The statement “Canada is broken” isn’t true. Not even close. And it was never true!
The statement was a campaign slogan attacking a particular politician. Thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats against us, America’s neighbour, ally and close friend for more than 200 years, this slogan seems to have backfired.
Before Trump and Elon Musk, senior advisor to the president, Canada wasn’t perfect. We could have “tweaked” some things. However, after this unprecedented ambush from an unexpected quarter, “change” has become an urgent matter.
Over the past 40 years, Canada gradually created closer bonds with the United States, culminating with the CUSMA variant of NAFTA.
Now we need to defend ourselves.
First, we must dismantle interprovincial trade barriers completely and rapidly. Ontario beer must be available in Quebec, and British Columbia’s wines in Ontario.
Ontario-trained medical personnel like doctors, nurses, pharmacists, midwives, physiotherapists, etc., must be permitted to practise anywhere in Canada.
Licensed trades like plumbers, auto mechanic technicians, truck drivers, crane operators and others must be free to work anywhere in Canada without restriction.
Why are lawyers limited to practising in one province? Even Quebec, whose civil law is based on the Code Napoleon, uses the same criminal law as the rest of Canada.
Truck dimensions and weight limits must be harmonized across the country – and the sooner the better.
We are all Canadian, so let’s act that way, starting now.
Second, we must stop being “nice,” accommodating our newly aggressive neighbour. If they can tear up negotiated trade agreements, so must we.
The NAFTA/CUSMA trade deal states that we cannot charge Americans more for lumber, minerals, steel, oil, electricity, etc., than we pay for the commodity ourselves. We should – with immediate effect – charge Americans market rate for all of these commodities.
Third, we must begin to build out appropriate infrastructure to facilitate east-west trade. Why does the northeast United States benefit from cheap Hydro Quebec electricity?
Over a half-century ago, Ontario opted for nuclear power plants instead of buying from Quebec – a costly decision since nuclear electricity is far more expensive than hydro power. (I saw my Quebec City brother-in-law’s electricity bill two months ago.)
We must develop high-voltage, direct-current, east-west transmission lines linking Canada instead of sending cheap, carbon-free electricity south. Inexpensive hydroelectricity from B.C., Manitoba, Labrador and Quebec could backstop prairie wind power, offshore wind power from both seacoasts and Great Lakes coastlines.
To those renewable resources we must add solar photovoltaics from flat rooftops everywhere; strip malls, industrial buildings, warehouses, etc. (Every urban flat roof has a grid connection, simplifying installation.) By delivering power close to consumers, urban photovoltaics reduce load on the high-voltage transmission grid.
Let’s improve our rail network. Every major Canadian urban region suffers from traffic congestion. Some blame this on heavy trucks carrying freight, some claim it is due to private cars. It’s time to create a real alternative – high-speed rail.
High-speed passenger rail beats flying for distances less than 600 kilometres. Some crowding on the 400-series highways around Toronto is caused by traffic to and from Pearson airport. Trains could alleviate that. Many drivers would choose rail if available and there are signs this idea has legs.
However, it's also time for rail to take even more freight off the roads. Our dominant carriers — CNR and CPR — focus on whole trains carrying very few commodities like grain, lumber or ore from one place to another. They cannot fix a delivery date for two or three rail cars more closely than a 10-day period.
Fast rail freight could deliver small numbers of rail cars to many industries independent of the main carriers.
My environmental friends will hate this, but we need to build petroleum and gas pipelines linking Canadian resources to Canadian refineries. Quebec have been resisting new pipelines across its territory. However, President Trump’s attack on our economy and our sovereignty may have changed their minds.
Access to tidewater (east and west coasts, plus Hudson Bay) would provide hard currency markets for our “ethical” hydrocarbons, helping displace product from distasteful regimes like Iran, Russia and Venezuela. (The first two fund terrorism and aggression. Defending ourselves from their attacks has cost “Western” economies dearly.)
Unfortunately, private enterprise is reluctant to build pipelines these due to economic uncertainty. However, there are ways our federal and provincial governments could help.
Building new east-west infrastructure will not be cheap. Many object to spending the money, adding to the national debt. However, America aggression has already caused stock markets (in North America, as well as worldwide) to fall, and decreased the value of our loonie. Job losses will follow and a North American recession is likely. Public works would provide a cushion – and an excuse to spend the money.
Our federal government must fast-track free trade with friendly jurisdictions such as the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. We have many critical metals (lithium, nickel, cobalt, etc.) they need as well as low-carbon aluminum and steel. They have many of the high-tech components, pharmaceuticals and electric vehicles we need – and they trade in “hard currency.”
We are in far off Australia visiting friends. Many Aussies have expressed sympathy and solidarity with Canada. They, too, are threatened by Trump’s attacks. They also illustrate how to resist. They proudly market locally made products, revealing any foreign content. They were surprised when I described our interprovincial trade barriers. These do not exist among Australia’s six states. We must dismantle ours in Canada.
There is one benefit to be pulled out from under Trump’s wrecking ball. It is forcing Canadians to examine our place in the world and force our economy to become more robust.
There are many bright spots. Saskatchewan produces 34 per cent of the world’s lentils. The Canadian Mint makes coins for 80 countries. Canada exports 90 per cent of the seafood we harvest, but imports 80 per cent of the seafood we eat. Can’t we connect these two? We also supply a substantial proportion of the potatoes and potato products (chips and frozen fries) consumed in the U.S.
It is worth knowing that the U.S. imports three-quarters of the petroleum it refines. More than half comes from Canada. Shortages at the gas pumps and rising prices would show Americans that Trump’s tariffs do not benefit them.
It's time we stood up to the American attack. It's time we become more self-reliant by removing internal trade barriers and improving interprovincial movement of goods. It's time to enhance trade with other markets.
“Cet animal est très méchant, quand on l'attaque il se défend.” (This animal is very mean, when you attack, it defends itself.)
We must remind the current, erratic American government that their friendly, peaceful “beaver” has teeth. Canada should “fire a shot across their bow” by imposing an export tax on the cheap hydroelectricity and discounted crude oil we send to the U.S. Twenty-five per cent sounds about right.
Come on Canada, we can do this!
Peter Bursztyn is a self-proclaimed “recovering scientist” who has a passion for all things based in science and the environment. The now-retired former university academic has taught and carried out research at universities in Africa, Britain and Canada.
