By Anthony Joseph
Donald Trump is again within the White Home and inside months of taking workplace for his second time period, his administration has unleashed a barrage of aggressive insurance policies, together with sweeping tariffs aimed instantly at Canadian industries.
However this isn’t only a commerce dispute. Based on nationwide safety professional Wesley Wark, that is nothing lower than financial struggle and Canada should deal with it as such.
Wark, a senior fellow on the Centre for Worldwide Governance Innovation, just lately argued that Trump’s letter asserting tariffs, issued below doubtful nationwide safety pretenses, is a pink line second. And he’s proper.
That is probably the most harmful escalation but in Trump’s hostile method to Canada, and it calls for greater than well mannered diplomacy. It calls for energy.
As Caribbean Canadians, a lot of whom have constructed companies, supported unions, and formed Canada’s economic system from the bottom up, we have now a stake on this. These tariffs don’t simply hit metal or lumber; they threaten jobs, elevate costs, and destabilize provide chains that have an effect on every little thing from Caribbean-owned trucking firms to meals importers and producers. And if Canada fails to face up for itself now, all of us stand to lose.
Trump’s administration has as soon as once more justified its actions by invoking an outdated lie: that fentanyl is pouring into the US from Canada. This baseless accusation has been repeatedly disproven by Canadian officers and consultants. But it continues to function a authorized pretext for enacting emergency powers and slapping tariffs on Canadian items.
Wark doesn’t mince phrases; he calls it a “canard”, a vital fiction which Trump makes use of to manufacture a nationwide safety menace. Why? As a result of below U.S. legislation, declaring such a menace offers him the authority to bypass Congress and impose tariffs unilaterally. The truth that this narrative is a lie doesn’t matter. In Trump’s America, notion trumps fact.
And let’s be clear: this isn’t about medication. It’s about energy. It’s about financial coercion. And it’s about testing simply how far Trump can push his northern neighbour earlier than we push again.
Wark gives a provocative, however important, response: Canada should hit again the place it issues most – on nationwide safety. His proposals usually are not rash or reactionary; they’re strategic and grounded within the understanding that Canada is not only a buying and selling associate, however a safety ally. And if the U.S. now not treats us like one, we should rethink the foundations of that alliance.
First, Wark proposes that Canada evaluate the NORAD treaty, the long-standing bilateral settlement that governs North American airspace protection.
For 70 years, Canada has performed a key position in securing the continent. But when the U.S. treats Canada like a satellite tv for pc state, then we should remind them that it is a mutual partnership, not a one-way relationship.
Critics might argue that the U.S. doesn’t “want” Canada, however Wark refutes this. NORAD, alerts intelligence, and border cooperation all depend on Canadian infrastructure, information, and belief. With out us, the U.S. is just not as safe.
Trump’s rhetoric, that Canada is freeloading on American protection, is each false and insulting.
By threatening to evaluate NORAD and different treaties, Canada wouldn’t be declaring struggle. It could be declaring independence. We aren’t a vassal state. We’re a sovereign nation with the precise to find out how we interact with a associate that now not behaves like one.
Wark additionally suggests limiting intelligence sharing with the U.S. This may sound excessive, however it’s each measured and sensible. Canada is a valued member of the “5 Eyes” intelligence alliance. We might not have the huge sources of the CIA or NSA however our alerts intelligence, significantly by way of the Communications Safety Institution (CSE), is very regarded.
Limiting entry to delicate Canadian intelligence or slowing down the pipeline of cooperation could be a message Washington couldn’t ignore. Wark recommends this be performed quietly, behind closed doorways. It wouldn’t be about fanfare. It could be about leverage.
And if Trump goes to impose extra tariffs and unfold misinformation, then Canada has each proper to rethink the way it helps American nationwide safety pursuits, particularly when these pursuits now come on the direct expense of our personal.
This isn’t only a debate between Ottawa and Washington. It’s a combat that can have an effect on on a regular basis individuals, particularly within the our neighborhood. Many people function small companies that rely on cross-border commerce, reasonably priced imports, and steady commerce relationships. Whether or not it’s a Black-owned logistics firm in Brampton or a Caribbean meals wholesaler in Scarborough, tariffs imply greater prices, much less predictability and financial ache.
Our neighborhood has all the time been entrepreneurial. We’ve created jobs, constructed commerce networks, and crammed within the gaps left by giant establishments. However we’ve additionally discovered that when world powers conflict, it’s our communities that get squeezed first and hardest.
We should demand that our elected officers, particularly those that symbolize Caribbean and immigrant-rich ridings, deal with this second with the seriousness it deserves. That features supporting harder stances on commerce, diplomacy, and sure, even protection.
We should additionally acknowledge what this says about Trump’s worldview. He sees nations like Canada as dispensable. He sees allies as rivals. And by extension, he sees immigrants, minorities, and racialized communities as politically expendable.
If he can bully a nation like Canada, what message does that ship to the remainder of the world?
The Caribbean has its personal historical past with empires that claimed friendship whereas extracting sources, silencing dissent, and punishing independence. From sugar tariffs to navy interventions, we’ve seen this story earlier than.
It’s one of many causes Caribbean immigrants in Canada convey a particular readability to moments like this.
We all know what it means to outlive below unjust techniques. We all know what it means to be informed to attend, to conform, to keep away from “rocking the boat.” However we additionally know that dignity have to be defended.
Canada should now resolve: Will it tolerate financial blackmail and reputational smears from its closest ally? Or will it reply, firmly and strategically, to guard its sovereignty and the individuals who helped construct this nation?
Wesley Wark isn’t sounding an alarm purely for drama’s sake. He’s providing a roadmap for Canada to arrange for a actuality that’s already unfolding. Trump’s second time period is right here and with it comes a storm of financial, diplomatic, and ideological challenges.
Canada should discover each out there choice, from treaty evaluations to intelligence limits, from commerce diversification to new world partnerships. This isn’t nearly surviving Trump. It’s about shaping a post-Trump world the place Canada stands agency, proud, and impartial.
And Caribbean Canadians have to be a part of that stand. Our voices, our companies, and our historical past all matter. We have now seen what silence prices. Now it’s time to combat again, collectively.
Anthony Joseph is the writer of The Caribbean Digicam, a weekly publication highlighting the voices, achievements, and problems with Black, Caribbean, and BIPOC communities in Canada.
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