PM's intelligence adviser says it's time for Canada to be 'selfish' and protect itself

The prime minister's intelligence and security adviser says it's time for Canada to be less dependent on its partners, comments that come a day after the U.S. launched a trade war against its northern neighbour.

"We need to be a little bit more selfish now," said Nathalie Drouin, while speaking on a panel Wednesday morning to a room of international military and security officials in Ottawa.

"Yes we need to make our NATO target, we need to make sure that we remain a reliable partner for NORAD. But we need first to think about Canada and how to protect Canada and this is where our focus should be."

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on most Canadian goods, a decision that launched both countries into turbulent economic times. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded with counter-tariffs on an initial tranche of $30 billion worth of American goods.

Trudeau said Tuesday that Trump is trying to prompt "a total collapse of the Canadian economy" because he thinks that will "make it easier to annex us," something the U.S. president has repeatedly said he wants to do.

The president's trade war and consistent prodding about making Canada the 51st state are far from his only stance compounding global uncertainty.

Trump has made it clear he wants to see a swift end to the war sparked by Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine via negotiations with Moscow.

Trudeau noted that Trump is attacking his country's "closest partner and ally" while "talking about working positively with Russia and appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator."

In her opening remarks, Drouin said Canada needs "to have the appropriate capabilities to defend Canada."

"We are in the most unsettling time since the Second World War," Drouin said. "I could not avoid saying our paradigm relationship with the U.S. has changed." 

There are concerns with how the new White House administration will approach intelligence. 

As the panel was preparing to begin, senior White House officials announced the country has temporarily cut off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine

One of Drouin's predecessors, Vincent Rigby, voiced concerns last month that the U.S. will weaponize access to American intelligence with traditional allies over trade irritants.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director Dan Rogers, also a speaker on Wednesday's panel, expressed optimism that won't be the case, arguing the U.S. benefits from its intelligence relationship with Canada. 

"If you can rely on partners to act in their self-interest, then they should continue to value the binational co-operation between U.S. and Canada in the intelligence space. And I think they do," he said.

"Now is a great time to double down on the things that make us strong."