19 Mar 2025 6 min read

Ready to Lead

Canada, Europe, and The North Atlantic Future

For too long, Canada has been comfortable in the passenger seat of history, quietly prosperous, modestly influential, always the steady hand on the wheel while others—louder, brasher, more chaotic—drove the geopolitical narrative. But the world is shifting. The tectonic plates of global power are grinding against each other, and for the first time in over a century, a great vacuum is opening up in North America.

The United States, long the gravitational centre of the West, is unraveling before our eyes, fractured, unstable, and unable to hold its own weight.

Into that void steps Canada.

This is Canada’s moment to lead, to rise above the wreckage of the old order and take its place as the dominant North American force of stability, strategy, and strength. This is the moment for Canada to champion Europe’s future, not as a follower, but as a builder, an architect of the next great global alliance.

Europe is waking up to a hard reality: the long holiday from history is over. The era of relying on American power, of outsourcing defence and security to the unpredictable currents of Washington, is gone. The European Union’s White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030 and the ReArm Europe Plan is one of many signals of this shift. Europe is no longer waiting for America to get its act together. It is rearming, reindustrializing, and reclaiming its sovereignty.

No great power shift happens in isolation. This is where Canada must step forward, not as an observer, not as a secondary player, but as a true partner in shaping the future.

The Canada-Europe Axis: The Backbone of the 21st Century West

Canada and Europe share something deeper than treaties and trade agreements. We share a common DNA, rooted in democracy, in the rule of law, in the hard-earned wisdom that civilization requires vigilance, investment, and leadership. We are not brash empires; we are builders of strong, resilient societies.

Now, we must take that shared foundation and transform it into something more, a strategic axis of power that redefines the balance of the Western world.

1. Defence: A Transatlantic Shield Without America

Europe is finally admitting what has been obvious for years: NATO cannot function as an appendage of the United States. The EU’s €800 billion ReArm Plan is a declaration of independence from the old American security umbrella. Canada must seize this opportunity.

Canada should embed itself directly in Europe’s defence modernization, co-leading procurement initiatives, sharing technological expertise, and ensuring interoperability between European and Canadian forces.
We should establish permanent Canadian-led joint defence programs with the EU, integrating our elite military capabilities with the European theatre, particularly in Arctic security, cyber warfare, and AI-driven battlefield systems.
Canada must be first in line to establish defence production partnerships with European firms, ensuring that we are not just a security partner, but an industrial powerhouse in the next generation of military technology.

This is not about nostalgia for the NATO of old. This is about building something new, a security framework that does not rely on the chaos of Washington’s electoral cycles to determine the fate of global stability. Security that acknowledges the reality of the threat the US represents, and treats them like the enemy they are.

2. Economics: The North Atlantic Industrial Base

The future will be built by those who control their own supply chains, their own resources, their own industrial capabilities. The United States is spiraling into a political and economic black hole, tearing apart its own industrial base, sabotaging its own future with debt, division, and dysfunction.

Canada and Europe must seize this moment to establish a North Atlantic Industrial Base, a manufacturing and technological ecosystem that bypasses the dying American system.

Direct Investment in European Defence and Energy: Canada must take the lead in securing European energy stability by expanding strategic investments in liquid natural gas (LNG) exports, Arctic energy exploration, and green transition technologies tailored for European needs.
A New Atlantic Trade Bloc: While America isolates itself, Canada must position itself as the keystone of transatlantic trade, leveraging its stability, resources, and regulatory predictability to become Europe’s most reliable industrial partner.
Technology & AI Integration: Europe is pouring billions into AI and quantum computing for defence and security applications. Canada has one of the world’s leading AI research hubs. We must embed Canadian AI into the European defence grid, not as a client, but as a strategic partner shaping the direction of this critical industry.

This is about long-term economic survival. We must insulate our industries, our supply chains, and our strategic assets from the volatility of the American collapse. Europe is looking for a new industrial partner. Canada must step forward to be that partner.

3. Geopolitics: The End of American Mediation

The geopolitical order that defined the last century is crumbling. Washington’s ability to dictate terms, to set the rules of engagement for global conflicts and alliances, is fading. Power is shifting, and we must act with clarity, not hesitation.

A Canadian-European Diplomatic Framework: The world needs an alternative to the old U.S.-led diplomatic model. Canada must champion a direct European-Canadian foreign policy alliance, one that can mediate, negotiate, and enforce international stability without waiting for Washington’s participation.
Arctic and Northern Security Leadership: As Europe ramps up its defence of its eastern borders, it's also looking north, to the Arctic, to the polar trade routes that will define the next century. Canada must assume the mantle of Arctic leadership, establishing joint patrols, military bases, and intelligence-sharing networks with European partners.
Nuclear and Space Cooperation: Europe is rethinking its strategic deterrents, including nuclear capabilities and space-based security initiatives. Canada must be at the table, ensuring that the future of space security, satellite defence, and strategic deterrence is built on Canadian-European alignment, not American overreach.

This is a moment of realignment. We either move forward as partners in shaping the new world order, or we get left behind, trapped in the remnants of an old system that no longer serves our interests.

A Canada That Leads, Not Follows

The world Canada was born into—the postwar era of American primacy, of Pax Americana underwriting global stability—is dead. What comes next will be shaped by those who act, not react.

Canada has never been in a stronger position to lead. We are rich in resources, in innovation, in human capital. We are politically stable, economically sound, and strategically located at the crossroads of the Arctic, the Atlantic, and the Pacific.

The only thing we have lacked, for too long, is the will to act as a leader.

That time is over.

Europe is moving. The world is shifting. The old structures are breaking. If we step forward now, if we seize this moment with clarity and confidence, Canada will not just be a participant in the future of global power. We will be one of its architects.

This is our moment.
This is our time.
It’s time for Canada to lead.

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America is collapsing. Europe is rearming. The world is shifting. Who will lead the West into the future? Canada. Not as a follower, but as the architect of a new order. Stability. Strength. Strategy. It's our time. Step forward, or get left behind.

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