Since the April federal election, Canada has found itself in unchartered terrain. The United States–instigated trade war against long-standing allies rages on, as do its extreme deregulation and increasing attacks on digital infrastructure, data and communication systems that protect the public interest and monitor implementation and respect for the rule of law.
The consequent risks to energy, food, water and human security in Canada have led to a regrettable resurgence of political interest in, and support for, fossil fuel pipeline construction throughout the country, and in finding new trade partners for Canada’s polluting fossil fuels.
This archaic response in the context of the climate crisis would decimate public health and ecosystems and go against the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency’s scientific recommendations while locking Canada into stranded assets, further expanding the immense economic, social, environmental and cultural costs of fossil fuel exploitation.
A more prosperous approach would be to use this historical moment of disruption to strengthen coherence between trade and environmental agreements and propel implementation of global commitments under the Pact for the Future, Paris Agreement, Global Biodiversity Framework and other co-operative mechanisms that support evidence-based and scientifically informed approaches to sustainable development.
While the U.S. is busy dismantling its environmental laws and the federal agencies tasked to protect public and environmental health, Canada’s government needs to acknowledge that expanding trade with the U.S. will undermine environmental and public health protection across borders. Canada should ensure that all our future trade agreements integrate fundamental environmental standards, including the precautionary and polluter pays principles and intergenerational equity.
With a review of the Canada–U.S.–Mexico trade agreement approaching, some have suggested that Mexico and Canada should each pursue bilateral agreements with the U.S. But this would further empower the U.S. and go against the two other countries’ interests. The reliability of the U.S. as a trade partner, as well as its trustworthiness as a member of the international community, has collapsed. Pursuing trade relations with a rogue superpower such as the U.S. will substantially weaken Canada’s national resilience to systemic shocks.
But it does present a historic opportunity. Rather than launching a regressive nationalism based on reinvesting in a deceptive and declining boom-and-bust fossil fuel industry that has unfairly profited off the struggling working class to the benefit of its executives and shareholders, Canada must strengthen relations with long-standing and new trade partners — the European Union and Mexico as well as the Global South and emerging economies.
The wealth embedded in this approach is immense: new renewable energy markets, stronger domestic industries and a leading role in a global economy rooted in environmental justice and co-operation. By aligning its trade approach with the aim of reforming global economic structures to promote equitable development and reduce global disparities, Canada can forge a flourishing and just trade policy.
Canada’s renewed trade policy should prioritize economic justice and environmental sustainability by adhering to forward-thinking guiding principles. These include respecting Indigenous sovereignty, reinvesting wealth in local and Indigenous economies and eliminating tariffs on environmental goods and services. New trade agreements should define and phase out harmful fossil fuel subsidies to eliminate market distortions that favour carbon-intensive sectors, promote eco-labelling and implement periodic environmental impact assessments.
A renewed trade approach should also emphasize transparency, public participation and inclusive governance in trade negotiations, allowing for meaningful participation of civil society groups and Indigenous rights-holders. This approach should support lifting trade barriers on green technologies, advancing climate change adaptation and collaborating with developing nations in sustainable trade. It should further promote environmental justice, workers’ rights in informal economies and ethical supply chains that respect human rights and environmental protections.
As the world faces new challenges from the U.S.’s growing trade isolationism and attacks on domestic, regional and international rules of law, Canada has a unique opportunity to reclaim its leadership on the global stage.
By embracing a new internationalism, Canada can strengthen its alliances with like-minded nations and set pathways for multilateralism and trade embedded in the protection of fundamental rights, including environmental human rights. This will not only reassert Canada’s historical role as a bridge-builder on the international stage but also enable us to lead in shaping a fairer, more cooperative world order amid shifting geopolitical dynamics.
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with David Suzuki Foundation Director-General for Quebec and Atlantic Canada Sabaa Khan.
Learn more at davidsuzuki.org.
