Former finance minister has suggestions

Canada needs to think harder about aligning its policies with the United States if it doesn’t want to get left behind economically, former Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau has argued in an op-ed.

Morneau, who left Trudeau’s government under a cloud in 2020, criticized him in a book last year, complaining that he had had to “deliver economically illiterate political promises.” Morneau is now warning that one of the crowning achievements of the Trudeau government — the relationship with the United States — is at risk.

Trudeau was widely praised for his management of Donald Trump during the USMCA trade negotiations, but Morneau writes that Canada needs to change gears if it wants to stay on the good side of Uncle Sam. To maintain the trade relationship, Morneau writes, Canada needs to increase defense spending more quickly than promised. This, he says, requires “massive review of government expenditures and programs to free billions.”

Morneau also suggests changing other regulatory and tax policy to better align with America’s interests. In related news, Dave McKay, CEO of the Royal Bank of Canada — the country’s biggest – said Tuesday that Canada is on “the wrong path” in its relationship with the United States.

This hardening view from Bay Street suggests that many in the business world are ready to see the back of the current prime minister.