Aside from the massive budget that Prime Minister Mark Carney just tabled, which shackles future generations of Canadians to unprecedented debt, he is now admitting that Canada can no longer maintain "the same economic union with the United States." For once, it’s a rare flash of honesty from Ottawa. And it should make every Canadian stop, think, and ask what exactly his plan is for the country after breaking what’s left of our economic backbone.If the old relationship really is “over,” as Carney put it, what’s the plan? Because walking away from the American market without a replacement strategy isn’t leadership, it’s negligence. Canada’s entire economy is built on trade, and roughly 75% of it depends on the US, and pretending otherwise is pure fantasy.For decades, we’ve enjoyed the illusion of balance: a free-trade deal here, a tariff exemption there, a few polite smiles between prime ministers and presidents. Meanwhile, our exports, our energy, and even our defence have all become dependent on decisions made in Washington. When America sneezes, Canada catches pneumonia, and lately, the US has had a bad cough..McCOURT: Time to emulate King Ralph, Premier Smith!.Carney seems to believe we can just pivot to other partners, but trade doesn’t work like flipping a light switch. China and Europe are building protective blocs. India is busy protecting its own market. Geography, infrastructure, and shared industry make the United States our only realistic long-term partner. The question is how to manage that partnership intelligently, not emotionally and with blind loyalty.If I were mapping out the next chapter of North American cooperation, it would start with a simple truth: we need an updated economic union, one built for today’s world, not 1994..First, we should fix what’s broken inside the USMCA and build a genuine open market, one that removes the endless carve-outs, the dairy quotas, the lumber battles, and the regulatory red tape that has strangled trade for decades. Our goal should be seamless cross-border commerce, where both sides benefit from predictability, not political games.Next, we need a joint infrastructure and energy strategy. North America could be the most self-sufficient economic region on Earth, but we act like three disconnected fiefdoms. Shared investment in power grids, critical-mineral corridors, rail, and pipelines would strengthen both countries’ security and prosperity. Canada can offer the energy and resources the US needs if Ottawa ever stops apologizing for producing them..SLOBODIAN: Are Manitobans too gullible to tell Halloween pranks from deadly home invaders? NDP thinks so.Security must come next. We already depend on the US through NORAD and NATO, so let’s formalize it. Could a continental defence charter clarify who does what and end the pretence that Canada is going to bolster a separate army capable of defending 10 million square kilometres on its own? That doesn’t mean giving up command of our forces; it means being honest about shared defence.If the partnership works, we can coordinate policy more closely through a joint economic council, a platform where finance and trade leaders from both sides resolve disputes before they spiral out of control. Only after that kind of trust is built should we even discuss currency alignment. Adopting the US dollar or creating a “North American dollar” without the right groundwork would be reckless..I can already hear the cultural pundits yelling. Of course, none of this should happen without rock-solid protections for Canadian sovereignty. We must enshrine a Charter of Sovereignty guaranteeing that healthcare, immigration, indigenous affairs, and culture remain 100% Canadian. Cooperation doesn’t mean assimilation. It means negotiating from strength, not fear.Some will say any deeper union is a slippery slope toward losing our identity. I’d argue the opposite. True sovereignty is about being strong enough to choose your partnerships, not being forced into them. If Canada doesn’t lead this conversation, I believe Washington will..HANNAFORD: A quarter-trillion more... Ottawa’s budget of deception.Mark Carney’s warning should be a wake-up call. The “old economic union” with the US is unravelling, and pretending we can go it alone is wishful thinking. The solution isn’t retreat; it’s reinvention. We can either design the next phase of our continental relationship or have it designed for us.Canada’s strength has always come from ambition, not from hiding behind political slogans like “Elbows Up.” It’s time to stop fearing the size of our neighbour and start using it to our advantage. If the union is changing, then let’s be the ones who rebuild it stronger, freer, and unmistakably Canadian.
