Has Canada Failed to Live Up to Its End of the Bargain with America? | Brian Lee Crowley

"This is part of [Trump's] negotiating tactic. He knows Canada's vulnerability to the United States, and he knows that for Canada, there is no realistic alternative. And he's basically signaling to Canadians he knows this, and he's going to have high expectations of any negotiations that will take place between Canada and the United States over the nature of our trade and other relationships.

Let me put it a different way. Canada has, I think it is fair to say, been failing to keep up its end of the bargain with the United States - its end of the bargain being [that] we will be a reliable ally on defense (we have not been a reliable ally on defense), that we will be the country that will look after the Arctic flank of North America (we have not been looking after the Arctic flank of North America), and that we will be enforcing the rule of law in Canada and ensuring that Canada cannot be used as a launching pad for drug trade with the United States.

I think he exaggerates, to some extent, the degree to which this happens, but there's no doubt that Canada is part of the international network that is flooding the United States with fentanyl. And, by the way, I think the biggest role that we play in that is that we have become a haven for money laundering for the people who are actually behind the drug trade, which is mostly China.

And so, those are just a few examples of ways in which I think America is entitled to say to Canada, 'You've not been holding up your end of the bargain.' And that's one of the reasons why I have been urging people on both sides of the border to think about what I call a 'grand bargain' between Canada and the United States. Let's not get caught in the weeds on the trade relationship. That's very important, let's make sure we get that right, but there are border management issues, there are defense issues, there are national security issues, drug trade issues, organized crime issues, all of which touch on the Canada-US relationship.

And we should sit down with Donald Trump - he's the great deal maker - and say to him, 'Mr. Trump, we are prepared to negotiate across this whole range of issues and to help define a grand bargain that will be in Canada's interests. We're not here to sell out Canada's interests, but you will be able to sell [it] to Americans as a great deal that you have negotiated on their behalf and that is in their interests." - Brian Lee Crowley