Businessman and TV personality Kevin O’Leary has become a travelling salesman for the Great White North as of late. His one-man crusade to promote a stronger Canada-U.S. economic union would have been fine on its own. But alas, he couldn’t help himself (again) and made it all about himself (again) by attempting to get directly involved in a discussion he wasn’t asked to join.
Mr. Wonderful may think he’s wonderful, but that’s far from the consensus.
A stronger economic union between Canada and the U.S., which O’Leary has touted, makes sense. “What is of interest and what has caught the imagination of Canadians is an economic union beyond what we have now,” he recently told the National Post, “because the world’s changing pretty quickly and we both have things that each other need, and there’s never been two countries more aligned.”
Agreed. Canada and the U.S. have had periods of historical dissent and disagreement, and fought against one another in the War of 1812. Nevertheless, our two countries have long been great friends, allies and trading partners.
As noted in a Congressional Research Service paper from July, “Canada is the top U.S. partner for trade in goods and services.… In 2023, Canada exported 78 per cent of its goods to, and imported almost half of its goods from, the United States.”
Moreover, as of 2022, “the United States is the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) by stock in Canada ($438.8 billion), and Canada is the fourth-largest FDI source in the United States ($589.3 billion).”
In other words, our relationship represents a massive source of economic revenue for both countries. It also leads to new investment opportunities, as well as job and wealth creation. Hence, it’s important to preserve and enhance the U.S.-Canada trade relationship.
If O’Leary wanted to promote this on cable news channels, fine. But he wants to speak directly with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump about building a stronger economic union, thus anointing himself as a pseudo-representative of Canada.
Meanwhile, O’Leary is attempting to turn Trump’s humorous suggestion about Canada becoming the 51st state into a serious discussion. “Yes, maybe it was a joke to start,” he said on Fox News, but “there’s something great here to be done because if you figured out a way to put these two countries together, it would be the most powerful country on earth.” He suggested that, “More than half of Canadians, there’s 41 million of them, want to know more.”Kevin O’Leary
Oh, really? A Dec. 13 Angus Reid poll found that only six per cent of Canadians felt Canada should join the U.S. Fox News also referenced a Leger survey during his interview, which showed that only 13 per cent of Canadians would like their country to become the 51st state, while 82 per cent were opposed.
That’s hardly “more than half.” It’s barely a whisper.
O’Leary’s response? “That poll is irrelevant,” he brazenly sniffed. “The opportunity … is combining strengths. You don’t have to sell the country, you don’t have to even merge it. But you can create a union where you put together the things that matter — a common currency, a common passport, free-flowing trade across the border, particularly in energy.”
Fine, but it’s not quite that simple to flesh out. While there have been examples of economic unions along these lines, such as the European single market, they involve more than two countries. O’Leary is proposing this for two nations without a sale or merger as part of the arrangement.
Why would Trump ever go for this? Plus, is Trump really going to abandon the Canada-United States-Mexico free trade agreement that he fought so hard for in his first term? Renegotiating NAFTA was one of his great successes, and he’s not one to leave his achievements 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. He has nothing unique to offer. He has no official role as a trade representative for Canada. He’s far from being a successful politician, too.
The latter was revealed during his bizarre 2017 Conservative party leadership campaign. He wooed many party members with his populist-conservative rhetoric and led for a time, but dropped out two days before the voting started. Why? He claimed his support was “weak” in Quebec and “it would seem foolish, even selfish, to win the leadership knowing I don’t have … a high probability” of beating Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.
Yes, that’s the same Trudeau whose incompetent leadership has opened the door to a loud-mouthed celebrity who briefly attempted to become the Canadian Trump to believe he’s the best person to promote Canada. God help us all. Here’s a better idea: O’Leary should clam 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 the journey.
National Post