Canada Can’t Afford to Play Trade Chicken With the US

Canada Can’t Afford to Play Trade Chicken With the US
An oilsands upgrading plant in Fort McMurray, Alta., in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Jason Franson
Marco Navarro-Génie
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Commentary

Calls for Canada to respond aggressively to U.S. trade threats ignore the economic realities of such a move. Consider Quebec and Alberta energy. The stakes for Alberta and Quebec in this morbidly anticipated trade-war gamble are profoundly asymmetric, with Alberta standing to lose far more in absolute terms and per capita. The arguments to engage in such conflict are reckless and fail to recognize the magnitude of our economic integration with the United States.

Marco Navarro-Génie
Marco Navarro-Génie
Author
Marco Navarro-Génie is president of the Haultain Research Institute. He is co-author, with Barry Cooper, of “Canada’s COVID-19: The Story of a Pandemic Moral Panic.”