Canada Pursues a 'Bold' Backup Plan as US Ties Wither

Canada is exploring an unprecedented backup plan as its relationship with the US fractures: "associate membership" in the European Union. The Wall Street Journal reports that Prime Minister Mark Carney has quietly spent months pitching nearly every major European leader on a sweeping plan to knit Canada far more tightly into the EU's economic and security orbit—short of full membership, but far beyond a standard trade deal. The talks, which follow a trade rupture with Washington and President Trump, center on letting Canadian firms plug directly into Europe's single market in key sectors such as energy, defense, AI, and critical minerals.

"This is tectonic change by working groups and bureaucracy," one Canadian official tells the newspaper. "It's terribly unsexy but terribly consequential nonetheless." According to the Journal, options on the table include visa-free movement for Canadian workers, joint data cables and cloud infrastructure designed to sidestep US tech giants, and the diversion of Canadian gas and Arctic shipping toward Europe. The EU is described as intrigued but cautious. If it works, officials say, Canada could end up closer to the bloc than any non-European country. Read the full story about what the newspaper describes as a "bold gambit" by Carney to create a new entity: "Associate Member of the European Union."