Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney says he welcomes the EU’s ‘ambition’ for Canada to become an associate member. He should drop these pretensions about a ‘unique partnership’ and opt instead for a rejuvenated alliance with his country’s Commonwealth siblings: Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

The bloc is simply too big, unwieldy and cumbersome to function as is, never mind opening its already weak trust deficit to a country the size of Canada

The bloc is simply too big, unwieldy and cumbersome to function as is, never mind opening its already weak trust deficit to a country the size of Canada

After all, if Carney really wants to hedge against an increasingly hostile United States, he would be better off re-engaging with the ‘CANZUK’ states than a sclerotic EU. Frankly, this approach would also be less likely to be seen as a hostile act by the Trump administration, which has responded to Canada’s buddying up with Brussels by threatening new tariffs on Europe.

But Carney, it seems, wants a fight that he might not win. In a speech at the European Parliament yesterday, the Canadian PM said that an alliance between Canada and the EU ‘would create a beacon for other democracies’. Many Canadians aren’t convinced. And after EU President Ursula von der Leyen echoed this sentiment about stronger ties, Carney appeared to distance himself from her words after the event. Is he already having second thoughts?

To be clear, no such associate membership status is yet on........

© The Spectator