While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Fen Osler Hampson.
It didn’t take long for Elon Musk, one of President Donald Trump’s attack dogs, to stick his unwelcome nose into Canada’s domestic political drama. Shortly after the Parti Québécois’s election victory on October 5th, he endorsed Quebec independence and, to pour more gasoline on the fire, said Alberta and Saskatchewan should leave Canada too. Musk, who has Canadian roots, studied...
Feeling down about Trump’s trade wars and the latest tariff hit against Canada? Don’t be despondent. Though things may get a lot nastier, particularly if we get trapped in a cycle of counterretaliation, Canadians can take some comfort in the fact that trade wars don’t last forever. Moreover, this one promises to end sooner than later. Spoiler alert: Negotiations don’t...
As U.S. President Donald Trump’s Aug. 19 deadline approaches, Prime Minister Mark Carney is making concessions to keep looming tariffs at bay. This could prove to be a defining moment in deciding the fate of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, for the choices are stark: appeasement or defiance, with little room to maneuver in-between. The Globe and Mail has reported that...
On July 6th and 7th, NATO leaders will gather at the presidential palace in Ankara for their annual summit. As at every heads-of-government meeting at which the United States is present these days, all eyes will be on Donald Trump. Will he berate his fellow leaders for refusing to support the United States in its Iranian misadventure? Will he announce...
The memorandum of understanding Donald Trump cobbled together with Iran’s leadership may seem far removed from Canada’s negotiations over the future of CUSMA. However, the Iran deal, hastily concluded under intense economic pressure, offers three clear lessons for Ottawa: know your leverage, understand what truly frightens Trump, and resist the urge to fold too early. On paper, Iran and Canada...
The conflict in the Persian Gulf and Iran’s missile and drone strikes on key oil and gas facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have caused fires, shutdowns, and extensive damage at major energy export hubs. Global oil and gas prices have surged. In addition to its impact on Canadian consumers, the crisis has driven up fuel and...
Donald Trump’s third Gulf war will almost certainly decide the fate of his presidency and the Republican Party in the November congressional elections. As the conflict widens under the hardline leadership of Mojtaba Khamenei—the son and successor to Iran’s longstanding supreme leader—the humanitarian and global economic fallout are devastating. In an ironic twist, this colossal disaster may have just handed...
Mark Carney may have thought he dodged a bullet when he wordsmithed Canada’s position on the latest U.S.‑Israeli assault on Iran, Operation Epic Fury. “Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security,” Carney said in a written statement released jointly with Foreign...
Prime Minister Mark Carney won many plaudits for his recent speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in which he warned that the rules-based economic order is over, and that “middle powers” such as Canada must work together against great-power coercion. The speech continued making waves at last week’s Munich Security Conference. But talk is cheap and applause...
Donald Trump’s threat to prevent the opening of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge unless Canada compensates the United States is but the latest chapter in a series of irrational threats and unjustified punitive measures he has inflicted on our country. Never mind that Canadian taxpayers paid $6 billion for the bridge, which is why there will be a toll...
NATO is facing one of its gravest internal crises since its founding, and Canada is facing its own moment of truth. President Donald Trump’s demand that Denmark hand over Greenland to the United States goes far beyond his late-night posts on Truth Social. It is a deadly serious attempt by the alliance’s dominant power to carve up the territory of...
Until recently, Canadian trade policy followed a simple rule: stay in lockstep with Washington and don’t go out of your way to upset Donald Trump. But this week in Beijing, Prime Minister Mark Carney hit the “Code Red” button. By opening Canada’s door to Chinese EVs in exchange for lower Chinese tariffs on canola, peas and seafood, Carney has signalled...
Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to Beijing this week with the goal of easing Sino-Canadian tensions and boosting trade. But he is also walking into a political minefield—one laid not just by the Chinese but also Washington. The biggest minefield right now is the EV-Canola trade war. China slapped punitive tariffs on Canada’s lucrative canola exports last year in retaliation...
