Stephen Nagy: U.S. trade deal dead until Canada stops being the ‘Ugly Ally’

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at a press conference in Ottawa, Ontario, on August 22, 2026 after trade talks with the US collapsed. Photo by DAVE CHAN /AFP via Getty Images

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Prime Minister Mark Carney has undeniably brought a measure of dignity, sharp intellect and technocratic excellence back to the Prime Minister’s Office. This is a welcome change after a “lost decade” defined by poor governance and the severe mismanagement of Canada’s socio-economic environment and its most important relationship, with the United States.

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However, Canadians must face an uncomfortable truth. Our teetering economy, lagging productivity and housing crises were entirely made in Canada. They predated the first and second terms of U.S. President Donald Trump. Yet, the governing Liberal Party has found it politically expedient to gaslight the public, blaming our current woes on the U.S. and the current occupant of the White House. It is always easier to point a finger at the caricature of the “Ugly American” than to admit we have spent the last decade or more behaving as an “Ugly Ally.”

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Under Justin Trudeau, the previous prime minister, Canada’s relationship with its most vital security and trading partner was disastrously mishandled. Cabinet ministers routinely prioritized domestic political points over cross-border diplomacy. We saw Trudeau explicitly campaign against “MAGA conservatism,” while Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly publicly mused about creating a “game plan” to deal with a hypothetical authoritarian shift in the US. After enjoying dinner and a selfie at Mar-a-Lago following Trump’s 2024 electoral victory, Trudeau flew back to Canada. Just days later, he called Kamala Harris’s electoral defeat a setback for women.

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While Ottawa was busy moralizing at Washington, it was asleep at the wheel on actual national security. The Trudeau government repeatedly ignored stark warnings from our Canadian Security Intelligence Service and think tanks like the Macdonald-Laurier Institute regarding foreign interference and elite capture, primarily orchestrated by Beijing. Consequently, Canada became the black eye of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. We were left out of the Quad and AUKUS. We simultaneously managed to alienate India and frustrate Japan, a vital geoeconomic partner that has expertly navigated the very U.S.-China friction Canada fumbles.

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Carney has done his best to stop the bleeding, and for that, Canadians should be thankful. However, his geopolitical compass remains fundamentally miscalibrated.

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Rather than abandoning the partisan habit of using the U.S. as a scapegoat for Canada’s structural economic stagnation, Carney has continued the gaslighting. Worse, he has actively courted a “strategic partnership” with China, a state with a documented, deep track record of foreign interference in Canadian democratic institutions, and Washington’s primary strategic competitor.