Hope is fine for this Canada Day. For the next one, however, Canadians will need to see results.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
The birth of this country was a day of great hope, but also great uncertainty. The Dominion of Canada then was just a hint of what was to come.
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the newly created provinces of Ontario and Quebec were joined together into a single federation that would later spread across the continent, coast to coast to coast.
It was an ambitious, indeed audacious, undertaking. But not even the most ardent backers of the new Dominion could have predicted what it would become over the next century-and-a-half: a place of opportunity that draws people from across the planet and offers all the chance of a peaceful, prosperous life.
On this, the 158th birthday of Canada, the country again offers a great hope – that years of drift may finally be ending – but also great uncertainty.
A guide to The Globe’s Canada Day coverage
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s agenda for what he calls this country’s “hinge moment” is taking shape, with policies that would unshackle Canada’s economy and quickly adapt it to the new geopolitical realities that have emerged in the past three years. Such is the hope. But Canadians will have to see whether the government follows through on its ambitious (even audacious) plans – and what successes the nation will be able to celebrate next July 1.
This Canada Day is the start of a major item on Mr. Carney’s agenda: dismantling internal trade barriers and, finally, forging a single national economy. The federal government has taken a big step toward that goal by dismantling its own barriers to internal trade, propelled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and annexationist talk.
The provinces had committed to doing the same, but already there is backsliding. If Mr. Carney truly wants a national economic space, he will need to intervene. As we’ve argued before, Ottawa could cajole, but a more likely path to success is to simply bribe the provinces with onetime payments that would reflect the economic benefits of freer internal trade. Whatever the route, come next July, Canadians should rightly expect that Ottawa has taken decisive steps.
The legislation clearing a regulatory path for nation-building projects has just received royal assent. It must be put into action with the same urgency shown in the legislative process. By Canada Day, 2026, there should be projects well on their way to approval – including a new pipeline to the Pacific Coast.
The Liberal government should take careful notes on which regulations needed to be leapfrogged to allow for speedy approvals. And then the government should scrap those laws, having demonstrated that they are unnecessary barriers to growth.
One of Mr. Carney’s most surprising decisions has been his aggressive plan – it still is only that – on immediately boosting defence spending in the current fiscal year. By next Canada Day, voters will know how those plans turned out, and whether the Liberals are succeeding in, at last, unsnarling the military procurement system.
The government has also committed to a much higher level of military spending, building up over the next decade. That broad commitment must evolve into a detailed plan in the coming year.
No relationship is more important to Canada than that with the United States. The nature of that relationship is changing, mostly for the worse. But the government is negotiating a trade and security pact with the United States that could at least provide some renewed stability and predictability in the U.S.-Canada relationship.
At home, the government’s fiscal position is a mystery this Canada Day, a result of Mr. Carney’s refusal to produce a spring budget. That mystery must be cleared up this fall, with the government laying out a clear plan on how it will pay for its ambitious plans.
The Prime Minister has ruled out tax hikes, or cuts to transfers to individuals or other levels of government. What’s not clear, this Canada Day, is what he has ruled in.
Lastly, there is Mr. Carney’s stated goal – and it is an excellent one – to transform Canada into the fastest growing economy in the G7. By the next Canada Day, the country needs to see not just Mr. Carney’s road map to achieve that goal, but marked progress toward it.
Hope, however uncertain, is fine for this Canada Day. For the next one, Canadians will need to see results.