Moving on from a once-close friendship

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/03/2025 (214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s legislative building is adorned with a giant Canadian flag. Once, the American flag flew from there. It was a Friday, during the pandemic.

One of the more obscure duties of the Clerk of the Executive Council is oversight of the legislative building. During the pandemic, we received a request to film inside and around the building. Public health protocols were confirmed, and permission was granted.

Departing my office late on a Friday, I opened the door to find myself on a film stage. Lights, cameras, and action were in full swing over the first and second floors of the legislative building.

Creating new realities is what movies do. This was no exception. The provincial legislature was now a U.S. state capitol. Across from my office was an American politician’s office complete with flags and seals. Departing from the west side door, I looked up to see the Stars and Stripes rippling in the dark sky.

If Canada was to become the 51st state, this, I thought, is what it would look like.

Despite the gaslighting from President Donald Trump, Canada is not in danger of becoming America’s 51st state anytime soon. What is at risk right now is the long friendship and partnership between our two countries. Canadians no longer see America as a trustworthy friend, partner, neighbour, or ally.

A poll this week by Leger public opinion research contained a startling shift in the views of Canadians towards the United States. Less than one-third of respondents consider the U.S. as an “ally”, the same proportion who consider it an “enemy”.

The concept of anyone considering our next-door neighbour as an actual enemy to Canada is an extraordinary development in the almost two centuries of peaceful relations between us. Yet, this is what Donald Trump has wrought. In seeking to do economic harm to us, he is earning this epithet.

There is a new reality setting in for Canadians about America. We no longer trust it.

The U.S. is imposing tariffs on Canadians goods and services for reasons we cannot fathom. And it is calling for us to become the 51st state for motives we cannot accept.

What do you say about a country that attacks your economy, jobs and prosperity? And what do you call a country threatening your independence and sovereignty?

This is the new reality being created by the Trump administration.

Canadians are being forced to accept a new, hard truth. This is not the same America we sacrificed for and with, in world wars, a cold war, and after 9/11. This is not the same America we did business with and grew prosperity together through free trade, NAFTA, and the CUSMA.

America has changed its ttitude towards us. And Canada must now change its attitude towards them.

Canadians can wish for a return to past, happier days. But we would be smarter to prepare for a whole new relationship altogether.

It is no longer a matter of weathering the tariff storm. It’s a matter of acting for our own economic future.

Whether Trump retains tariffs or reduces them, our prosperity is at risk if we remain tethered to the uncertainty and illogic of America First.

That prosperity has been based on three ‘easy truths’: unfettered access to the American market, high immigration, and a low dollar. We have shied away for too long from the ‘hard truths’ of internal trade barriers, declining labour productivity and indifferent wealth generation.

That has to change. Fast.

Any economic pivot will be difficult. And take time. But Canada needs to use this moment to create a new economic reality to guarantee our future prosperity. Confronting the size and role of government is required. Challenging business to become more competitive is another. We need to manufacture more products, produce more energy, and innovate more ideas.

Time to move from the retaliatory phase of the Canada/America relationship to the independence phase.

At the time the U.S. flag flew over the legislative building, Manitoba had partnered with neighbouring North Dakota to vaccinate our cross-border truckers. It was an international first, an act of friendship spearheaded by premier Brian Pallister and governor Doug Burgum, now U.S. Interior Secretary. We had insufficient vaccine supplies while they had an excess.

The agreement they signed affirmed several “shared values and goals”, including these:

To help and support each other throughout this pandemic.

To lay the groundwork for a quick and safe return to open borders, open trade, and open travel between us.

To create a model of continental cooperation for others to emulate.

That was our reality with America then. It now seems a world away.

David McLaughlin is a former clerk of the executive council and cabinet secretary in the Manitoba government.