Yes, be cautious of Europe. But this is why Mark Carney is still right to pursue an agreement with the EU - Toronto Star

It will be slow going and it is still worth it.

Dealing with Europe will be slow and may come with risks, but is still a better option than either Trump’s America or China, writes Andrew MacDougall.

Andrew MacDougall is a director at Trafalgar Strategy and was communications director to former prime minister Stephen Harper. He is a senior policy fellow at the Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy at McGill University

The Canadian prime minister is once again on the road, this time taking in some footie alongside new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham and, more importantly, playing footsie with the European Union in the form of a possible “associate membership.”

Now, I’m here from the future to warn you that nothing will happen very quickly, if at all, with this “associate membership.” For one, there is no such thing and, even if there was, Europe would still be slow to approve it. Welcome to consensus building amongst nations with very real differences of opinion, including within the nations of the European Union.

I can still recall Stephen Harper meeting European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy at the 2013 G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg expecting to be told negotiations for our Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement were now complete (after five years of negotiations) — only to be told there was now an objection from (if memory serves) the EU Agriculture Commissioner (a Romanian). Apparently the Walloons in Belgium now had a problem with some of the agricultural terms in the deal. “Then why the hell am I here meeting with you and not them?” Harper quipped in frustration to the EU’s then-versions of Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

The good news is that — after nearly another year of negotiation — the Walloons were overcome and the CETA was finally agreed (but would only be signed after Justin Trudeau took office). The bad news is that, a decade on from that, only 17 of the 27 EU nations have ratified the deal. As I was saying, the EU is slow going.

Which isn’t to say associate membership isn’t worth doing. If the United States is committed to going rogue, Canada needs to be part of a bigger gang. And of the global gangs now on offer, Europe is the one most attuned to our interests, values and identity.

And then there’s the fact that dabbling with Europe is sending Donald Trump’s knickers into a twist. This alone makes it worth doing. Trump’s response to “Governor” Carney making eyes at another of his enemies was to say he would cut off all trade with Europe. The move had Trump spluttering about tariffs and rather gave the game away about how he views Canada. To him, we are something to be suborned, not negotiated with. He wants to tell us what we can and cannot do and that is unacceptable, no matter how much our two economies rely on each other.

This is the lesson Canada’s Conservatives must heed. There is no deal to be had with Trump or his administration. Absent bribing Trump directly, as the Qataris, Emiratis, crypto bros, and dozens of pardon seekers appear to have done, or seeming to bribe Trump confederates like Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Canada will remain under threat.

So, by all means, be cautious of Europe. Have a little freakout if it helps mollify the online armies that seem to dictate Conservative policy these days. But look at what Carney and Ursula Van der Leyen actually propose, not whatever confection you can whip up in the fever dreams of your mind. And then decide your course of action.

It could be that Carney is proposing something that is equally unacceptable to Canada’s sovereignty. It might transpire that the terms on offer from the EU don’t have enough upside to consider. But those are fights for another day.

Right now, Canada is in fight or flight mode and is choosing to fight. Having other people in our foxhole is therefore a good thing, not something to be feared. We are now coming to the sharp end of Carney’s Davos proposition and it will entail trade-offs, including the possible pooling of sovereignty.

And to most Canadians, Europe is more likely to be a reliable boyfriend than either Trump’s America or Xi Jinping’s China.

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Andrew MacDougall is a director at Trafalgar Strategy and was communications director to former prime minister Stephen Harper. He is a senior policy fellow at the Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy at McGill University

Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details