Months ago, as Prime Minister Mark Carney was embarking on his marathon negotiations with the U.S. government, he indicated that he preferred dealing with trade and security as a package.
In practice, the paths that have developed seem to be trade talks that focus on tariffs and security decisions that focus on a significant increase in defence spending. For the short term, this approach is entirely reasonable and practical, but for the long term it will not advance Canada’s broader national security. Rather, it represents a form of “whack-a-mole.”
