From coast to coast to coast, Canadians of all political stripes are rightfully concerned about our nation’s sovereignty. U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats and on-again, off-again trade war doesn’t just worry Canadians, they’ve also helped galvanize action.

Prime Minister Mark Carney won his job running on “Elbows Up” — a slogan that deftly captured the national mood, helped rescue a devastatingly unpopular party, and sent opposing political parties on the right and left back to the drawing board on how to connect in this new nationalist landscape.

In this political reality, the federal government’s recent nothing-to-see-here approval of the acquisition of Parkland Corporation by Texas-based Sunoco should ring some alarm bells. Frankly, it makes one wonder if they’ve failed to completely understand the nature of the threat we face.

When Trump talks about the 51st state or ‘jokes’ about a merger, most people think of a territorial invasion. Meanwhile, what we’ve missed is the ongoing erosion of our economic sovereignty that’s been happening under our noses.

Without re-litigating NAFTA and the USMCA — simultaneously the best and worst trade deals ever, depending on when you’re asking the man who spearheaded it — these choices and the neoliberal political order that created them are part of the trend that brought us here. Deep integration with the U.S., the takeover of Canadian firms by American corporations, and the outsized influence of American multinationals on Canada’s economy and government may feel like new problems in this moment, but they have been growing for years.

Consider Imperial Oil, one of the most dominant companies in Canada’s oil and gas sector and a subsidiary of U.S. behemoth ExxonMobil. Despite its massive influence here, our research shows only eight per cent of Imperial is Canadian owned, while 89 per cent is American owned. Similarly, Texas-based Chord Energy acquired Alberta’s own Enerplus — one of Canada’s largest independent oil and gas producers — in a $3.8 billion USD deal last year.

On the digital sovereignty front, Mr. Carney’s government caved to Trump’s demands this summer and axed the Digital Services Tax, giving American big tech companies an immediate $2.5 billion windfall and a $7.2 billion tax break over the next five years. American tech giants Meta and Google will keep paying next to nothing in taxes while collecting over $5 billion in annual revenue here in Canada.

Looking at the Sunoco-Parkland deal in this context, we see that it is just the latest example of sovereignty erosion and American corporate control. But Canada is not helpless in this fight.

To push back on Trump’s tariffs, provincial governments across the country have essentially enforced a year-long nationwide boycott on American alcohol, leading to an unprecedented 85 per cent cliff-drop in U.S. alcohol exports to Canada.

Critically, the Investment Canada Act gives the federal government the ability — and the responsibility — to weigh the national security implications of acquisitions like the Sunoco-Parkland deal. And tools like the DST can help hold American big tech companies to account and force them to pay their fair share.

We could also look to Australia as an example of a country that has prioritized economic sovereignty, corporate tax transparency, and reigning in U.S. oil behemoths. Chevron Australia were notorious tax dodgers as recently as 2017. In response, the Aussie government decided to take the radical step of actually enforcing their tax laws. In a stunning 180, late last year Chevron Australia bragged in their (government-mandated) Tax Transparency Report that they were the “fourth largest payer of company income tax in 2022.”

“By paying our fair share of tax, we’re helping the Australian Government pay for the things that matter, like healthcare, education, cost of living relief, and supporting those in the community who need it most.”

That is a real quote from Chevron Australia. Remember it the next time someone tells you that big multinationals will cut tail and run if we enforce tax laws.

The point of all this is simple. Canada has the tools to address our ongoing sovereignty crisis. We have the ability to begin diversifying our foreign partnerships and repatriating our economic sovereignty. And we have the laws to prevent further consolidation of our vital infrastructure in the hands of Americans (and Trump loyalists). It falls on Mr. Carney and his government to use them.

Jared A. Walker is the Executive Director of Canadians for Tax Fairness, a non-profit, non-partisan research and advocacy group fighting for fair, progressive taxation. He is also the Vice Chair of the Broadbent Institute Board of Directors.