Fish or Cut Bait: Why Canada Must Pivot to China and Ditch U.S. Dependency

 I grew up on fishing trips in the Kapuskasing wilds of northern Ontario and hauling lines in the choppy Atlantic. We had a creed: *fish or cut bait.* No half-measures when the stakes are survival. Canada faces that moment now - not just with seafood exports, but with our entire economic backbone.

 President Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canadian autos and parts, rolled out in March 2025, are dismantling North America’s integrated supply chain.

 What was built over decades - ping-ponging parts across borders - is unraveling, with economists warning of up to $110 million in daily losses to the industry.

 Jobs in Windsor and Oshawa hang by a thread, while we subsidize U.S. refineries with discounted oil via landlocked pipelines  - effectively transferring wealth south.

 It’s time to cut bait on unrealistic hopes of U.S. goodwill and fish in deeper waters.

 Enter China. Amid this tariff storm, circumstances have flipped: Beijing’s appetite for Canadian energy is surging, with crude imports hitting 9.7 million tons in the first eight months of 2025 alone - surpassing all of last year.

 China’s Ambassador Wang Di made it plain on CTV’s Question Period: China’s door for more Canadian crude oil “will be open.”

 That’s our cue for a decisive swap - a reciprocal deal. Accept Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports for local assembly - easing our 100% surtax from October 2024 - in exchange for ramped-up exports of oil, gas, and canola. This could balance affordability, jobs, and sovereignty, turning tariffs into leverage rather than surrender.

 Critics rightly note that those tariffs shield nascent Canadian EV jobs and green ambitions, but Trump’s protectionism has shifted the math. Affordable Chinese EVs could flood our market, boost adoption, and counter U.S. bullying without gutting domestic plants - if paired with assembly mandates.

 The stakes? Catastrophic. When factory towns collapse, so do communities - and the social fabric that anchors our democracy. Mass layoffs in auto towns aren’t just economic; they’re national security threats, fueling unrest and straining public safety far beyond the headlines. Trump’s isolationism, once dismissed as bluster, now extracts a toll: Canadian crude flows east at 299,000 barrels per day, snubbing U.S. buyers.

 Further integration south? Disastrous. We deserve global prices for our resources - not the Western Canadian Select discount that bleeds us dry.

 To make it real, scrap the 2019 British Columbia tanker ban - a relic blocking vessels over 12,500 tons on the north coast - and greenlight private pipelines to tidewater.

 But true security demands more than one lifeline. Canada must immediately champion CANZUK - a free-trade and mobility alliance with the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand - to build a $7 trillion powerhouse bloc rivaling the EU’s heft. A CANZUK bloc would mean seamless trade from Halifax to Hobart, and freer movement for workers - engineers from Calgary to Cambridge, welders from Sydney to Sudbury.

 No more begging Washington; we should be sailing west to stable partners like CANZUK and China.

 In trade wars, appeasement whispers defeat. Canada must roar pro-Canada: diversify boldly, trade smartly, and secure our future. The bait’s cut - now let’s haul in the catch. Elbows Up!