New polling suggests a majority of Canadians think Canada ought to explore joining the European Union at a fraught time for geopolitical relations.
A survey of 4,000 people conducted by Spark Advocacy’s polling arm in March found that one in four respondents thought it would be a good idea for Canada to formally join the economic and political bloc of European nations.
A further 58 per cent indicated it was a proposal worth exploring further, while the remainder felt it was a bad idea.
Spark’s chief strategy officer Bruce Anderson says the survey suggests Canadians are increasingly open to finding ways to buck Canada’s reliance on the United States after more than a year of tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump’s second administration.
France’s foreign minister last month openly floated the idea of Canada joining the EU, while Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he’s looking to deepen trade and security ties with the continent but not as a formal member of the bloc.
…
Economic - Because of shipping costs & distance it would be harder to buy / sell with European based firms, so there’d be less benefits to the economic single market.
Social - Because of distance and time zones it would be more costly to move, both in terms of $ (can’t drive to Europe), and in terms of social costs due to huge timezone shift from friends and family.
Political - Some benefits, but also Europe’s needs / wants aren’t as aligned with ours. For example, due to geography it’s in our best interests to maintain a good trading relationship with the Americans (which isn’t ideal, but it’s the reality). The Europeans aren’t as incentivized to ensure we have the best trade agreement if it hurts their interests - remember that any member can block some of these treaties.
It’s probably best for us to get as close as we can so long as it doesn’t interfere with us negotiating our own trade ties with other nations (particularly the US). That’s really the one item where it could be a net-negative.