Canada should wake up to a cold new reality — the Americans under Trump aren’t automatically riding to the rescue anymore.
Trade punches, border threats and a White House openly talking about “liberating” us from our own government have shredded the old assumption that U.S. power is simply an extension of our own. For the first time in living memory, Canada feels very alone. And that's terrifying.
So, Ottawa has run to Europe for a hug. A new headline, advertised by Prime Minister Mark Carney, announcing Canada’s entry into an EU defence club is supposed to make us feel safer. It creates the appearance that Carney is doing important work for a country in economic and social decline.
On Dec. 1, Canada finalized an agreement to join the EU’s €150-billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence program, becoming the first non-EU nation to participate. The deal, announced by Carney and Defence Minister David McGuinty, grants Canadian firms access to low-interest loans for joint military procurement, boosting exports, filling capability gaps and attracting European investment amid rising global tensions.
Come off it.
Brussels can’t keep its own members from bickering over ammunition shipments to Ukraine, how is it going to stop a Russian submarine from surfacing off Baffin Island?
The EU has its hands full with Russia. The Ukraine war could spread west as France, Germany and the U.K. weaken under left-leaning governments unable to protect their own citizens from violent immigrants at Christmas markets.
The EU deal is security theatre for Carney. Meanwhile, a formidable enemy is already inside the wire. Chinese money and agents have spent 20 years buying influence in Canadian politics and universities. And in the North, Moscow is planting flags, building bases and sailing nuclear icebreakers while our Arctic patrol ships manage little more than creating small waves.
We can keep pretending Trump and distant allies in Europe will help us, or we can organize and spend what it takes to defend our own country. Good for Carney for announcing new military spending.
We can have a military preoccupied with tampons in men’s washrooms and transgenderism, or we can face the hard reality of a very dangerous world.
The clock is ticking, and the bears — both kinds — are already through the door.