Power play: How U.S.-Canada cooperation can skip the games and secure our borders
The US-Canada relationship is a partnership forged in history with common economic and strategic interests
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The U.S. hockey team’s stunning victory in the Olympics has thrilled Americans and stunned and disappointed Canadians: two peoples who are experiencing their own icy relations right now.
Nonetheless, the fact that five of the US players, including star goalie Connor Hellebuyck, play on Canadian NHL teams, while no less than 22 Canadian team members play on American teams, reminds us how closely tied both countries actually are, no matter what their respective politicians say about each other.
Indeed, leaders need to set aside their personal pique and see the US-Canada relationship for what it is, a partnership forged in history with common economic and strategic interests to advance, as well as the resources to match.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NATO AMBASSADOR SAYS EUROPE 'HAS A TENDENCY TO OVERREACT' OVER GREENLAND DISPUTE
"Forged in history" isn’t just a matter of both countries being part of the English-speaking people’s legacy of freedom and prosperity for the world, alongside the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It also reflects Canada’s essential contribution to Allied victory in World War II. The battle of the Atlantic, and hence victory over Nazi Germany, would not have been possible without the Canadian Royal Navy, which grew to become the world’s third-largest, from 13 ships in 1939 to over 400 by 1945, as its frigates, destroyers, and destroyer escorts shielded vital Allied convoys. More than 1.1 million Canadians served in uniform, with 45,000 losing their lives — a higher proportion of military deaths relative to population (roughly 0.4%) than the United States (0.32%).
Canada also worked hand in glove with the US and UK on secret atomic research during World War II. In the Cold War, Canadians were essential to the creation of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, the most successful intelligence network in history. The Five Eyes’s division of global labor allotted to Canada two areas even more crucial today: the polar regions of Russia and the interior of China.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yet Canada’s opportunities for cooperation with the United States go further than that of any other Five Eyes member, or even other NATO members. The future of the Western Hemisphere — perhaps even the free world — may depend on how Washington and Ottawa find common ground in shaping the future of the global economy.
The most obvious sector is energy. Between them, the United States and Canada produce roughly 30 percent of the world’s natural gas and 25 percent of the world’s oil. By promoting cooperation in LNG exports across the Atlantic and Pacific and in building cross-border pipelines like the still-suspended XL Pipeline, Ottawa and Washington would dominate global markets as never before. And while bringing Venezuela’s oil industry back to peak efficiency will take years, a US-Canada energy consortium can reshape the geopolitics of energy production, far sooner.
AMERICA DOESN'T NEED TO OWN GREENLAND — THERE'S A BETTER, MORE PEACEFUL WAY
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The next opportunity is strategic mineral extraction and refining. Any mineral extraction plan centered on American possession of Greenland or deals with Ukraine will take years — even decades — to yield results. By contrast, Canada is already a major producer of gold, iron, nickel and copper. It’s also involved in important projects to tap into its rich reserves in rare earth elements such as cobalt, graphite, vanadium and lithium (Canada currently has the sixth-largest lithium reserves in the world, and the sixth or seventh-largest reserves in cobalt).
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While China currently dominates supply chains in these critical minerals, a vigorous U.S.-Canada consortium could displace China as a major supplier to world markets. Indeed, Canadian companies could help to revive the United States’ own mining industry, and together set clean and environmentally safe standards for the extraction of all these materials.
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In terms of strategic goals, Canada owns half of North America’s "Fourth Coast," i.e. the 10,000 mile plus shoreline of the Great Lakes and one of the great historic centers of U.S. shipbuilding. Currently ranked 6th or 7th in world shipbuilding, Canada, like the U.S. is looking to democratic allies like South Korea and Japan to beef up large-scale shipbuilding and naval defense capacity. Indeed, this past week, Ontario Shipyards partnered with South Korea's Hanwha Ocean to bring large-scale shipbuilding back to Ontario, including naval vessels. In short, cooperation with Canadian companies like Ontario Shipyards can be part of restoring America's own maritime strength.
Finally, Canada will be an essential partner in plans for the Golden Dome missile defense system, offering critical Arctic territory, sensors, and radar infrastructure for continental missile defense.
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