Colin MacLeod is the author of the provocative book “The Case for Alberta’s Independence,” and the force behind @cnm5000 on X.Prime Minister Mark Carney views himself as a European. His government is floating the idea that Canada should cozy up even closer to the European Union (EU), maybe even ponder full membership. That is peak absurdity. It’s the kind of grand geopolitical fantasy that sounds sophisticated in a Brussels conference room but collapses the moment you look at a map, a trade ledger, or the real world outside the Laurentian bubble. Especially here in Alberta, where we produce things the world wants, this isn’t clever diversification. It’s economic and cultural self-sabotage dressed up as strategy. And it deserves to be called out for its stupidity.Let’s start with the obvious that Ottawa keeps forgetting: geography doesn’t lie. Canada does not share a sparkling ocean with France or Germany. We share the longest undefended border on Earth with the United States (US), over 5500 kilometres of it. That border is how Alberta bitumen flows south to American refineries in hours, how Prairie grain and Ontario auto parts move seamlessly, and how supply chains that employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians actually function. Pipelines, trucks, rail, and airspace — integrated, efficient, and built over decades of continental partnership. Culturally and historically, we are North American through and through. Albertans share that same bootstrap, resource-driven mindset you find in Texas or Oklahoma. Our ties run deep with the British Crown and then, decisively, with our continental neighbour through two world wars, NORAD, and the integrated economy that built this country. .The EU? It’s a noble post-war project for a continent that spent centuries slaughtering each other. Respect to them for trying. But grafting that model onto Canada ignores who we actually are.And then there is the money — the part that really should shut this conversation down. In recent years, even as the US share of our exports dipped slightly to around 72% in 2025, the US still accounts for the overwhelming majority of what Canada sells. We are talking about hundreds of billions in goods, energy, autos, agriculture, and much more — flowing south every year. The entire EU? It accounts for roughly 8% of our trade. Eight percent. Alberta’s oil, gas, and ag products are priced in US dollars, moved through integrated North American infrastructure, and bought by American customers who need and refine them. The EU buys a rounding error of our energy and then lectures us about carbon taxes while quietly keeping coal plants humming. The brilliance of this plan shines here: alienate your biggest, most reliable customer to chase a market that treats Canadian resources like a moral failing.Oh, but it gets better. The EU isn’t some frictionless trade paradise waiting to embrace us. It’s a regulatory machine built on bureaucracy, compromise, and slow decline. Common Agricultural Policy? That would mean French and German farmers getting veto power over how we manage our own land and supply chains. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules? Endless compliance headaches for every Alberta startup and energy firm trying to innovate. The Green Deal? Carbon border adjustment mechanisms that would punish our oil sands while the EU struggles with its own energy security. And do not get me started on the debt picture — countries like Italy and France carrying burdens that make our federal deficits look quaint, with growth that has lagged North America for years.Joining or deep integration would mean handing over huge chunks of sovereignty to 27 member states that cannot even agree on basic things without marathon summits. Alberta’s energy policy decided by bureaucrats in Brussels who have never seen a bitumen truck? Foreign policy and trade deals subject to vetoes from governments dealing with their own riots, strikes, and political meltdowns? .This isn’t a partnership. It’s tying our wagon to a continent that has been stuck in low gear while North America powers ahead. We already have CETA, the trade deal that was supposed to unlock Europe. It delivered some growth, sure, but also plenty of headaches around standards, procurement, and corporate lawsuits. Scaling that up to full EU-style integration? No thanks.Then there’s the open-borders cherry on this transatlantic sundae — Schengen and the whole free-movement experiment. How exactly would that work across an ocean? More importantly, why would we want it? Europe has spent years grappling with the downstream effects of large-scale migration: pressure on housing and welfare systems, spikes in crime in some cities, and political backlash that’s now forcing even EU leaders to tighten up. Canada already runs one of the most ambitious immigration programs per capita on the planet. Layering on EU-style free movement would be a form of demographic roulette. We have seen the videos and the reports — farmers blockading roads in France, integration challenges in Sweden and Germany. Importing those exact policies on top of our own isn’t compassion or progress. It is reckless.Look, diversification is fine in theory. Trading with Europe, strengthening security ties, cooperating on shared values — all good. But hinting at deeper integration or, heaven forbid, EU membership as some counterweight to the US is not diversification. It is a delusion. It ignores the sheer magnitude of our continental relationship, the practical nightmares of Brussels bureaucracy, the mismatch in economic momentum, and the absurdity of pretending an ocean does not exist when it comes to borders and daily commerce.From the patch in Alberta, this idea isn’t visionary. It’s suicidal. Our economy, our values, and our future are North American. Ottawa can chase euro-fantasies if it wants, but every premier, every Western MP, and every taxpayer footing the bill should push back hard: not one extra layer of red tape, not one barrel redirected, not one centimetre of sovereignty surrendered to a project that can’t even keep its own house in order.If the federal government keeps floating this nonsense, maybe it’s time for a real conversation about what “Canada” means in 2026. From where we sit in downtown Calgary, hitching our wagon to Brussels looks less like a bold move and more like jumping off a cliff while calling it flying.Colin MacLeod is the author of the provocative book “The Case for Alberta’s Independence,” and the force behind @cnm5000 on X.
