disturbance in the neighbourhood. Picture a pleasant street with two houses side by side where the neighbours have been friends for years, until one day, one of them irrationally begins insulting the other. The 30-day reprieve from tariffs does not create much optimism that further threats and suggestions that Canada just give up will subside.
Admittedly, Canada must improve border security and defence spending. We do not need to return to the World War Two days of having the third-largest navy in the world or the Cold War arrangement of hosting American nuclear weapons on our air force bases. However, we should spend money on our military to meet our international obligations and to properly protect our territorial sovereignty. And, to meet these obligations effectively and to safely equip the people who serve in our military, we should have ships, vehicles, and aircraft that are modern, reliable, and procured quickly and efficiently.
This situation has reawakened the need for Canadians to have a serious conversation about ourselves as a country and what it even means to be a country. Our geography and diverse demographics have always made it a challenge to define our identity and culture in a national sense. It is again time to revisit this conversation. We are going to be much stronger as a country if we can demonstrate a much more comprehensive national identity than what we have been demonstrating in recent years. What defines us can no longer be the smug musings of academics, nor can it be the temperamental reflexes from more reactionary elements. Our identity, and how we portray it, must extend beyond being nice, hockey, and beer commercials.
In recent days, Canadians have seen the economic threat we are facing and have begun to seriously understand the importance of making and purchasing products in Canada. Tariffs, 51st state threats notwithstanding, do not back down on this newfound appreciation for what we make and sell here, and how much we could expand those capabilities.
We can do this, if we work willingly to keep Canada strong and independent.
