The Canada-U.S. relationship is at its lowest point in more than a century with President Donald Trump’s near-daily threats to ruin the Canadian economy and undermine the country’s sovereignty.
With the U.S. losing its long-held place as Canada’s most trusted partner, the country’s leaders are now clamouring to revive ties to like-minded countries, most notably historic allies like Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Proponents of a “CANZUK” alliance say Canada’s political leaders should strike while the iron’s hot and immediately bolster trade links, push to integrate the militaries to improve mutual defence and pursue mobility rights so citizens can move about in a bid to lessen dependence on an increasingly belligerent U.S.
Together, the four countries could be a formidable bloc with a combined GDP of roughly $6.5 trillion and the world’s third-largest military force — a partnership that could help them ride out Trump’s political convulsions, said James Skinner, the CEO of CANZUK International, a group that advocates for closer ties.
Skinner said Trump’s tariff threats and 51st state taunts are a “shameful” development that has “undoubtedly damaged the relationship and led to a decline.”
“But there’s a silver lining to all of this. It gives Canada a golden opportunity to look elsewhere and explore other avenues with our closest allies abroad: Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. We fought in wars together, we share a common language, we have familial ties that go back decades and this just seems like the ideal pairing for Canada to explore,” Skinner said in an interview with CBC News.
“We need to make sure we don’t end up in this monopoly situation again where the United States holds all the cards and we’ve just got to go along with whatever President Trump says,” he said.
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, a longtime supporter of a CANZUK alliance, is also lending his name to the latest push to integrate, calling for freer trade, better security ties and the free movement of people across the four countries.
“Why wouldn’t you want this? These are our closest friends and allies,” he said in an interview.
“With the U.S. pulling back, there should be a strong drive to get CANZUK done. The other good, democratic countries need to step up and fill the void.”
The Commonwealth and its member countries have been something of an afterthought in Canada for decades. Canada pulled back from Britain in the post-Second World War period, especially after brokering a free trade agreement with the U.S. in the 1980s.
And there have been some recent signs of tension between the largely English-speaking countries, all of which share similar political and legal institutions and the same head of state: King Charles.
The U.K. broke off bilateral trade negotiations with Canada last year after a dispute largely over cheese — even as Australia and the U.K. pulled closer in the post-Brexit period.
While the U.K. was looking to tap its own Commonwealth connections after pulling out of the EU, Canada held firm on signing a trade deal it feared would hurt some farmers.
New Zealand is locked in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products — and it’s taking the country to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade tribunal over what one of that country’s leaders called “a betrayal of friendship.” Australia is also accusing Canada of dumping low-priced milk products on world markets.
Canada was also left out of a crucial defence pact between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.
And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a regular feature at international summits, was absent from the most recent Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Samoa.
It’s those tensions that give Andrew Percy pause.
Percy, a former British trade envoy and MP who recently moved to Vancouver to live and work after leaving politics, said it’s a no-brainer for the four countries to pull together in the wake of Trump’s decision to effectively torpedo the long-standing Western alliance.
“It just makes perfect sense but, as with everything, the devil is in the details,” he said in an interview.
Canada says it’s a free trader but it throws up non-tariff trade barriers, especially around agricultural products, and so do the other countries, Percy said.
“Canada is talking a good game about diversifying more but Canada has been dragging its heels,” Percy said, pointing to Canada’s reluctance to endorse the U.K.’s accession to the CPTPP, effectively stymieing free trade.
“We’re all massive hypocrites. So, CANZUK, it’s all very nice as a concept but how do all of us, with these competing interests and different political persuasions, sit down and come to an agreement? It is a big ask — there’s a lot to achieve knowing we would all have to sacrifice,” he said.
But Canada’s leaders are showing signs they are willing to try.
In the last month alone, Canada’s posture has changed as it tries to revive friendships now that its relationship with the U.S. has cratered.
International Trade Minister Mary Ng just led a large Team Canada trade mission to Australia. “Our partnership, built on shared Commonwealth heritage and democratic values, is thriving,” she said after meetings in the country.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly was in the U.K. this week to bolster relations with her British counterpart and present a united front as Trump pulls back from protecting Ukraine.
“More than ever we need to be close to the U.K.,” Joly told reporters Monday after her trip.
Big news! Team Canada is taking on Australia! 🇨🇦🤝🇦🇺
We’re bringing our biggest-ever trade mission to Australia with 220+ delegates from across all 10 provinces! pic.twitter.com/RgBSQRljmb
Trudeau has been on the phone with Keir Starmer, the British prime minister, twice in the last three weeks.
According to a readout from one of the calls disseminated by Trudeau’s office, the two leaders “discussed the importance of working together to promote economic security and stability.”
And the two “committed to renewing efforts to advance bilateral trade.”
It’s not just the people already in government who see an opportunity for Canada to take a step back from the U.S. and embrace the Commonwealth cousins.
A spokesperson for Mark Carney, who served as governor of the Bank of England after holding the same job here, told CBC News the Liberal leadership hopeful believes drawing closer to the U.K. and the other Commonwealth countries is imperative.
At a rally in southern Ontario last week, Carney said Canada was “friends with our neighbours. Now they’re just our neighbours. We’ll find new friends.… We’re gonna diversify our trading partnerships into Europe, the U.K.”
On the Liberal leadership debate stage Monday, Carney said Canada needs to get closer to countries like the U.K. that “share our values.”
Another Liberal leadership contender, Frank Baylis, wants to go all-in on CANZUK. “I’m proposing a whole new economic bloc,” he said.
Asked about support for a CANZUK alliance, a spokesperson for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told CBC News a government led by him will also prioritize “greater co-operation with like-minded allies” after the Liberals left Canada “poor, weak and defenceless and reliant on Americans.”
“Common sense Conservatives support diversification,” the spokesperson said.
Liberal and Conservative party members are ahead of their leaders — delegates at the parties’ most recent policy conventions endorsed some form of a CANZUK alliance well before Trump came back for a second round in the White House.
O’Toole, the former Conservative leader, said CANZUK was among the most popular policies he ever pitched during his decade in federal politics, especially among young people.
He said Canada should take the lead on the initiative and launch a secretariat to begin the work of bringing down barriers.
“There’s a willingness — and there’s popular support — in each of the four countries, he said. “There just needs to be a little leadership to get it done. The more we do together, the more positive it is for the world.”