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Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /PostmediaThe current trade dispute with the United States will become a real crisis if President Trump doesn’t come to his senses (quite possible), before the imposition of our retaliatory tariffs on Sept. 8. The unprecedented explosiveness of this controversy comes from the fact that Donald Trump has clearly stated that he does not believe that Canada is a serious country. He recognizes that we have a civilized and commendable population and that Canada is a treasure house of resources of all kinds, but he is unaware of any significant distinction between Americans and English-speaking Canadians. He considers, not without some reason, that we have been an incoherent nationality whose modus operandi has been a dishonorable freeloading on the Americans for national defense, and absolute commercial dependence upon the United States as if we were states of the American Union, while only masquerading as an independent country.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorWe could manage that more easily if most Canadians didn’t recognize that there is an element of truth in it, and if the real distinctions between the ethos of this country and that of the United States were less subtle. Trump’s view is false but not unfounded, and he is striking very close to the core civic sensibilities of many Canadians. It is fashionable to dismiss Trump as a boob, and his public personality sometimes invites that. He is a very perceptive and habitually undiplomatic person and he offends Canadians by his rudeness and by the great power that he disposes. This is what makes his snideries so hurtful.The National Post newsletter that doesn’t hold back, giving readers the unvarnished truth on media, politics and culture.By signing up, you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Right? will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againWe have had important and complex economic controversies before, including in the development of John A. Macdonald’s National Policy of a transcontinental railway and the promotion of Canadian manufacturing behind protective tariffs in the 1880’s and 1890’s, and Wilfrid Laurier’s proposed reciprocal trade agreements with the United States in 1911, and R.B. Bennett’s deathbed conversion to an unconstitutional imitation of President Roosevelt’s New Deal in 1935, and the free-trade election between Brian Mulroney and John Turner in1988. But none of these really questioned Canada’s raison d’etre. As I wrote in this space last week, this is only the second time in our history that the leader of an important foreign country has effectively challenged the integrality of our country when we had no allies to assist us, the previous occasion being the intervention of the president of France, General Charles de Gaulle, in 1967, when he publicly urged Quebec to secede while visiting this country ostensibly to help us celebrate the centenary of the independence of our confederation.The prime minister should produce a national policy that defends the irreducible requirements of Canadian sovereignty. These include shrinking the public service gradually from its present obscenely bloated size (over 10 per cent of the entire population), slashing our taxes to competitive levels so we can reverse negative capital flows and promote economic growth, the heavy-handed use of federal fiscal influence on the provinces to strengthen the quality of education, incentivize investment in this country, make Canada a single market, get rid of supply management (that is the only legitimate American complaint against us), accept private medicine and assure an increase in the number of doctors, and build the tangible strength and distinction of the Canadian nationality. In such a program, he would deserve and should receive the support of all.This is precisely why we must see the present challenge as an opportunity. Our vulnerability is highlighted by the fact that the leader of the separatist Parti Québécois, which appears to be leading the polls for the imminent Quebec election, has declared that he will not hold an independence referendum until Trump has left office: a perfect exposure of the nonsense and obsolescence of the independentist option in Quebec. There is no chance when Quebecers fear that their own secession would propel Canada into the arms of the U.S. Quebec wants a strong Canada. And so do the rest of us.President Trump is correct that there is no covenant that guarantees Canada unfettered access to the United States market, or one that guarantees the United States the same access to the Canadian market. These are, of course, unequal opportunities but the principle is reciprocal. Given the uneven correlation of economic and other forces between the United States and Canada, this disagreement is bound to produce some inconveniences, but it could also conclude Canada’s long transition from colony to semi-colonial dominion, to branch-plant middle power, to the G-7, to one of the world’s recognized twelve or so most important countries, distinct, confident, and distinguished. Every country in the world has been envious of what was until now, our broad access to the largest economy in the history of the world, which unlike its almost stagnant Chinese and European rivals, is 70 per cent larger than they are and growing at an accelerating rate. In the circumstances, the assertion that the United States wishes to change the status quo is something we have to accommodate up to a point, but we don’t have to endure insults about tumbling hopelessly into the American Union.Before we embark altogether in Carney’s war-canoe, we should verify the Liberal claim that they did everything possible to secure an acceptable accord: I find it hard to believe that the Americans considered bilingual packaging a non-negotiable issue, (Trump has already called this a lie from a “weak and ineffective” Carney). If our side of this commercial war is going to be anything other than mawkish Churchillian posturing, we need a real breakout from the purblindness and paralysis of the last decade. The prime minister is making worrisome and incoherent noises about automobile production by Japanese companies being pushed into the U.S. and replaced with imports from China, while fumbling General Motors truck production in Canada, a St. Vitus’ dance for our beleaguered auto industry. Despite his commendable efforts, Carney has really only completed two new trade deals, and their significance is negligible. There is still no evidence that pipelines are going to be built and we should have pipelines to both oceans and increased refining capacity as quickly as we can build them. If Mark Carney has outgrown his former self as a social market eco-geek and Davosian secular cleric, he can be a historic leader of this country. This is a greater opportunity than a challenge and we must not fail or squander it.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. 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