Carney Got Tough. He Should Get Tougher

While it is a good thing that Prime Minister Mark Carney ultimately refused to sign an agreement with the United States, it is important not to mythologize that decision.

According to knowledgeable sources, if Donald Trump’s team had not added a couple of last-minute, absurd demands — including on bilingualism — Carney was on the verge of inking a bad deal for Canadians.

It is a position the prime minister should never have been in to begin with.

As negotiations with the Trump administration dragged on and more details leaked out, a chorus of voices on “Team Canada” warned, in increasingly blunt language, not to give in to American demands.

These voices included premiers Wab Kinew of Manitoba and Susan Holt of New Brunswick, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker of the steel-industry dominated city Sault Ste. Marie, all federal opposition leaders and former Liberal trade minister Chrystia Freeland, as well as former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole.

Even former prime minister Justin Trudeau was quoted as saying his government drew strength from Canadians’ resolve to stand up to U.S. aggression and expected that the current government would be similarly guided, which sounded a lot like a hint for Carney.

So, yes, Carney deserves credit for ultimately refusing to sign. But consider what we almost gave away.

Carney and his negotiating team reportedly were very close to granting concessions on control over our critical minerals and oil and gas resources, digital policy, dairy supply management, dropping of retaliatory tariffs and returning U.S. alcohol to provincial liquor store shelves. There was also a widely speculated commitment to join Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defence scheme and complete the U.S. F-35s purchase.

Together, these concessions amount to a capitulation on the protection of Canada's sovereignty.

After more than a year and a half of living with Trump’s America — its threats and unpredictability, its cruelty and ignorance — Carney should have known the folly of trying to appease an unpredictable bully. He should have at least been aware of his own citizens’ intolerance for further concessions.

This raises the question about who Carney is listening to most closely as he conducts negotiations: average Canadians or a tight circle of CEOs?

For more than a year, much of the business community — as represented by groups such as the Business Council of Canada , the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters — has been urging concessions in the hoped-for return to normal and “ certainty .”

As national security expert Stephanie Carvin notes , however, “Canadian businesses must stop wishcasting for a world that no longer exists.” Instead, accept that “privileged access to the American market can no longer be the organizing principle of Canadian economic policy.”

Labour leader Lana Payne, whose Unifor members are on the frontlines of U.S. trade tactics, has also sought to inject some reality into the debate, warning against a trade deal at any cost, stating “there is such a thing as bad certainty.”