This is the first in a series of guest columns by Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MP Leah Taylor Roy regarding the Canada-United States relationship from her perspective as a parliamentarian.
With President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs now in effect, it is time to reiterate as clearly as possible: Canada will never be part of the United States. Our institutions, laws, and, most importantly, our people will not allow it. We live in the greatest country on Earth, and that greatness is threatened when our sovereignty is.
For most of recent history, the relationship between the United States and Canada has been one of the closest between two countries anywhere on Earth. We rely on each other — on each other’s workers, goods, researchers, and, yes, each other’s military. Make no mistake about it — U.S. security relies on continued Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic and on our natural resources.
It is very clear Canadians have no interest in joining the U.S. in any union; according to an Angus Reid poll, 90 per cent of Canadians oppose such a proposal. Our values and priorities differ from those of the U.S., as do our history and our people. We have had a strong, mutually beneficial relationship throughout our history, and it is for our mutual benefit that this continues, but at the same time, Canada must also continue to strengthen our domestic economy and our trade and diplomatic relationships with other countries.
We must address interprovincial trade barriers. This issue between provincial governments has restricted our domestic economy and, according to the International Monetary Fund, there is a potential increase in our GDP by three to seven per cent if this issue can be successfully resolved. We must also increase the manufacturing and processing of our raw materials in Canada and promote more locally based food products for consumption in Canada.
We already have strong relationships with countries around the world that benefit Canadians. In fact, we are the only G7 country to have trade agreements with every other G7 country. This government has been investing and working tirelessly to build these relationships, including more recently with Asia-Pacific and Africa.
The U.S. is a large consumer society — consuming more than it produces, which means it will always have a trade deficit. Canada does the U.S. a service by providing high-quality, attractively priced goods it needs, like oil and gas.
The United States relies on our energy, electricity, lumber, and more. Our automotive sector is completely integrated, as are microchips. Eighty per cent of the microchips produced in the U.S. are sent to Canada for testing and packaging. We must not forget this and we must negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness.
Steady work is what is required, and that is exactly what this government has been doing. We all realize this is an ongoing effort from all Canadian leaders, regardless of political stripe or geography, where we must work together with the common goal of protecting our sovereignty and our economy.
Trump has taken irresponsible actions that will harm Canadians, Americans, and others around the world. He has used the pretext of national security to put in place tariffs against our country. His claims against us are completely false — we are not the source of the United States’ fentanyl problem, and our border is secure.
We are continuing our negotiations to get these tariffs removed while increasing trade with friends who share our values — which, regrettably, is no longer the American administration. In the interim, we will buy Canadian goods and increase our domestic manufacturing capacity.
We will fight, we will survive, and we will thrive again. We will never allow Trump’s economic coercion to force us to become the 51st state.
