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It’s not just about Donald Trump. It’s about us, the indispensable ally that has allowed ourselves to dwindle into dispensability. That Canada’s neighbour is turning its back on the liberal values and internationalism that propelled the United States up the Billboard charts of world powers over the past century-and-a-half – that’s on the Americans.
We don’t get a vote, after all. That we are less consequential in the face of rising American nationalism and fragmenting geopolitics, however – that’s on us. We have become inward-looking, too. When our long-time allies, such as Germany, Japan and Korea, come seeking our resource-rich assistance with their energy insecurities, we demur.
Among NATO’s 32 members, our spending as a share of GDP is the sixth-lowest. There is more to come given the recent defence policy update, but still more is required. We have fallen in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index from fourth in 2007 to 23rd in 2020, at a time when massive investments in digital technologies, life sciences and the energy transition are critical for remaining competitive.
For the rest of this column: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-needs-to-have-a-plan-for-the-us-no-matter-who-becomes-president/