As G7 host, Canada sees chance to forge a path untangled from US
| Banff, Alberta
When Bill Clinton arrived in Mont-Tremblant, Canada, in October 1999 for a governance conference, the United States鈥� northern neighbor was still reeling from attempts by its largest province, Quebec, to secede and form its own country.
In his keynote speech, the then-president challenged audience members to consider the purpose and consequences of independence within a federal system like Canada鈥檚.
鈥淚s there a way people can get along if they come from different heritages? Are minority rights, as well as majority rights, respected?鈥�
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onRelations between Ottawa and Washington have hit the skids during President Trump's second term. But that is presenting Canada an opportunity to rebuild its influence on the world stage, independently of its southern neighbor.
The speech, made at the request of then Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chr茅tien and interpreted as a clear American stance against Quebec separatism, was a 鈥渢our de force,鈥� recalls Gordon Giffin, who was the U.S. ambassador to Canada at the time.
It was also an illustration of 鈥渢he core of the special relationship鈥� between Canada and the U.S., one that was not just economic or geographical, but also geopolitical, cultural, even spiritual. 鈥淎n American president,鈥� Mr. Giffin muses today, 鈥渨ent to Canada to argue for Canadian sovereignty.鈥�
A generation later, the current Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, finds himself in very different circumstances.
As host of the meeting of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that officially opens Monday morning, he is in a position of global leadership over the biggest issues of the day. Overshadowing the three-day summit will be debate over how the world should react to the war that broke out Friday between Israel and Iran.
But where Mr. Chr茅tien could rely on Mr. Clinton, Canada today no longer regards Washington as a trustworthy partner in international affairs. The annual meeting of world powers is a stage for Mr. Carney to chart a new path with like-minded allies, independent of the United States.
The prime minister, under threat from Mr. Trump鈥檚 trade war and calls for annexation, had already declared 鈥渢he old relationship鈥� with the U.S. 鈥渙ver.鈥� Even if the G7 summit offers a thaw in the relationship, Mr. Carney began to shape that independence ahead of the summit, announcing massive increases in defense spending and new legislation to fast-track megaprojects in the national interest.
鈥淎n opportunity for renewal鈥�?
But this isn鈥檛 a sudden rupture, argues Mr. Giffin. For as offensive as Mr. Trump has been to its northern neighbor, threatening to make Canada a 51st state at his will, the relationship has been deteriorating for some time 鈥� perhaps since Mr. Clinton鈥檚 speech.
Mr. Carney鈥檚 Liberals readily won April 28 federal elections on a message to deepen ties with like-minded allies. The prime minister, who first stepped into office after Justin Trudeau resigned this winter, chose to visit France, the United Kingdom, and the Arctic on his first trip as head-of-state, a nod to Canada鈥檚 distinct heritage.
When it came time to open a new session of parliament last month, Canada asked King Charles III to deliver the throne speech, the first time a monarch has done so since 1977. (The speech is usually given by the governor general, the federal representative of the monarch in Canada.) The king spoke to Canadians about 鈥渁n opportunity for renewal. An opportunity to think big and to act bigger鈥� amid unprecedented challenges.
Mr. Carney, a former executive who has tried to bypass politics, announced ambitious plans to remove by July stubborn interprovincial trade barriers that have vexed his predecessors. His government introduced the Building Canada Act to fast-track projects that shore up Canadian security and autonomy.
Last week, Mr. Carney announced a cash increase of over $9 billion (Canadian; U.S.$6.6 billion) in military spending, promising to meet a NATO target in defense spending for members matching 2% of GDP by March 2026, moving up Canada鈥檚 goals by five years. 鈥淭he long-held view that Canada鈥檚 geographic location will protect us is becoming increasingly archaic,鈥� Mr. Carney said. 鈥淭hreats which felt far away and remote are now immediate and acute.鈥�
It鈥檚 the kind of rhetoric that hasn鈥檛 been heard in Canada in a generation. At that point, while Ambassador Giffin saw in Canada a true geopolitical partner, Lloyd Axworthy, who was Canada鈥檚 foreign minister in the 鈥�90s, says he also saw a much stronger Canada on the foreign stage.
Serving under Mr. Chr茅tien, Mr. Axworthy says Canada鈥檚 relationship with the U.S. was cordial and cooperative. But Canada also took clear, independent stances from the U.S. Mr. Axworthy visited Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1997. Canada was key to establishing the International Criminal Court and the international landmines treaty, neither of which Washington signed on to. Later, in 2003, Canada refused to join the 鈥渃oalition of the willing鈥� in Iraq after 9/11.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not doing that these days,鈥� says Mr. Axworthy. Instead, Canada has shrunk from the foreign stage, while its relationship with the U.S. has increasingly become a mercantile one, based on the free trade deals that have defined the modern relationship. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not sure how to adapt, because for so long it鈥檚 been so easy,鈥� he says.
鈥淎 really significant realignment鈥�
The upending of relations wrought by Mr. Trump is seen as the clear pivot point in Canada. But Alasdair Roberts, a professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of 鈥淭he Adaptable Country: How Canada Can Survive the Twenty-First Century,鈥� argues this rupture was going to happen anyway. He argues Canada should be gathering its domestic leaders in annual summits like the G7 does internationally to set national priorities.
鈥淎merican politics was clearly becoming more unstable,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 becoming a more complicated and dangerous world. So Canada was going to be put into this sort of position one way or another.鈥�
It鈥檚 not going to be easy to untangle from the U.S. Three-quarters of Canadian exports head to the U.S. Like many NATO allies, Canada has depended on U.S. military defense, and Canada鈥檚 in particular is deeply intertwined with that of its neighbor.
But Mr. Carney鈥檚 efforts to build stronger alliances will be on display in Kanakasis. 鈥淚 think the world where Canada and the U.S. were partners in so many ways, where we were really depending on the U.S., that鈥檚 done,鈥� says Lori Turnbull, a professor in political science at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 鈥淚 think Carney is absolutely going to create transformative partnerships with the EU, U.K. 鈥� This is going to be a really significant realignment.鈥�
Ambassador Giffin argues that the U.S. has a place in that future. He says Mr. Carney is right to position Canada where the U.S. can鈥檛 unilaterally disrupt the economy or political system. But Canada can eventually look to recreate what he saw with Mr. Clinton on that stage in Quebec.
鈥淲e need to renew the dynamic that made it a partnership, and a partnership to me connotes co-equals in a dialogue,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 too easy to say, 鈥榃e gotta separate ourselves from the Americans, they鈥檝e offended us.鈥� ... History would tell me there鈥檚 a better way to do this.鈥�
