Carney must sell Canada as vital to continental security, economy: Expert

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OTTAWA — He needs to sell Canada as an indispensable part of North America’s security and economic future.

That’s what Prime Minister Mark Carney must do when he meets with Donald Trump Tuesday as Canada hopes to carve out some relief in the U.S. president’s trade war.

“He’s not just there to smooth tensions, he’s there to anchor a partnership with Canada and help set the terms globally,” said Alan Kessel, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a former Canadian diplomat.

“The pitch to Trump is simple: A strong U.S.-Canada alliance makes North America the powerbase everyone else has to work around. That’s good for American leadership, but it’s crucial for protecting Canadian sovereignty, too, and if Carney locks that in, it’s a win for those countries.”

In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Kessel said the best thing Carney has going for him is that he isn’t Justin Trudeau.

“His job should be to anchor Canada’s position as a co-architect of ‘Fortress North America,’ economically and militarily, and to defend Canadians’ interests while enhancing our leverage globally,” he said.

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Canada, he said, has four key continental issues on the table — economic security, defence modernization, strategic leverage for global leadership and ensuring U.S. participation in next month’s G7 summit in Alberta.

“A way to do that is for (Carney) to showcase American leadership alongside Canada,” Kessel said.

“Maybe G7 becomes a stage where ‘Fortress North America’ is rolled out as a model for strength, not retreat.”

It’s Carney’s job, Kessel said, to convince Trump that Canada’s essential to that strategy.

“We need this blueprint where Canada is the architect together,” he said.

“We don’t want to be a bystander.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume