Now or never master in our house! was the French-speaking Quebec liberal Party slogan in 1962
The US elected President Donald Trump’s threat Trudeau government over the last few weeks to slap 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports to the US. Canada is one of America’s largest trading partners and sends more or less 75% of its total exports. The two countries shared an integrated supply chain. In recent decades North America has been one of the largest regional economic centers in the world. In addition to its economic power, North America is a technological, military, and political regional center that controls many areas of supply around the world.
Later in December, President Trump posted on the social network Social Truth that Canada should join the US and become the 51e state then that Canadians would not have to pay taxes. Far from being a joke, business between Canada and the United States is commonplace. Every day, millions of tons of goods leave Canada for the United States.
The problem is that Canada has not been able to diversify its trading partners for years. Trump is not the first President to dictate the Canadian government’s trade policies. All governments before him have done so. But he is the first president to send back to the Canadian government a reflection on the real current economic situation.
The Canadian government is no longer able to withstand the blows from the American multinational interests and the economic forces that generate more and more inflation. Over decades as the American international finance capital continues to concentrate, Canadian political systems lose autonomy and the legislation has to adapt to the dictates of these powers.
But the rapprochement between Americans and Canadians is essentially economic. Unlike the American system, in the areas of education and health, Canadians still enjoy a universal system accessible to all. The Canadians pay more taxes than the Americans they don’t have to apply for a bank loan to pay for surgery or to pursue technical studies.
Every year Canadian universities receive several tens of thousands of American students because higher studies are practically inaccessible for a large majority of Americans. Every week several thousands of Americans cross the border into Canada to obtain low-cost medications. Canada’s government and provinces are working to negotiate and reduce the cost of prescription drugs through the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance
Education and health are structuring programs. These programs are fundamental to Canadian identity. These programs are managed by the provincial governments. Furthermore, the provincial health Minister must implement programs that respect the Canadian Health Act.
In 1984, federal legislation, the Canada Health Act, was passed with the following principles: criteria on portability, accessibility, universality, comprehensiveness, and public administration. Americans do not have a similar system, since health care is mostly managed by the private system.
Because Canadians have a universal health care system. The financing of this system allows large economies of scale, unlike the American private system.
Canada has the biggest French-speaking population in North America in the province of Quebec. Residents of Quebec have all the same rights as English-speaking Canadians. Quebec has even introduced a law, Bill 101, which allows it to protect and ensure the sustainability of the French on its territory. It seems obvious that in the United States, linguistic minorities do not have the same rights as the majority of the population.
Canada is the only country in North America that offers its citizens universal health and education programs. It is the only country in North America that respects the right to exist in French! It is the country that allows the largest minorities, the French-speaking in Quebec, to manage its own economy, the health and education programs, and the immigration on its territory.
Finally, carrying a weapon in the public domain is illegal in Canada, unlike in the United States.
Canada must diversify trade agreements with Europe and Asia to avoid being swallowed up by the Americans. As soon as the Ukrainian conflict is resolved Canada should start a partnership with other countries in Europe.
According to the Russian legal regime governing navigation along the Northern Sea Route, as with Canada, it is based on Article 234 of the Convention of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). So why not open a dialogue with the Russians and start a trading partnership? Maybe this is a part of the solution for Canada to avoid an increasing domination of the Americans.
The Trudeau government could draw some inspiration from the past and from the moment when the Quebec Liberal Party declared that we were the masters of our land!
The Quebec factor
Quebec is the only Canadian province that nationalized its hydroelectric system during the 1960s. Hydro-Québec is a Quebec government corporation responsible for the production, transmission and distribution of electricity in Quebec. Founded in 1944, its sole shareholder is the Government of Quebec. Between 2019 and 2023, the company paid dividends of 12.5 billion Canadian dollars to the Government of Quebec while guaranteeing Quebecers electricity rates that are among the lowest in North America. By controlling its natural resources the Quebec government removed the English-speaking establishment from its national institutions and took control of its economy by creating the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ). The various provincial governments invest in Quebec’s economy through the CDPQ and in the creation of various businesses. They also invest in French education programs and provide health care programs across the province. Modern Quebec was built on a collectivist-capitalist model, unlike the Americans, Quebec’s wealth is managed for the common good and not only the good and wealth of a few individuals.
In the 90s the Quebec government implanted a universal subsidized daycare. Quebec territory is the only place in North America that has such a system that supports families and pre-solar children’s education. Subsidized daycares charge parents a lower daily amount than non-subsidized daycares. In 2024, the rate is $9.10 per day per child.
