Completely agree with the realism of this piece. I'd add that cracking down on foreign interference shouldn’t be about “pleasing” the Americans or anyone else, but about protecting the national interest. Given our deepening ties with frenemies like China, India, the Gulf states, and the US we have to acknowledge that these relationships come with strings attached and act accordingly. Ignoring that trade-off is denying the existence of the amoral, interest-driven world order we now live in.
Great article, Jen but I would also argue Chinese influenced and associated corruption runs deeper than you suggest. The amount of dark money laundered through Vancouver casinos, Canadian banking and real estate being a prime example. Also, CSIS and the DEA know that while the fentanyl isn’t being made in Canada, much of the import of ingredients, command and control is in Canada while Triads collaborate with Mexican cartels. So, the “bad” stuff is happening in the US but our weak laws are enabling it. Also, if you look at Vancouver, Toronto & Ottawa political circles, you can easily find examples of people who can be “subjected” to compromise or seem sympathetic to Chinese interests.
It's good to be aware of the decades of having China take advantage of our goodwill, cultural outreach initiatives, etc., starting back in the eighties with basically opening our universities to international "visiting scholars", who then (surprise surprise) returned to China and gave it all up. And, as you mentioned, there are the gaps in our border security, huge gaps in policing capacity. There was naivety then, which continues today. Your comment, and this article, encourage me that we are beginning to take this problem seriously.
Does anyone remember Nortel? It once had the largest market capitalization on the TSX. Suddenly it was gone and we now have Huawei….and those links from the Winnipeg Level 4 lab to PRC researchers, sample theft and Wuhan sure seem problematic. There is more complicity and influence than we care to admit.
And greed. I’ve spoken to a few people who worked at Nortel. The company’s problems went way beyond IP theft. I’m not dismissing IP theft or defending Huawei.
Thank you for this balanced piece. All the major powers are now bad faith actors. Navigating that to retain sovereignty and our own character will be the biggest challenge our government has faced in decades.
Pirates in every direction is a great way to put it. Canada needs to have some backbone now and make some real impactful decisions and I don’t know if Carney is ready for those without committing political suicide.
“Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Americans were, through their own foreign policy choices, pushing us into a closer relationship with China — and then using the fact of that closeness as an excuse to further hobble us financially and politically? It’s sharks and pirates in every direction; north, east, west and south.”
Bingo! We need to be extremely careful about our engagement with both powers. We should keep a wary distance from both and increase engagement with other democratic middle powers in Europe and Asia. I see both Beijing and the Trump Administration as malevolent powers seeking to subjugate us in one way or another.
What if they are not all bad guys? Or, what if-due to our decisions of the past decade- we have to pick a bad guy with whom we must ally?
Canada has chosen the path of decline; it was not thrust upon us.
What leverage have we left? The North.
What is the play? We "give" the United States the Canadian North. We expect in exchange full military protection, respect & enforcement of our sovereignty, and zero trade barriers, including tariffs & non-tariff barriers to trade. We get full access to the US market, and they receive the same in reverse.
The alternative, I am afraid, is a further decline in our standards of living, and a hastening of our collective degradation of national standing, compromised sovereignty, and civil society.
Bad choices all around. This is a lose-lose for us in every aspect. Stickhandling this will be Carney's legacy, I hope he is as smart as everyone tells me he is. I also can't help but keep coming back to a scenario where, despite the dealings of DJT to this point and how terrible it's been we have to keep grinding a way to a long-term solution to our relationship with the US because geographically, culturally, and "values" based we are so connected and will always be. There has to be a tolerable solution in there somewhere. I just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet. I hope that happens soon.
This isn’t really about values vs. pragmatism or even canola-for-EVs. What China likely wants is a currency conversation: financing and settling a long-stalled pipeline to tidewater, potentially outside the petro-dollar system. That would be a strategic win far larger than any tariff tweak.
Seen through that lens, this trip isn’t just “playing powers off each other.” It’s Canada being invited into a unit-of-account discussion with consequences well beyond trade optics. That’s the risk — and the leverage — that deserves more daylight.
Good article. Thank you for acknowledging the political and economic risks inherent in any rapprochement with China. The risk of US retaliation is real if we drop the EV tariff.
Ahead of CUSMA renegotiation, the Carney visit does not send good signals to the Trump administration. Both China and the US have economies that are 10x ours and therefore some sort of agreement is bound to be on their terms and not ours. There is also Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan however all options have to go through otherwise crowded ports on the west coast.
Completely agree with the realism of this piece. I'd add that cracking down on foreign interference shouldn’t be about “pleasing” the Americans or anyone else, but about protecting the national interest. Given our deepening ties with frenemies like China, India, the Gulf states, and the US we have to acknowledge that these relationships come with strings attached and act accordingly. Ignoring that trade-off is denying the existence of the amoral, interest-driven world order we now live in.
Great article, Jen but I would also argue Chinese influenced and associated corruption runs deeper than you suggest. The amount of dark money laundered through Vancouver casinos, Canadian banking and real estate being a prime example. Also, CSIS and the DEA know that while the fentanyl isn’t being made in Canada, much of the import of ingredients, command and control is in Canada while Triads collaborate with Mexican cartels. So, the “bad” stuff is happening in the US but our weak laws are enabling it. Also, if you look at Vancouver, Toronto & Ottawa political circles, you can easily find examples of people who can be “subjected” to compromise or seem sympathetic to Chinese interests.
