ASIA
12 February 2026
Canada/US rocky friendship
There have always been ups and downs in the Canada/US rocky relationship – though perhaps rarely as much as now.
We have all been shocked at Donald Trump’s destruction of the economic, social and political friendship between the US and Canada, two countries which share the longest land border in the world, stretching approximately 8,891 to 8,893 kilometers, and which fought side by side against fascism in the two world wars of the 20th century.
Canada and the US forged an excellent partnership during World War 2, as documented by Canadian historian Tim Cook in his wonderful book, “The Good Allies: How Canada and the United States Fought Together to Defeat Fascism during the Second World War”, published just before Donald Trump’s re-election as US President.
But Cook suggests that Canadian governments subsequently lost their strategic focus to the displeasure of the US. As is well known, Canada's defense spending as a percentage of GDP fell to less than 1.5 percent of GDP over the past three decades, well below the official NATO target of 2 percent. Thus, following the end of the Cold War, Canada cashed in its peace dividend, and began freeloading on its strategic relationship with the US.
Cook also reminds us that Canada put almost all of its NATO eggs in the basket of defending Western Europe while leaving the Arctic largely undeveloped and unprotected! Trump has reminded us, if reminding were necessary, that Arctic security is of critical importance to the West and has not been taken seriously enough.
But Canada cannot escape the US, and must, post-Trump, seek to forge a functional partnership with the US, especially in the security realm. It is perhaps easy to forget that Trump will not be around forever – and if history is any guide, the next presidential elections should see a sharp swing in an antic-Trump direction.
Carney’s commitments to increase defence spending for 2025-26 expenditures to 2 percent of GDP and his sign-on at the 2025 NATO Summit to a new, ambitious target of investing 5 percent of their GDP on defense and security-related spending by 2035 are welcome. But it will take time and great efforts for Canada to build a functioning and effective military. In other words, it takes a lot more than spending money.
But the US will always be a challenging partner for Canada. Being a relatively small country, with an ugly big neighbour like the US, China or Russia is never easy. My own country, Australia, knows this all too well, as China sanctions our exports, and arrests of citizens whenever we cause it displeasure.
Before World War 2 began, the Canada/US relationship was characterised by mutual suspicion and rivalry. Indeed, Cook’s research dug up invasion plans from both sides from the 1920s. US plans included dousing Halifax in chemical weapons, before marching onto Ottawa! Canada’s plan even included the proposal of an Australian expeditionary force invading California. These plans were unrealistic in that neither side had the necessary military capability, but they give a sense of some of the tensions.
But over the course of the war, Canada’s Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, learned to negotiate and strategise to help Britain and the Allies win. These leaders did not have it easy. Roosevelt’s White House had all kinds of advisors who didn't want to help Canada. They wanted to squeeze Canada financially, as they were doing to Britain even with things like the Lend Lease programme.
Mackenzie King is usually remembered as a strange old bachelor, but he is Canada's longest serving prime minister. Moreover, he was also a shrewd political operator who deserves credit for forging the alliance with Roosevelt, which helped Canada achieve its strategic aims during the war. When he came back into power in 1935 he understood the need to work hard with the Americans – even ingratiate himself to them – to protect North America in case of a war.
At the same time, there was a doomsday scenario, with one North American country at war with Nazi Germany, and the other not. If Nazi Germany had invaded Canada, the US could have the Nazis on its border. Thus, Roosevelt understood that America needed a strong Canada on the northern border even though the US was not at war, and thus extended help to Canada.
When Britain retreated from the continent at Dunkirk in 1940, it left behind its tanks, artillery, trucks and weapons. Canada rose to the occasion and supplied Britain with tanks, aircraft, trucks, machine guns. But a lot of this was financed by American support, and security and trade pacts. Complex cross border industrial cooperation spurred the industrialisation of Canada. This was not altruism, the US wanted to secure Canada. And through the war, Canada became more of a North American nation and less a British Dominion.
