Colin Robertson

Colin Robertson

‘Coin of the Realm’: CUSMA, the Gordie Howe Bridge, and the End of Bilateral Trust

The Gordie Howe International Bridge should have been the easiest file in Canada-U.S. relations. Canada paid roughly $6.4 billion to build the bridge. Michigan received a new international crossing, customs facilities and a direct Interstate 75 connection without paying the construction bill. American workers, contractors and steel producers benefited. Automakers gained a badly needed alternative to the aging Ambassador Bridge...

Colin Robertson

Carney’s Tilt Toward Europe is not Nostalgia, it’s Foresight

For generations, Canada’s foreign policy rested on a comfortable assumption: geography tied us to the United States, while values linked us to Europe. We never had to choose between the two because the Atlantic alliance functioned as one strategic community. That world has changed. This week, the European Delegation in Ottawa celebrated its 50th anniversary at a moment when the...

Colin Robertson

The Carney Credo

Mark Carney’s speeches last week in Davos and Québec City should be read as a single argument. One addresses the world, the other our nation, but together they articulate a governing credo that seeks to integrate Canadian foreign and domestic policy more tightly than at any time since the early Cold War. Carney’s starting point is blunt. The postwar order...

Colin Robertson

Canada Must be Ready for a Post-CUSMA Economy

Negotiations on the future of our trade framework with the Trump administration resume in mid-January. Canadian negotiators will continue to work to renew the continental CUSMA agreement that is the successor to NAFTA. This is the preferred result. But we must also acknowledge that non-renewal is a possible outcome. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has already served notice that the...

Colin Robertson

This Year in Halifax: The Takeaways from HFX 2025

At the Halifax International Security Forum this past weekend, 300 participants from the world’s democracies – ministers and legislators, military and diplomats, business and civil society, scholars and journalists — gathered for a 16th year to discuss how those democracies are faring. Not so well, based on my corridor conversations, an impression reinforced by the annual IPSOS survey. A strong...

Colin Robertson

From Reliance to Resilience: Mark Carney’s Foreign Policy

This month will see two major tests for Prime Minister Mark Carney, making it a potential turning point less than half a year into his tenure. One is the return of the House of Commons, and the other is the United Nations 80th General Assembly. Carney’s performance will underscore Canada’s transformed relationship with the United States. And, as the Prime...

Colin Robertson

Canada Needs More World: Mark Carney’s Summitry Launch

For Prime Minister Mark Carney, June will not only be about making good his promises on internal trade and tax relief but using a month of summits to present a new Canadian face to the world. Carney hosts the G7 in Kananaskis, Alberta, on June 15-17, then meets with European Union leaders in Brussels on June 23, before heading to...

Colin Robertson

Good Fences: Managing the Bilateral Re-Set

In his second term as president of the United States, Donald Trump is forcing the Canadian body politic —every level of government and every party — to recalibrate. There is the threat not just of tariffs and economic upheaval but, for the first time since the 19th century, of annexation. Prime Minister Mark Carney set the record straight in the...

Colin Robertson

Canada’s Trade War Arsenal Should Include a Team America

With the major preoccupation of Canada’s new Carney government being Donald Trump’s trade war, one immediate priority should be to complement our current ‘top-level’ advocacy with a ‘bottom-up’ approach that enlists Americans in this fight. In 2017, when Trump became president as our 25-year NAFTA renegotiation loomed, the Trudeau government adopted a diffused, Team Canada approach that involved an all-hands-on-deck...

Colin Robertson

The Antagonist Next Door: Trump’s Tariffs and Our New Bilateral Reality

The Trump tariffs of 25% that will be implemented Tuesday — based on reporting at this writing — on all Canadian imports to the United States, shatter the rules and norms that, until now, have successfully managed to mutual advantage our trade with the United States. An unprovoked abrogation of our trade agreements, the tariffs are fracturing our economic partnership...

Colin Robertson

Trump 2.0, Week 2: Premiers Matter, Diversify or Die, and Liberalization Begins at Home

A week into Trump 2.0 and Donald Trump already has Canada in an uproar. Getting out of this mess is going to take effort by all levels of government. It should start with removing our internal trade barriers. With Parliament prorogued and a lame-duck Trudeau government, the premiers are standing up to meet the Trump challenges.

Colin Robertson

Canada, Mexico and the CUSMA Review: Hanging Together is Better than the Alternative

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are right to focus attention on the looming review of the Canada-US-Mexico agreement – what Canadians call CUSMA — scheduled for 2026. Alberta’s oil and gas exports and Ontario-made auto parts and assembled vehicles are our most valuable exports to the United States, generating jobs and income that benefit all Canadians...

Colin Robertson

Dealing with Trump 2.0: First Things First

It was not the result that Canadians nor most of the rest of the world wanted. But it was decisive, and the electoral system worked. Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris underlined that there will be an orderly transition on January 20 as Donald Trump, once again, prepares to take office. No matter what we thought of...

Colin Robertson

How Supply Management as a Bargaining Chip Weakens Canada’s Trade Negotiating Power

Is it really necessary to legislate the removal of milk and cheese, chicken and eggs from any new trade deals? Bill C-282, which is currently under scrutiny in the Senate Foreign Affairs and International Trade committee, aims to do precisely that – to legislate an injunction on any inclusion of supply management of our dairy, poultry and egg industry from...

Colin Robertson

Canada’s Defence Spending Isn’t Just About Security

To preserve our prosperity and our place as a useful nation, Canadian governments must re-invest in defence. Trade with the United States generates over a third of our GDP. Devoting at least 2 percent of GDP to our nation’s defence with the focus on Arctic sovereignty is a no-brainer. Securing protection under the American umbrella in the early years of...

Colin Robertson

NATO at 75 and Canada’s New Defence Reality

NATO, the longest-enduring alliance of democracies, turns 75 on April 4. The formal celebrations will take place in June when the leaders meet in Washington. The most welcome tribute from Canada would be for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to lay out in the April 16 budget Canada’s plan to meet the 2 percent-of-GDP defence spending commitment. The government’s long-promised defence...

Colin Robertson

With Mulroney in Hollywood: A Lesson in Diplomacy from the Great Networker

The flow of tributes to Brian Mulroney from foreign leaders, past and present, highlights one of the former prime minister’s many talents — his ability to personally cultivate and sustain international relationships to the benefit of Canada. Diplomacy relies on relationships. Watching Mulroney in action was a lesson in the art of making connections and creating networks. As my diplomatic...

Colin Robertson

1,000 Points of Contact: Managing Change in Our Relationship with the US

Whatever the outcome of the US election in November, Canada needs to be ready for a changing relationship with a changing America. Ramping up our trade advocacy campaign in a Team Canada effort is a first step. But the playbook extolling our mutually beneficial economic relationship, which worked for us in the NAFTA renegotiations, won’t be enough this time around...

Colin Robertson