Slapshot: How Canada Is Getting Its Groove Back

Canadians are known for being nice.

But recently, they have decided, enough is enough.

As a result, the new prime minister of Canada, Mark Carney, recently had some fighting words for Americans who believe their neighbor to the north should either pay hefty tariffs on goods they export to the US – or become the 51st state.

“America is not Canada,” said Carney, according to the Business Standard, an English-language Indian newspaper. “Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape, or form. We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. So, Americans should make no mistake. In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”

Dropping gloves is an allusion to hockey players discarding their cumbersome gear so they might trade punches on the ice with a rival player. Carney was also alluding to how Canada’s national team recently defeated the Americans in the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy, too, as National Public Radio explained.

The sharp-tongued, 60-year-old former governor of the Bank of England – Carney’s background includes Harvard and Oxford Universities and Goldman Sachs – noted that squaring off against the US would not be simple, however.

“But this victory will not be easy,” he said. “We are facing the most significant crisis of our lives. We will have to do extraordinary things together.”

As the Liberal Party leader who recently replaced outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – the young, handsome son of a former prime minister who has long been viewed as an empty suit – Carney is expected to call an early election on April 28.

Carney’s choice is savvy politically. Technically, he has until October to call an election. Until recently, he might have waited. But now Canadian nationalism is surging – and so is the Liberal Party’s popularity in the polls after having sunk to shocking lows.

“This is a stunning reversal related directly to what is widely known in Canada as the ‘Trump Effect,’” McGill University political scientist Daniel Béland told the Associated Press.

If he wins, Carney will receive a mandate to govern at the same time the White House is seeking to disrupt the US-Canadian relationship. President Donald Trump has already imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum exports to the US, the BBC reported, and has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods not covered under the current trade laws.

The rifts are more than economic.

Canadians are deeply angry – booing American sports teams and the national anthem, boycotting American goods and travel, and renaming Americanos as Canadianos – to illustrate their displeasure. And instead of just waiting out Trump’s term, Canadian diplomats have decided to forge closer ties with Europe, for example, including in defense policy, to balance out their foreign policy ties and gain independence from American influence, added the Canadian Broadcasting Cooperation (CBC).

It may not be able to offer much in the way of defense help, but Canada has other commodities in play. For example, despite efforts to wean itself off Russian gas after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Europe is still very dependent on it. Meanwhile, half of its liquefied natural gas imports come from the United States, making Europe vulnerable to a trade war.

But Canada has offered gas and green hydrogen, it says, something the Germans have already expressed interest in.

“It remains unclear where Canada will fit into that new world,” the CBC wrote. “But there are hints of what could be the path forward for this country as it grapples with the painful realization that its strongest and closest ally has turned on it.”