A Quebec City high-speed rail connection to Toronto will do more to unite the country than simply a rail connection. It will get people moving in an east-west direction, which can only help strengthen the ties that bind us. We have Trump to thank for this wake-up call.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on February 24, 2025.

OTTAWA—Trump lemons may become Canada’s lemonade.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s high-speed electric rail announcement last week is one case in point.

The interest in high-speed rail has been percolating for years.

But it finally looks as though a consortium capable of completing the project will focus on linking Quebec City to Toronto.

The original idea called for a rail line from Windsor to Quebec City. That makes the most sense as the population from Toronto to Windsor can support a rail service with more certainty than the route from Quebec City to Montreal.

Trudeau’s announcement in the dying days of his administration will be a legacy in the same way that Sir John A. Macdonald is recognized as the builder of Canada’s first cross-country rail service.

The project has been made that much more important in the current climate of economic fear created by American President Donald Trump.

It is not just the ridiculous statements made by the American president. His aggressive, illegal ruminations about taking over our country have been met with very little objection from our American friends and neighbours.

It is commonplace to hear that Canada and the United States share friends and, in many cases, family, given our proximity and open border.

So most Canadians were flummoxed when the president’s comments were not repudiated by American opinion leaders.

Lawrence Martin wrote a column in The Globe and Mail, riffing off the original Gone with the Wind film with his claim that “Quite frankly Canada, we don’t give a damn.”

His perspective, shared by many, was an expression of disappointment in America’s silence on tariffs and the unwanted annexation invitation.

Europeans weren’t paying much attention until U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance delivered a shocker of a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Valentine’s Day.

Vance’s claim that European democracy and free speech are backsliding was seen as an ideological declaration of war against former allies.

Europe obviously won’t get any help from the Americans if Russia decides to extend its war to other parts of eastern Europe.

Canada needs to join a European-led military response. We also need to strengthen our interprovincial relations.

That is where the train comes in. More Quebecers travelling to Ontario and vice-versa will accelerate internal integration.

Trudeau is the first prime minister to invest heavily in mass transit at the local level in communities across the country.

A move toward rapid, electrified transportation is one element that will accelerate links between Ontario and Quebec.

Existing barriers were specifically designed by governments to protect home advantage. They serve to limit the growth of economies in other provinces, and protect jobs in their own jurisdictions.

For every barrier that is eliminated, there will be some whose provincial economic interests will seek to stymie integration.

Trains are not the only investment to link regions.

It is time for a transnational pipeline to get western oil to eastern markets.

If we want to call ourselves a country, we have to be prepared to make changes to protectionist provincial laws that pit one region against another.

A Quebec City connection to Toronto will do more to unite the country than simply a rail connection.

It will get people moving in an east-west direction, which can only help strengthen the ties that bind us.

We have Trump to thank for this wakeup call, as the United States has set itself up as an isolationist bully with a predilection for dictators.

Vance met with a right-wing German opposition leader after his blistering attack on existing governments prompted the security summit chair to break down in tears during his closing address.

The initial audience response was a mixture of disbelief and incomprehension. But Europe has finally awoken to the dangers of Trumpism.

We can expect similar attacks as long as Trump is in office.

Global institutions that have helped shape world health, justice, and economic policy hold no sway with Trump.

He has already moved to eliminate American participation in the World Health Organization, and has issued sanctions against the International Criminal Court.

While the Canadian government tackles the issues outlined by the White House to avoid tariffs, there is zero certainty that this will result in more Canada-U.S. co-operation.

We can expect the contrary. The only thing that will stop Trump is if he sees that his erratic leadership results in a downward stock market trajectory.

The World Trade Organization warned us last week that tariff wars could trigger a global recession.

For Trump, money talks.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By SHEILA COPPS

First published in The Hill Times on Monday, March 13, 2017.

OTTAWA—The Trump effect is sweeping across Europe, with all eyes on the first round of the French elections next month.

National polls have the anti-immigration party of Marine Le Pen hovering around 30 per cent, with some even suggesting her numbers might climb as high as 40.

Few are predicting a Le Pen win, with opponents working in tandem to undermine her momentum.

But no one is taking anything for granted.
 
Travelling in Paris last week, I got an earful about how the American phenom was moving east.

Everywhere I went, people were talking about Le Pen’s anti-globalization message and platform planks mirroring those of U.S. President Donald Trump.

It is not the first time the Le Pen family has caught the attention of the French political class.

Marine’s father led the National Front for almost 40 years, before Marine assumed his mantle six years ago, becoming only the second president of the party her family founded. In 2012, she placed third, behind François Hollande and Nicholas Sarkozy, in the presidential election.

Her second presidential bid for the election culminating on May 7 was launched in February.

The Le Pen brand has been around for almost a half-century, but never managed to garner support from more than one in five French voters.

But the winds of change that carried Brexit and Trump seem to be leaving their mark in France too.

Le Pen herself has campaigned to soften the image of the National Front. She went so far as to expel her father-founder from the party almost two years ago for characterizing the Holocaust as a “mere detail” of history.

Le Pen’s political manifesto is eerily similar to Trump’s. Much of her political fire has been reserved for immigrants and Islam. She has also promised to put an end to a financial system that she says is wreaking havoc with blue-collar workers.

Le Pen, a member of the European Parliament since 2004, is promising to put France first by exiting the Union. She also vows to end the twin tyrannies of Islamic fundamentalism and globalization, with a vow to replace the euro with the franc.

If that sounds familiar, there is another surprising similarity shared by the two campaigns.

Washington is abuzz about multiple Trump insiders who, having previously denied it, are now admitting to multiple meetings with Russians during the campaign.

Congress is vowing to get to the bottom of potential Russian election interference, and the investigation may uncover other Muscovite meddling beyond the United States.

Le Pen has publicly sought loans from banks close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to fund her campaign, complaining that traditional French financiers are lukewarm to her efforts.

Le Pen’s initial adversary, Francois Fillon, dropped like a stone in January following allegations of financial impropriety involving political payments to family members for work that was never done.

Last week, new information surfaced involving a secret 50,000-euro loan from a French billionaire, that Fillon “forgot” to report, in violation of French law. Fillon, considered unbeatable last fall, is now in third place behind LePen and independent candidate Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen was in top spot until late last week, when for the first time, Macron edged ahead by one point.

The first round vote in the French election does not occur until April 23, so there is plenty of time for the see-saw to start.

But with the dramatic descent of Fillon, it appears as though Macron will the beneficiary of the anybody-but-LePen movement.

Just last Wednesday, Macron won the backing of Socialist and former Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë who called him “a reformist, a European, and a realist.”

Macron, former economy minister under outgoing French President François Hollande, quit the Socialist Party last year, hoping to cash in on anti-politician sentiment by running as an independent.

Macron refused to participate in the party primary but benefitted from reports that he would have been the Socialist president’s choice. On International Women’s Day, Macron suggested he would like to name a woman prime minister as part of his team. In France, the presidents selects the PM.

If the current numbers hold, the first-round winner is a toss-up. But in a runoff, Macron is expected to win handily.

Macron has been called politically naive by some because, despite sitting in cabinet, he has never held elected office.

However, that didn’t stop Donald Trump from getting the American nod.

Whatever the outcome, it is certainly not business as usual in France.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.