The Meeting of the Big Spenders

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Canada recently hosted European Union (EU) leaders in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, for the 19th Canada-EU Leaders’ Summit, held November 23 and 24, 2023. Prime Minister Trudeau hosted the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The Summit was an opportunity to underscore the so-called strong ties between Canada and the EU and for leaders to discuss the progress on key commitments established during the 2021 Canada-EU Leaders’ Summit in Belgium. That included creating jobs and opportunities and building the middle class; fighting climate change and halting biodiversity loss; increasing collaboration on technology, research, and innovation; and building sustainable and resilient economies for future generations. At the end of the meeting, leaders reaffirmed their support for strengthening trade under the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, as reported by the official press. In his discussions with EU leaders, Prime Minister Trudeau also highlighted Canada and the EU’s shared commitment to promote democracy, human rights, clean energy, gender equality, and the rule of law to create a better, more equitable world. Beautiful words and commendable platitudes, while not a word was mentioned about the inordinate amounts of public money these leaders have spent on futile projects, which in fact weaken the European and Canadian economies. Let us look at some of these expenditures in detail. The Canada-EU relationship is the oldest formal relationship the EU has with any industrialized country, dating back to 1959. However, over the years, Canada has lost its relevance on the European scene. Canada used to be a leader in providing active advice for the European Union on many fronts and institutions, notably the Venice Commission. Today, Canada has no diplomatic representation in Strasbourg, France where many important issues are discussed and where the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe has quarterly meetings. This is an important forum, because it has wide parliamentary representation, from not only EU member countries but also countries from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. This is a forum were future leaders emerge, but Canada is missing in diplomatic action. The energy crisis looms large in Europe. Germany, the economic engine of the EU now pays about four times as much for its energy; energy it once secured cheaply from Russia. With that source no longer available, the situation is not encouraging. The two leaders of Europe, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen are spending billions of dollars on subsidies and pie-in-the-sky projects in the name of democracy, with practically no accountability. Unfortunately, we see a parallel situation at home in Canada, with a spending spree on futile projects where taxpayers’ money is being cast into a bottomless pit without any scrutiny. No wonder these leaders are in such harmonious agreement. None of them seems to care a jot; it is not their money. According to their usual practice, the leaders of Canada and the European Union wrapped up this two-day summit in Newfoundland with a flurry of partnership announcements on green energy, raw minerals and research funding. Substantive negotiations are in the works surrounding Canada’s bid to join Horizon Europe, the EU’s $100-billion scientific research program. They are working toward the “prompt signature and implementation” of an official deal, the statement declared. “The association of Canada to Horizon is the deepest form of research and innovation collaboration that we can offer,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters after the summit’s closing speeches. Nice of her, but let us see the results. Declarations about the close ties between the two regions permeated the summit, which brought European Council President Charles Michel and von der Leyen to Newfoundland and Labrador’s capital city of St. John’s. Trudeau described Canadians and Europeans as “some of the best of friends in the world,” during his opening remarks at the summit. This is in interesting contrast with his stance on aboriginal issues, which he contends, are a direct result of the malefic influence Europe has exerted on Canada. Canada and the EU also announced what they are calling a new Green Alliance, focused on deepening existing partnerships to fight climate change, halt biodiversity loss and intensify technological and scientific co-operation; clearly invested in spending more money on pet projects. The EU leaders pledged to further collaborate with Canada on critical minerals, as allied countries seek components for goods such as electrical vehicles from places other than China. While mining is not necessarily a top priority for the liberal government, it is worth mentioning that battery production and disposal is very environmentally unfriendly, despite what politicians enamored with the idea, might claim. Von der Leyen noted that Canada is the only country in the Western Hemisphere with all the raw materials required for lithium batteries, and she invited Canada to join the EU’s “critical raw materials club,” which is set to be launched at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on late November. However, Roger Hilton, a research fellow at Globsec, a security and sustainability think-tank based in Bratislava, warned that the friendship on abundant display in St. John’s might not be present at the next EU-Canada Summit in 2025. “Cracks in Europe’s defence against far-right politics are starting to be exposed,” Hilton said in an email, pointing to several recent election victories for populist leaders in EU countries, including the Netherlands and Slovakia. Therefore, we start to see some movement in Europe towards more diverse and more realistic politics. Combined with the demise of the Biden administration in the US, this might also start a new chapter in politics here in Canada, calling for more respect and accountability about public spending. In regards to the presently complex geopolitical situation in Europe and the Middle East, leaders stated their usual positions and committed more money to be spent for projects in the area. As we have seen, spending money is not a problem for these leaders, especially if it is not their own. What do you think? Should we spending more money on Canadians?