Who asked Kevin O’Leary to negotiate on our behalf?

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Kevin O’Leary, businessman and television personality recently became a traveling salesman for the Great White North. His individual crusade to promote a stronger Canada-US economic union would have been a success in itself. But alas, he couldn’t help himself (again) and did it all for himself (again) by attempting to get directly involved in a discussion he wasn’t invited to. join.

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Mr. Wonderful may think he’s wonderful, but that’s far from everyone’s opinion.

A stronger economic union between Canada and the United States, says O’Leary boastedmakes sense. “What is interesting and what has captured the imagination of Canadians is an economic union beyond what we have now,” he recently told the National Post, “because the world is changing quite a bit quickly and that we both have things that the other needs, and there are There have never been two countries so aligned.

Agreed. Canada and the United States have experienced periods of historical dissension and disagreement and fought against each other in the War of 1812. Nevertheless, our two countries have long been great friends, allies and partners commercial.

As reported in a Congressional Research Service paper of July, “Canada is the United States’ main partner for trade in goods and services.… In 2023, Canada exported 78 percent of its goods to the United States and imported almost half of them . »

Additionally, in 2022, “the United States is the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in terms of stock in Canada ($438.8 billion), and Canada is the fourth largest source of FDI in United States ($589.3 billion).”

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In other words, our relationship represents a considerable source of economic revenue for both countries. This also leads to new investment opportunities, as well as job and wealth creation. It is therefore important to preserve and strengthen the trade relationship between the United States and Canada.

If O’Leary wanted to promote it on cable news channels, fine. But he wants to speak directly with the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, about building a stronger economic union, thus presenting himself as a pseudo-representative of Canada.

Meanwhile, O’Leary tries to distract Trump humorous suggestion that Canada becomes the 51st state to engage in serious discussion. “Yeah, maybe it was a joke at first,” he said on Fox News, but “there’s something great going on here, because if you found a way to bring these two countries together, it would be the most powerful country in the world.” .” He suggested that “more than half of Canadians, or 41 million, want to know more.” » Kevin O’Leary

Oh really? December 13 Angus Reid Poll found that only 6 percent of Canadians thought Canada should join the United States. Fox News also referenced a Léger poll during its interview, which showed that only 13 percent of Canadians would like their country to become the 51st state, while 82 percent opposed it. .

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This is barely “more than half”. It’s barely a whisper.

O’Leary’s response? “This poll is irrelevant,” he sniffed cheekily. “The opportunity… is to combine forces. You don’t have to sell the country, you don’t even have to merge it. But you can create a union in which you bring together the elements that matter: a common currency, a common passport, smooth cross-border trade, particularly in energy.

Very good, but it is not that simple to develop. Although there are examples of economic unions moving in this direction, such as the European single market, they involve more than two countries. O’Leary proposes this for two nations with no sale or merger as part of the deal.

Why would Trump opt for this? Plus, is Trump really going to abandon the Canada-United States-Mexico free trade agreement that he fought so hard for during his first term? The renegotiation of NAFTA was one of his great achievements, and he is not one to leave his accomplishments in the dust.

It’s also worth asking why O’Leary is getting involved in this discussion. No one asked him to participate in the process. It has nothing unique to offer. He has no official role as Canada’s trade representative. He is also far from being a successful politician.

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The latter came to light during his bizarre Conservative Party leadership campaign in 2017. He wooed many party members with his populist-conservative rhetoric and led for a time, but dropped out two days before the start of the vote. For what? He claimed his support was “weak” in Quebec and “it would seem foolish, even selfish, to win the leadership knowing that I do not have… a high probability” of beating Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

Yes, this is the same Trudeau whose inept leadership opened the door for a loud celebrity who briefly attempted to become Canada’s Trump to believe he is the best person to promote Canada. God help us all. Here’s a better idea: O’Leary should shut up and stay in his lane, and invite the mediocre prime minister he wasn’t equipped to beat in an election to join him on his journey.

National Post

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