After the Pearl Harbour attack of 1941, Canada declared war on Japan even ahead of the US doing so, as two Canadian battalions were attacked in Hong Kong. The US suddenly found itself with a two-front war – Atlantic and Pacific – as Hitler also declared war on the US. Canada became America’s number one partner in terms of defending North America. As America’s navy was not able to respond to German U-boats the Royal Canadian Navy came to America’s rescue. Royal Canadian Navy squadrons helped defend Alaska and many Canadian resources were sent to west coast America. And Canada allowed the Americans to build the Alaska Highway. All these efforts to protect North America, provided Canada and the US the confidence to send troops and kit to Europe.
A relatively small country like Canada should always be attentive to the concerns of a large neighbour like the US. It must be willing to compromise. Moreover, Canada must pull its weight in terms of defence spending and securing the Arctic.
Small countries like Canada should be lucid about the nature of partnerships and alliances with the US. The US is only ever motivated by self-interest. “America-first” may be seen through a broad or a narrow lens, but it will always be America first.
Canada should never expect the US to know or understand it. Big countries are by their nature self-obsessed. Smaller countries like Canada should cultivate a superior knowledge of its neighbour, and use this to outsmart its big neighbour. It must learn to punch above its weight. Moreover, it must work hard to convince Washington of Canada’s importance to securing North America. Key to this is the relationship between leaders which can depend on serendipity.
Smaller countries like Canada should cultivate leverage over the largest country in the form of resources, goods or services on which the big neighbour is dependent. It should also avoid excessive dependence on the US by cultivating relationships with other countries, notably other middle powers. Smaller countries often utilise a "porcupine strategy" – making the cost of aggression too high for the larger neighbor to justify.
While it is difficult to say no to the large country, it is possible on occasions if there is a deep and strong relationship – but not too often.
Canada and the US forged an excellent partnership during World War 2, as documented by Canadian historian Tim Cook in his wonderful book, “The Good Allies: How Canada and the United States Fought Together to Defeat Fascism during the Second World War”, published just before Donald Trump’s re-election as US President.
But Cook suggests that Canadian governments subsequently lost their strategic focus to the displeasure of the US. As is well known, Canada's defense spending as a percentage of GDP fell to less than 1.5 percent of GDP over the past three decades, well below the official NATO target of 2 percent. Thus, following the end of the Cold War, Canada cashed in its peace dividend, and began freeloading on its strategic relationship with the US.
Cook also reminds us that Canada put almost all of its NATO eggs in the basket of defending Western Europe while leaving the Arctic largely undeveloped and unprotected! Trump has reminded us, if reminding were necessary, that Arctic security is of critical importance to the West and has not been taken seriously enough.
Dealing with Donald Trump’s America
Donald Trump’s attitude towards Canada has been simply obnoxious. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is doing an excellent job in defending Canada’s interests, dignity and pride, and in seeking to diversify its economy and politics away from the US, and in promoting international cooperation among middle powers.But Canada cannot escape the US, and must, post-Trump, seek to forge a functional partnership with the US, especially in the security realm. It is perhaps easy to forget that Trump will not be around forever – and if history is any guide, the next presidential elections should see a sharp swing in an antic-Trump direction.
Carney’s commitments to increase defence spending for 2025-26 expenditures to 2 percent of GDP and his sign-on at the 2025 NATO Summit to a new, ambitious target of investing 5 percent of their GDP on defense and security-related spending by 2035 are welcome. But it will take time and great efforts for Canada to build a functioning and effective military. In other words, it takes a lot more than spending money.
But the US will always be a challenging partner for Canada. Being a relatively small country, with an ugly big neighbour like the US, China or Russia is never easy. My own country, Australia, knows this all too well, as China sanctions our exports, and arrests of citizens whenever we cause it displeasure.
Golden era of Canada/US cooperation
It may seem like digging up ancient history, but current and future American and Canadian leaders could seek inspiration from the two countries’ wartime leaders, namely America’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Canada’s Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who did so much to bring the countries together.Before World War 2 began, the Canada/US relationship was characterised by mutual suspicion and rivalry. Indeed, Cook’s research dug up invasion plans from both sides from the 1920s. US plans included dousing Halifax in chemical weapons, before marching onto Ottawa! Canada’s plan even included the proposal of an Australian expeditionary force invading California. These plans were unrealistic in that neither side had the necessary military capability, but they give a sense of some of the tensions.
