New parents quickly develop a keen understanding of the gains to be had from anything that helps avoid waking the baby. Peace and quiet for one thing. A period of calm. A moment to think.

In Canada’s case, the baby is the current U.S. president. The president, as we know from repeat experience, is easily upset. When the president gets upset, he gets cranky, makes a lot of noise and causes untold disturbances. If you can, you want to avoid getting him upset.

If you can. But what if you can’t?

Since he became prime minister, Mark Carney has spoken plainly about the need for Canada to significantly reduce its dependence on the U.S. for our security, not to mention sovereignty and economic well-being.

“It is clear that our security relationship … is too focused on the United States. We mus

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