Editorial for August 14 2025

In an increasingly fractured world, Canada must recalibrate its approach to international trade. The time has come to turn toward a more independent and strategic economic policy, one that includes deepened ties with China and India, two of the largest and most dynamic economies on the planet.

Despite frequent portrayals to the contrary, China has never posed a direct threat to Canada, not militarily, and not through trade. Like every sovereign nation, China acts in its own interest. So does the United States. So does Canada. India, in its policies and its posture, is much the same. Yet in recent years, Canada’s diplomatic behavior has often seemed dictated more by Washington than by Ottawa’s own priorities.

The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, at the request of the United States, was a glaring example. That decision, legally questionable and diplomatically reckless, did immense damage to Canada’s relationship with China. It broadcast to the world that Canada was prepared to put its sovereignty on hold for the sake of appeasing its southern neighbour. The repercussions were predictable and costly.

Similarly, tensions with India have worsened, not because of economic incompatibility but due to political missteps and an apparent disregard for the complexity of bilateral relations. Now, as U.S. tariffs tighten around Canadian exports and threats of economic punishment grow louder, the very voices that once urged alignment with the Americans are advising trade with the very nations we pushed away.

It is bitter irony. Canada aligned itself with a power that increasingly treats its northern neighbour less as a partner and more as a dependent. Tariffs on steel, softwood lumber, dairy, and other sectors have shown how unreliable this trade relationship has become. Meanwhile, China and India have moved on, securing deals with other global partners while Canada debates its place on the world stage.

The truth is, we should have been diversifying all along. Trade is not about loyalty; it is about mutual benefit. China and India are vast markets with growing consumer bases, thriving middle classes, and a hunger for resources and technology that Canada is well positioned to supply. In return, they offer manufactured goods, investment, and access to networks across Asia, Africa, and beyond.

It is not too late to reset. But this time, Canada must approach these relationships with respect and clarity. That means dealing with China and India not as threats or strategic pawns but as equals in an increasingly multipolar world. It also means abandoning the residue of colonial arrogance and the white supremacist assumptions that have too often tainted Canada’s approach to the Global South.

The idea that Canada is somehow a moral arbiter on the world stage has worn thin. If we wish to be respected, we must behave with consistency and principle. That includes standing firm in our sovereignty and choosing our trade partners based on our own national interest, not on cues from another country’s agenda.

Survival is now at stake. Canada must trade with any nation willing to do honest business. And this time, we must get it right.

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