It's good to be aware of the decades of having China take advantage of our goodwill, cultural outreach initiatives, etc., starting back in the eighties with basically opening our universities to international "visiting scholars", who then (surprise surprise) returned to China and gave it all up. And, as you mentioned, there are the gaps in our border security, huge gaps in policing capacity. There was naivety then, which continues today. Your comment, and this article, encourage me that we are beginning to take this problem seriously.
Does anyone remember Nortel? It once had the largest market capitalization on the TSX. Suddenly it was gone and we now have Huawei….and those links from the Winnipeg Level 4 lab to PRC researchers, sample theft and Wuhan sure seem problematic. There is more complicity and influence than we care to admit.
You might want to do a bit of research on that. Huawei became the second largest telecom company in a rather large hurry following Nortel’s “sudden” collapse. A simple Google search might help you. Hubris? Seriously? 😂https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=noretel%20canada%20ip%20theft&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5
Nortel was killed by hubris. No conspiracy theory is needed.
You might want to do a bit of research on that. Huawei became the second largest telecom company in a rather large hurry following Nortel’s “sudden” collapse. A simple Google search might help you. Hubris? Seriously? 😂https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=noretel%20canada%20ip%20theft&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5
And greed. I’ve spoken to a few people who worked at Nortel. The company’s problems went way beyond IP theft. I’m not dismissing IP theft or defending Huawei.
Nuance again. That's why I appreciate the comments on The Line :)
Don’t let the Chinese build or buy anything (companies) more in this country. Period
For me, we are a thousand miles from being a middle power. In order to be a middle power you need power and we are defenseless.
I appreciate the clear-eyed-no-bullshit perspective. Keep it coming!
Cheery dispatch, sigh. But thank you for paying attention so I don’t have to go looking for this info and insight in 5 different places.
I am sorry. I am going to write something cheery soon, I promise. JG
Canadians will be forced to face reality at some point.
We can do so on our own terms or, wait until reality is thrust upon us.
The good news, Trump has an expiry date. The bad news, the CCP does not.
Thank you for this balanced piece. All the major powers are now bad faith actors. Navigating that to retain sovereignty and our own character will be the biggest challenge our government has faced in decades.
Pirates in every direction is a great way to put it. Canada needs to have some backbone now and make some real impactful decisions and I don’t know if Carney is ready for those without committing political suicide.
Agree. Thankfully, it’s Carney at the helm and not PP.
“Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Americans were, through their own foreign policy choices, pushing us into a closer relationship with China — and then using the fact of that closeness as an excuse to further hobble us financially and politically? It’s sharks and pirates in every direction; north, east, west and south.”
Bingo! We need to be extremely careful about our engagement with both powers. We should keep a wary distance from both and increase engagement with other democratic middle powers in Europe and Asia. I see both Beijing and the Trump Administration as malevolent powers seeking to subjugate us in one way or another.
What if they are not all bad guys? Or, what if-due to our decisions of the past decade- we have to pick a bad guy with whom we must ally?
Canada has chosen the path of decline; it was not thrust upon us.
What leverage have we left? The North.
What is the play? We "give" the United States the Canadian North. We expect in exchange full military protection, respect & enforcement of our sovereignty, and zero trade barriers, including tariffs & non-tariff barriers to trade. We get full access to the US market, and they receive the same in reverse.
The alternative, I am afraid, is a further decline in our standards of living, and a hastening of our collective degradation of national standing, compromised sovereignty, and civil society.
Bad choices all around. This is a lose-lose for us in every aspect. Stickhandling this will be Carney's legacy, I hope he is as smart as everyone tells me he is. I also can't help but keep coming back to a scenario where, despite the dealings of DJT to this point and how terrible it's been we have to keep grinding a way to a long-term solution to our relationship with the US because geographically, culturally, and "values" based we are so connected and will always be. There has to be a tolerable solution in there somewhere. I just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet. I hope that happens soon.
Strong piece Jen, but the missing frame is money.
This isn’t really about values vs. pragmatism or even canola-for-EVs. What China likely wants is a currency conversation: financing and settling a long-stalled pipeline to tidewater, potentially outside the petro-dollar system. That would be a strategic win far larger than any tariff tweak.
Seen through that lens, this trip isn’t just “playing powers off each other.” It’s Canada being invited into a unit-of-account discussion with consequences well beyond trade optics. That’s the risk — and the leverage — that deserves more daylight.
Good article. Thank you for acknowledging the political and economic risks inherent in any rapprochement with China. The risk of US retaliation is real if we drop the EV tariff.
Ahead of CUSMA renegotiation, the Carney visit does not send good signals to the Trump administration. Both China and the US have economies that are 10x ours and therefore some sort of agreement is bound to be on their terms and not ours. There is also Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan however all options have to go through otherwise crowded ports on the west coast.
In short, this a boondoggle.
Great. Now I have a new conspiracy theory to keep me awake at night.