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Your guide to what the US election 2024 means for Washington and the world
The writer is a Canadian minister of traffic and internal trade. This is adapted from your speech, in the last week the medal of the Foreign Policy Association is accepted
The world is at a turning point. One of the slaughter lines is in Ukraine. Yes, the struggle between democracy and dictatorship is a conflict between a certain democracy and a certain tyranny. But it is also a broader competition between democracy and dictatorship. Every democracy in the world will be stronger if Ukraine wins, and every tyrant will be happy if Vladimir Putin does.
The second reason why the success of Ukraine is important is that it is fighting for both its own survival and for international rules. The center is a simple principle: sovereigns do not penetrate each other.
In the eight decades since his creation, the international rules have been made to observe safely. But for the democracies of what is sometimes referred to as “non -geographical West”, it has guaranteed the most successful era of widespread peace and prosperity in our history.
Three years ago, when Russia started his full invasion in Ukraine, Canada understood that Putin undermined a core principle. But today we can feel Canadians that the fragility of this international order based on rules is urgently and more personal than at no time since World War II.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he wants us to become the “valued” 51st state and threaten to use economic constraints to do this. I am proud of the spontaneous, unanimous and clear reaction of my country to these threats. Hockey fans change our national anthem. Restaurants pull us out of their menus. Snowbirds don’t fly south this winter.
Our country is strong and our government took the necessary retribution measures to show Trump that Canada is not up for sale and our sovereignty is not negotiable. As Prime Minister Mark Carney said, we will “keep our tariffs until the Americans show us respect and consider credible, reliable, reliable commitments for free and fair trade”.
We know what it is about and we know what we are fighting for. I am not sure whether the same can be said by our American neighbors. At paperback level, these threats for the Canada’s sovereignty and the tariff war brought in with them are missing a coherent reason. Our economic relationship with the USA is balanced and advantageous for both sides. The economic war with Canada will make food and gasoline more expensive for Americans – and has already beat the US stock market.
Regardless of whether it is the Canadian stream that continues the light in New York, or the Canadian potash, the fields in the middle west fertilizes, or the Canadian uranium that supplies the nuclear industry needs America what can sell what Canada sells. And the US exports more to Canada than to China, Japan, Great Britain and France. We are America’s largest customer and America is the country where the customer is always right.
When the Trump government threatened Canada, we were injured. Then we got angry. Now we roll up the sleeves and get to work.
In view of this existential challenge, we are determined to build a Canada that is stronger, more resistant and independent of the United States. Now, as the Prime Minister said, it is time to build in Canada, to lower the retailers of trade in our own country and to do great things. Canada is ready to get to work. So much that the former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has thrilled that he wants to nominate the American president for the order of Canada – as a thank you for helping us to bring our plot together.
Canadians are ready for difficult times. And we know that we will be fine. We will be with Ukraine. We will continue to fight for democracy at home and all over the world. And we will work with like -minded countries to support the international rules and to do them for the purpose in the 21st century.
However, I have to admit that it would be so much better to do this work with our American friends and neighbors. The Canadians remember that our North American partnership is best when we fight together for freedom and democracy.
As Ronald Reagan put it: “Canada and the United States … share a lot more than a common border; we share a democratic tradition and share hopes, dreams and efforts of free people.”
His words eloquently describe our common and constructive past. You should also be a guide for our future.
