COLUMN: View from the Legislature – Nostalgia is not a plan

For many years I had the honour of serving as the Canadian co-chair of the Midwest Canada-U.S. Relations Committee. During that time, I worked with hundreds of U.S. state senators and members of state legislatures. Whether on trade, security, tariffs or other cross border issues, I was always confident in the longstanding relationship that exists between our two great nations. That isn’t to say there weren’t challenges during my time on the committee. Challenges related to country-of-origin labelling, BSE disease and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (which became CUSMA) were just some of the significant issues.

But through all those challenges it always felt that at the core of our discussions was a mutual desire to see the long-standing partnership between our two countries continue. And it was always described by elected officials on both sides of the border as a partnership, one where we built things together. Today it seems there is a desire for many American lawmakers to view Canada less as a partner in business and more as a competitor.

Those who know of my long-time involvement in the Canada-U.S. Relations Committee have asked me if I am surprised by the current state of relations between our two countries. And, truthfully, I am. Very. There is little that I experienced in my decade working with American and Canadian lawmakers that would have led be to believe that the relationship could deteriorate not only so much, but so quickly.

To be clear, in many ways the relationship between Americans and Canadians remains strong. This is demonstrated in many ways. One small example was the strong reception that the marching band from the University of North Dakota received at the Blue Bomber game this past week where they were performing at half time. Some worried that they might not be warmly received and yet Manitobans showed the class that one would expect.

Yet, months of punishing tariffs, veiled threats about our sovereignty and the violation of the CUSMA agreement have left many Canadians with emotions that range from sadness to frustration to anger.

And many hang on to the nostalgic feeling that in a short period of time the relationship might return to what it once was. But what if it doesn’t? And what if there were signs even earlier that things were changing.

This past week, the Democratic Governor of California, and potential presidential candidate, said he was dismayed at the disrespect the president was showing Canada. Yet, when pressed, he would not guarantee that if he were president the tariffs would all be removed, just that more respect would be shown. And while the respect I am sure would be welcomed by Canadians, without any significant change in the protectionist policies, the economic challenges remain.

Which means that nostalgia cannot be the plan. Canada has to aggressively look for ways to strengthen our nation in ways that do not simply rely on being next to the largest economic power in the world. It means making our country more competitive and attractive for investment, making sure our products and resources can get to markets other than the United States and diversifying our economy. It’s not as though Canada hasn’t done those things before, but it has been a long time since there was the need and urgency to do so.

The relationship with the United States has changed faster than I or most people could have imagined. And with that same speed Canada must do perhaps what we should have done long ago, and find ways to become a more resilient, competitive and self-reliant nation.