“Donald Trump is a scourge on democracy across the world”
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada has been considering a “game plan” for how it would respond if the United States takes a far-right, authoritarian shift after next year’s presidential elections.
“We are certainly working on scenarios,” Joly said in French during an interview with a Montreal radio station Wednesday.
Joly added that Ottawa’s close political and economic ties to the U.S. means that “we must certainly prepare several scenarios.”
Juneau said Canada could face the prospect of political refugees, economic protectionism in one of the largest trading relationships in the world and a shock to Ottawa’s reliance on the U.S. for intelligence-sharing and scientific co-operation.
Those factors don’t include missile defence and military protection.
“If an increasingly authoritarian U.S. is increasingly unilateral and dismissive of traditional alliances like NATO or arrangements like Norad, how does that damage our security?” Juneau asked.
He said another question would be around American intervention in Canadian democratic processes. Already, far-right politicians in the U.S. voiced support for the “Freedom Convoy” protests in 2022.
“Donald Trump is a scourge on democracy across the world,” she said. “Frankly, Canada better have a plan for a decline in American democracy.”
Meanwhile, Juneau said he hasn’t heard of other countries saying publicly that they have contingency plans if Uncle Sam takes an authoritarian turn.
“This is very sensitive for any democratic ally of the U.S.,” he said. “My guess is that any ally will be very, very discreet about this.”
Generally, Canada’s allies have used language focused on the risks of America withdrawing from the world stage.
France’s ambassador to Canada said last April that closer ties between Ottawa and Europe could protect both from Washington pulling inward.
“This nagging question of the future American commitment offers, in any case more than ever, the opportunity for Europe, France and Canada to play a role together,” Michel Miraillet said in French at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.
He cited the Iraq War, Barack Obama’s Democratic administration opting against intervening in Syria, the limited pushback to Russia’s 2014 takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region and the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan.
“The withdrawal from the world stage, initiated under Obama and amplified under Trump, has proved disastrous, as it created a vacuum quickly filled by the rival powers and opened a field of expansion for Russia,” Miraillet said at the time.
https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/canada-mulling-game-plan-if-u-s-takes-far-right-authoritarian-shift-m-lanie-joly/article_03fcc38f-54dd-5e07-84fa-5789559ef594.html