OPINION: Justin Trudeau promises we are a nation that can be a good trading partner and provide raw materials. We’ve heard that one before
The prime minister is in New York City on Thursday, touting Canada as a reliable trade partner and, specifically, as a source for raw materials, including minerals and other precious metals that are essential to building out a clean economy.
There is also a lot of pressure on the Western allies to “friendshore” their critical national-security supply chains in an era of renewed great-power competition and armed conflict. You can see why Canada — rich in resources, far from invading armies — is a natural country to step up and meet the needs of our allies while growing our own prosperity at home.
This is a Canadian story, but it’s very much also an Ontario story. Northern Ontario, in particular, has a ton of untapped natural resources that could make our allies more secure while also enriching this province and helping bring needed prosperity to northern and Indigenous communities (which would also benefit from the infrastructure, particularly roads and electricity capacity, that the resources projects would require).
It’s an obviously smart idea and just nothing but winning for everyone: Canada, Ontario, local communities and Indigenous reserves, and the Western alliance itself.
For the rest of this column: https://www.tvo.org/article/we-all-know-canada-has-natural-resources-so-what-are-we-doing-with-them