Canada’s Promise Awaits Still

The Confederation of Canada was largely a defensive act prompted by fear of the United States. The architects recognized that a fragmented British North America risked being overtaken or becoming a battleground. With the end of the American Civil War, diminishing British interest, and tensions heightened by Fenian attacks, the Confederation aimed to protect British institutions north of the US border.

The agreement that established the Dominion was far from unanimous, however. In 1867, outside of Lower Canada, there was no “Canadian” identity; the Dominion became a loose federation of colonies struggling to resist American influence. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland rejected the union. In Halifax, July 1, 1867, was marked by mourning, with black ribbons hanging from trees in protest. The Dominion was formed with less political unity than we see today, yet a more compromising purpose drove it than is evident now.

But if fear built the walls, commerce was supposed to fill the halls. The British North America Act of 1867 promised free movement of goods within and the creation of a genuine economic union. Alas, 158 years later, that promise is unfulfilled.

A century and a half after the founding, the Supreme Court’s 2018 Comeau decision confirmed that the founders’ promise seems mostly theoretical. Provinces impose trade barriers that, if seen at international borders, would be considered hostile. Canadians face bureaucratic obstacles when attempting to move wine, beer, fuel, electricity or labour across provincial borders. The railway connected the geography but not the minds and market.

For a brief time, with the New West Partnership, Western Canadians showed that internal free trade could be effective, until British Columbia’s NDP began dismantling the progress. Quebec asserted its unique privilege to veto pipelines, transmission lines, and resource projects with a nebulous fabrication called “social licence.”

Now, Mark Carney arrives, promising to do what no one has managed since 1867: full internal free trade by this Canada Day by passing the One Canadian Economy Act. The very suggestion would be laughable if it weren’t so cynical.

Carney’s solution is precisely what Canadians should fear most: more Ottawa, more bureaucracy, more vetoes for every special interest and self-declared stakeholder. Provinces, Indigenous bands, environmental groups, and political gatekeepers will all have a chair and a veto at the table. Consensus is the pretext. Paralysis will be the outcome of projects Ottawa does not want.

Curiously, Ottawa never sought consensus when it imposed carbon taxes, tanker bans, or the suffocating Impact Assessment Act that effectively shut down Alberta’s energy sector. Yet, when the moment calls for leadership to uphold national unity, the concept of consensus suddenly assumes a sacred hue.

The reality is apparent: a functioning internal market will not emerge through bureaucratic consultation, government speeches or the creation of a new federal department. It will require leadership prepared to confront the entrenched interests that profit from fragmentation.

The deeper problem is philosophical. Trudeau’s declaration that Canada is a “post-national state” was not rhetorical flair; it remains intact. A country without a shared identity, common purpose, or national narrative cannot effectively conserve its institutions. Instead, it fractures into boutique identities, grievance politics, and an endless competition for federal favours. There is no room for national cohesion in this model; only mismanaged dysfunction prevails.

This self-inflicted disunity has become a central feature of Laurentian politics by design. They have actively sought to disconnect Canadians from their history by cancelling the legacy of figures like Sir John A. Macdonald, the man who helped put this fragile country together. Erasing Macdonald and others like him is an act of historical vandalism; it represents a rejection of Confederation. In doing so, they undermine the project they claim to govern. Trudeau’s passports are one of the most visible examples.

PM Mark Carney, seeking to unify the country, initially overstated the Trump tariffs to provoke fear and urgency, which helped him win the election. However, the unity it created proved unsustainable, collapsing under the pressure of entrenched provincial interests in British Columbia and Quebec.

The price of this failure is not only economic. When provinces block each other’s resources, when Ottawa handicaps hydrocarbon energy production (while importing foreign oil), and when internal tariffs have effects worse than those of Trump’s, sovereignty erodes. Canada's sleepwalk keeps it reliant on foreign markets, energy, capital, defence and goodwill.

Meanwhile, Albertans openly discuss separation to regain control over their economic destiny – and why wouldn't they? Quebec clings to what Alberta cannot have while simultaneously extracting concessions from Ottawa. The rest of the country stumbles along, divided and mostly directionless.

Without releasing petty interests, the promises of 1867 will remain unfulfilled. The vision of a common market and a meaningful union safeguarding British institutions remains unrealized and is eroding. The country awaits a leadership to match the times.

This Canada Day, let’s summon the awareness to acknowledge that blocking prosperity is no path to unity.