Whether economic autonomy from the United States also requires federal social policy investment is less obvious

The smaller the federal funding for federal/provincial/territorial social policy initiatives, the more provinces will object to federal conditions on their receipt, inviting federal-provincial conflict, not unity.

The more federal transfers for social policy initiatives come to be seen as compromising, rather than enhancing Canada’s ability to achieve economic autonomy from the United States, the more they are ripe for sacrifice, writes Julie Simmons. Photograph courtesy if Brian Merrill, Pixabay.com

Opinion

BY JULIE SIMMONS

April 27, 2026

For more than a year, Mark Carney has used the phrase “masters in our own house” to describe the need for Canada to control its economic destiny vis-à-vis the United States. Readers in Quebec, in particular, recognize this phrase as that of the Quebec Liberal Party dur...

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