The U.S. president-elect’s instability is something Canadians will have to live with. But we cannot be bullied into submission by denying our status as an independent country.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on December 16, 2024.
OTTAWA—The most popular guessing game in Ottawa these days is how to stare down a bully.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump lost no time in poking fun at his favourite punching bag, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, by posting a social media message suggesting it was great having dinner with “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada. I look forward to seeing the Governor again soon so that we continue our in depth talks on tariffs and trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford had a soft response: “I am sure not thinking of Justin Trudeau at midnight so if he is thinking of Justin at midnight, it’s probably a good relationship.”
It wasn’t the first crack that Trump has taken at Canada recently. After the prime minister met him at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said in an interview on Meet the Press that Canada could become the 51st state.
“We’re subsidizing Canada to the tune of over $100-billion a year … if we are going to subsidize them, why not become a state?”
Trump’s comments on subsidies are incorrect. He is referring to a trade imbalance between Canada and the United States, largely driven by the sale of Canadian electricity and gas to the U.S. If those sales are cancelled—which is the rationale behind imposing a tariff on incoming goods—much of America’s manufacturing production would be stalled due to lack of energy.
The U.S. needs Canada’s energy, and it also needs our water. We are sitting on 20 per cent of the world’s supply of fresh water while several states in the U.S. are suffering from a water shortage.
So Canada has some cards to play in this tit-for-tat verbal slugfest. Trudeau is getting lots of advice on how to deal with it.
Peter Donolo, former communications advisor to then-prime minister Jean Chrétien, told the CBC last week Trudeau should stand tough.
“It isn’t the first time in Canadian history that the possibility of a union with the United States has been on the table. It’s a mistake to laugh it off … this is an insult to Canada. This is the guy’s [Trump] MO …. we have had 150 years as an independent country … what starts off as a joke is a seed planted … our leaders should push back and not make light of it. … given Donald Trump’s own history of lawlessness … when we let Trump get away with stuff … all he does is do it again harder.”
Donolo also referred to past Canada-U.S. relations, from the charm offensive then-prime minister Brian Mulroney used on then-president George Bush, to Chrétien’s decision to refuse the American invitation to join the invasion of Iraq.
He characterized the two as the suck-up versus the stand-up approach.
Donolo also decried provincial premiers for “sucking up” to Trump, specifically citing the premiers of Quebec and Alberta: “history proves that when you cave to a strongman all it does is whet his appetite for more.”
Provincial premiers are supposed to be working with the prime minister on a united strategy to dampen Trump’s appetite for tariffs. But Donolo’s point is that if the country looks like it is running scared, Trump is the kind of bully who will simply increase tariffs and put more pressure on the Canadian economy.
The U.S. president-elect’s instability is something Canadians will have to learn to live with. But we certainly cannot allow ourselves to be bullied into submission by denying our status as an independent country.
Statistics came out last week showing that the U.S. has the highest health care costs in the world. Meanwhile, our nation has been able to shape a system where every Canadian who is sick can go to the hospital with no fear of being turned away because of money.
Canada’s level of gun violence is seven times lower than that of America’s. And while the Canadian government has just introduced legislation to further reduce assault rifle access, the U.S. cannot seem to get past its obsession with second amendment gun-toting rights adopted almost 250 years ago.
The gun-toting path chosen by Americans for their own country is definitely not one that Canadians would follow.
We will not be bullied into denying our identity, nor should our leaders be trying to assuage the ignorant comments of the American president.
Trump’s backhanded denial of Canada’s existence as a country is no joke.
And we need to push back—hard.
That is the only language that a bully will understand.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.