Henry VIII divorced or executed his wives not because they failed in their duties, but because they could not satisfy his constant quest for personal validation and desire for a male heir. Canada is dealing with a sovereign with a similar outsized ego in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement trade negotiations. U.S. businesses and consumers want the marriage to last. However...
With hearings underway in Washington regarding the future of the CUSMA, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade representative has signaled that the administration might withdraw completely unless it secures a “good deal.” To rattle our cages further, Trump recently reiterated his tired accusation that Canada and Mexico have taken advantage of the United States like just about every other country, threatening...
Restraint is central to the art of diplomacy. Diplomats are supposed to manage disputes, not inflame them by trading personal insults or creating a public spectacle. By that standard, the reported behaviour of U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra toward Ontario’s representative in Washington, David Paterson, this week was not simply undiplomatic; it was conduct unbecoming an emissary of a supposedly friendly...
Prime Minister Mark Carney may not have emerged deal in hand from his latest White House bilateral with President Donald Trump, but he has clearly figured out how to get Trump’s attention and begin to break the tariff logjam. As a former Wall Street banker and former head of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, Mark...
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is currently in China, accompanied by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s parliamentary secretary, Kody Blois. Their three-day mission is to negotiate relief from China’s punishing canola tariffs, which have slowly put a stranglehold on Canada’s $43 billion a year canola sector. In March, Beijing slapped 100% duties on Canadian canola oil and meal. In August, a further...
We should know by now that Donald Trump does not really negotiate trade deals; he stages shakedowns in broad daylight. His “buy‑down” approach is less about the painstaking give‑and‑take of traditional diplomacy and more about extracting imperial tribute under the glare of klieg lights. Tariffs are his weapon of choice, aimed even at America’s closest allies, and relief only comes...
In the aftermath of the August 1st decision by the Trump administration to ratchet up tariffs to 35% on all non-CUSMA-compliant Canadian exports, Canada finds itself at a crossroads. Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper already strike at the core of our heavy industries. Automobiles and softwood lumber are also in his crosshairs. Unless there is a...
Canada is at a pivotal moment in its energy transition, with hundreds of major projects — spanning LNG, hydrogen, wind, nuclear, hydro, pipelines, and Indigenous-led infrastructure — representing over $600 billion in actual and potential investment. According to the Government of Canada’s Canadian Centre for Energy Information, “In 2023, there were 223 planned (announced, under review, or approved) major energy...
Canada faces an urgent, nation-defining imperative: to develop its vast northern territories not only as an economic opportunity but as a critical assertion of Canada’s sovereignty in the face of renewed threats from its southern neighbour, and amid the growing threat of China and Russia in the Arctic. The spectre of a rekindled Manifest Destiny, once a 19th-century doctrine of...
On August 1st, unless a breakthrough is achieved at the negotiating table, Canadian exporters could face a punishing new reality: a 35% tariff on goods entering the United States. This threat, the latest salvo from President Trump, is sending shockwaves through Canadian boardrooms and Ottawa. Yet, as with so much in the Trump era, crucial details remain shrouded in a...
For the most part since coming to office, Prime Minister Mark Carney has deftly used a mixture of discretion and flattery in managing Donald Trump. The process has been remarkably successful – it’s even been several days since Trump last talked about annexing Canada. Unfortunately, at a moment when Canada most needed to tread carefully, we’ve managed to score a...
While Donald Trump has now agreed to a 30-day pause on his threatened 25% tariffs against Canada, that threat remains active, now linked to a vague “economic deal” per his social media post on the subject. The iron laws of economics and US politics will eventually defeat Trump’s use of tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China. But it will take...
While Donald Trump’s second presidency is generating anticipatory anxiety in capitals across the world, here in Canada, all eyes are on January 20 awaiting an answer to a very specific question: “Will he or won’t he?” Will he or won’t he levy an across-the-board 25 percent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods?” Though, by now, it should be clear that...