COMMENTARY: Is Canada in danger from Trump? |
In Alberta, people are lining up to sign a petition calling for a referendum on independence. In Quebec, the federalist parties in the province are leaderless while the sovereigntist Parti Québécois leads in the polls in advance of an election. And apparently China is our new best friend while U.S. president Donald Trump muses about a new Monroe Doctrine for the hemisphere.
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So – should we worry? Prime Minister Mark Carney thinks so. Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Carney after years of diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and Beijing, as both countries move to rebuild ties amid U.S. tariff pressures.
The prime minister told President Xi that we are forging a new strategic partnership which will yield “historic” gains for both nations. Canada is seeking a partnership with China to prepare for the “new world order.”
“There is intrinsic value in the event of the visit happening,” L. Philippe Rheault, a former Canadian diplomat who leads the China Institute at the University of Alberta, told the New York Times Jan. 14.
“These days it’s hard to talk about Canada-China relations without a reference to what’s happening in Washington,” he added. “Whatever you think about Trump, he’s serving as a historical accelerant and a catalyst for countries to reassert their economic and security arrangements.”
But........