Wake up. Do not hit snooze
Now is not the time to lean up against a tree and pull a Rip Van Winkle
If you’re not familiar with the story, here’s the gist: Rip Van Winkle1, a kind but lazy man, avoids work – and his nagging wife – by wandering the Catskill Mountains with his dog. One day, he stumbles upon some oddly dressed men playing nine-pins, joins them, drinks their liquor, and falls asleep. When he wakes, 20 years have passed. His dog is gone, his gun has rusted, his beard is long, and … oh yes … he has slept through the American Revolution.
Is there something about this story that feels familiar? The suspicion that, like Rip Van Winkle, Lady Canada took a nap and woke 20 years later to discover her once-attractive husband is unrecognizable. This new guy is ranting and roaring, threatening her autonomy, and inviting the Proud Boys over for beers in the garage.
In Washington’s story, Rip chooses to remain on the sidelines, telling stories rather than engaging with the new world around him. Free of his now-dead wife and any obligation to work, he fades into irrelevance.
Dear Canada: A new revolution is here. It’s time to stop living like artifacts of a bygone age. Welcome to the "Don’t-let-the-door-hit-you" uprising. It’s got three planks.
Gina’s full commentary and audio recording continue below for paid subscribers.
Economic self-sufficiency
Canada needs an exit strategy. A careful, deliberate unwinding of our economic entanglement with the US is overdue. Like any messy divorce, it won’t be painless, but years of legal wrangling beat playing doormat to a domineering partner. You can’t charm a narcissist; it only feeds their manipulative impulses and erodes your boundaries. And Canada needs healthier boundaries.
Statistics Canada reported an overall trade surplus of $94.4 billion with the US in 20232 (mostly in energy products). Even so, the US trade deficit with Canada represents just 4% of its global deficit. Only France has a smaller US trade deficit than we do3. If numbers tell us anything, it’s that giving any air to claims of “unfair trade” with Canada is ludicrous.
It’s time to open a separate bank account, change our passwords, and get back on the international trade dating scene. Swipe right on Europe and China for energy, potash, minerals, and lobster. You know who wants oil, potassium fertilizer and lobster? Everyone, that’s who.
And interprovincial trade barriers? It’s long past time Canada’s siblings stopped fighting and pulled together as a family. Fly the flag and end provincial liquor monopolies. It’s been a century since prohibition; let’s stop behaving like liquor barons.
Likewise, agricultural trade restrictions: barriers on sale and transport of meat, produce, and other farm products is a maze. And with US budget slashes to the FDA and food safety deregulation, our own food safety and security should be top of mind. Buy Canadian. Continue to buy Canadian. Help Canadian farmers gain pricing power.
Invest in business at home
Leaving Foreign Domestic Investment off the table for the moment, let’s talk about investing in our own businesses (and creating employment and career development). Regulatory complexity – different rules across the different provinces – buries investment and expansion in red tape. Infrastructure gaps in transportation networks, lags in digital connectivity, and differing construction regulations: for rural Canadians, these are daily struggles. For investors, they’re dealbreakers.
Military Sovereignty
Canada is failing its allies. Of 30 NATO countries, Canada is one of the eight that does not honour its political promise to spend 2% of our GDP on defence. That’s poor play by any measure.
For years, we smirked at the notion of American Exceptionalism so long as they walked the talk. We endured the "city on a hill" rhetoric and were content to have the world’s policeman carry the big stick.
Well, now the “policeman” has expanded his beat to extortion racketeering, and Canada – and the rest of her allies – are targets.
Meeting our NATO commitments is the bare minimum to prove we are, in both word and deed, strong, secure, and engaged. Strengthening our arctic sovereignty, protecting our waterways and addressing climate-related security threats will demonstrate that we value our nation and that we believe Canada is worth defending.
We are more than a landmass and more than an oilfield: We are thinkers, artists, economists, pilots, farmers, miners, caretakers, technologists, scientists, fishers, soldiers, teachers and doctors.
It’s time to act and treat ourselves and our real allies with the respect we all deserve and the kindness we all need.
Washington Irving, an American author, is best known for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which, like Rip Van Winkle, comes from his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
Canada consistently posts trade deficits with the United States in services, largely due to travel services. Complete figures for goods and services trade in 2024 will be available on Feb. 27, 2025. Statistics Canada.
Marc Ercolao, “Setting the Record Straight on Canada-U.S. Trade,” TD Economics, Jan. 21, 2025. https://economics.td.com/ca-canada-us-trade-balance.