But over the course of the war, Canada’s Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, learned to negotiate and strategise to help Britain and the Allies win. These leaders did not have it easy. Roosevelt’s White House had all kinds of advisors who didn't want to help Canada. They wanted to squeeze Canada financially, as they were doing to Britain even with things like the Lend Lease programme.
Mackenzie King is usually remembered as a strange old bachelor, but he is Canada's longest serving prime minister. Moreover, he was also a shrewd political operator who deserves credit for forging the alliance with Roosevelt, which helped Canada achieve its strategic aims during the war. When he came back into power in 1935 he understood the need to work hard with the Americans – even ingratiate himself to them – to protect North America in case of a war.
Canada/US cooperation during World War 2
Canada and the US were in completely different situations at the beginning of World War 2 on 1 September 1939. Upon Britain’s entry into the war, Canada, still a British Dominion, decided to support Britain. The US remained neutral, as Roosevelt understood that Americans did not want to enter the war, something which was devastating to Mackenzie King. The US didn’t have the same connection to Britain. Most importantly, while the US had already surpassed Britain as an economic power, it wasn’t a military power at that time. At that time, the US army was only the 19th largest in the world.At the same time, there was a doomsday scenario, with one North American country at war with Nazi Germany, and the other not. If Nazi Germany had invaded Canada, the US could have the Nazis on its border. Thus, Roosevelt understood that America needed a strong Canada on the northern border even though the US was not at war, and thus extended help to Canada.
When Britain retreated from the continent at Dunkirk in 1940, it left behind its tanks, artillery, trucks and weapons. Canada rose to the occasion and supplied Britain with tanks, aircraft, trucks, machine guns. But a lot of this was financed by American support, and security and trade pacts. Complex cross border industrial cooperation spurred the industrialisation of Canada. This was not altruism, the US wanted to secure Canada. And through the war, Canada became more of a North American nation and less a British Dominion.
After the Pearl Harbour attack of 1941, Canada declared war on Japan even ahead of the US doing so, as two Canadian battalions were attacked in Hong Kong. The US suddenly found itself with a two-front war – Atlantic and Pacific – as Hitler also declared war on the US. Canada became America’s number one partner in terms of defending North America. As America’s navy was not able to respond to German U-boats the Royal Canadian Navy came to America’s rescue. Royal Canadian Navy squadrons helped defend Alaska and many Canadian resources were sent to west coast America. And Canada allowed the Americans to build the Alaska Highway. All these efforts to protect North America, provided Canada and the US the confidence to send troops and kit to Europe.
Some lessons from the Canada/US rocky relationship
The US is a highly polarised and divided country whose presidential politics swing from one extreme to another – from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush to Barack Obama to Donald Trump to Joe Biden and back to Trump. Thus, we should see a big swing against Trumpian politics at the next presidential election – even if we do not see a return to Clinton or Obama politics.A relatively small country like Canada should always be attentive to the concerns of a large neighbour like the US. It must be willing to compromise. Moreover, Canada must pull its weight in terms of defence spending and securing the Arctic.
Small countries like Canada should be lucid about the nature of partnerships and alliances with the US. The US is only ever motivated by self-interest. “America-first” may be seen through a broad or a narrow lens, but it will always be America first.
Canada should never expect the US to know or understand it. Big countries are by their nature self-obsessed. Smaller countries like Canada should cultivate a superior knowledge of its neighbour, and use this to outsmart its big neighbour. It must learn to punch above its weight. Moreover, it must work hard to convince Washington of Canada’s importance to securing North America. Key to this is the relationship between leaders which can depend on serendipity.
Smaller countries like Canada should cultivate leverage over the largest country in the form of resources, goods or services on which the big neighbour is dependent. It should also avoid excessive dependence on the US by cultivating relationships with other countries, notably other middle powers. Smaller countries often utilise a "porcupine strategy" – making the cost of aggression too high for the larger neighbor to justify.
While it is difficult to say no to the large country, it is possible on occasions if there is a deep and strong relationship – but not too often.