Advocacy in a Trade War: Canada’s Potential Grassroots Asset in the U.S.
Reflection, January 2026: This was written about one month into the current U.S. presidency, in February 2025. Eleven months later, post Doug Ford tariff commercial and other events that altered Canada-U.S. relations, I have to admit that perhaps some of this is naive, given the volatility. But I continue to think that the principle stands: we would be in a better position with a connected and coordinated advocacy movement, even if it is soft advocacy, used judiciously.
This post spurred a group of expats and former expats to come together (including me) and meet every Friday to discuss this idea and where it could lead. We created a pitch deck that was delivered to groups charged with representing Canada in the U.S. as at least part of their mission. Perhaps rightly given the uncertainty of the year, no group we approached agreed to take this on as a project that they would own. Nothing launched from this post, but it caused some conversations that may yet bear fruit.
The greatest motivators for advocacy I’ve seen are patriotism, pocketbook pain, and injustice. Right now, Canada has all three in spades.
Consider:
- More than 9% of Canadian citizens live abroad (from an outdated report), with over a million in the United States—a number that has only grown, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- 400,000 people and $2.7 billion in goods and services cross the Canada-U.S. border every day (Connect2Canada).
- Canada is deeply integrated into the economies of every U.S. state and Congressional district—a fact that, when framed effectively, can shift perspectives. Using Connect2Canada, you can drill down on Canada’s integration within any U.S. state economy, and go a step further to the District level within states: for example, here’s the Texas Fact Sheet, and here’s Texas by District sheet (Texas district 36 has 950 people employed by Canadian businesses, while Texas district 1 has 1840 similarly employed, who knew).
These numbers can tell a compelling story. But data alone doesn’t move policy—it’s people who do. It’s the stories they tell and who they tell them to.
A Hidden Advocacy Asset: The Canadian Diaspora
Canada has millions of natural grassroots advocates in the U.S. They are not politicians and most aren’t CEOs; they are Canadians living in America, Americans with deep Canadian ties, and Canadians with U.S. connections. Their bonds with Canada—whether through family, education, business, tourism, or experience—make them powerful voices in American neighbourhoods and communities.
And right now, many of them—us—are angry, frustrated, and motivated by a pummeling U.S.-Canada trade war we did not want or seek. If given the right tools and direction, they could be activated as an advocacy force.
What If We Made It Easy for Them to Act? A straw model:
Imagine if:
- Connect2Canada was invigorated as a nationwide platform for advocacy, or a new initiative, to provide clear, state-specific and province-specific messages on why a trade war is bad for both countries—tailored to economic, personal, and community interests, by sector, by audience interest.
- Provincial governments, the private sector, industry groups, post-secondary and non-profits, associations, unions use this data in a coordinated effort to augment their own arguments, creating messages to mobilize their networks—from alumni organizations to cross-border businesses—with a simple call to action: “If you believe a Canada-U.S. trade war is bad for business, workers, and communities, take a minute to learn more and share this message.”
- We used these platforms to share how we are truly #FriendsPartnersAllies, from wildfires in California to school sports teams crossing the border every day.
- We took July 1st – Canada Day – as a clarion moment to amplify and empower everyone in America with Canadian ties, to take action where they live.
- For the most motivated advocates, gave them a next step: Call a local representative. Engage in local media. Support like-minded American voters who also oppose a trade war. Do what you can, where we can, on this platform to slow what’s happening and share why it’s wrong, for everybody.
Imagine if we brought grassroots and community organizing creativity and gumption to bear in America.
Will This Solve Everything? God No.
Because we do not live in reasonable times. An advocacy campaign won’t prevent political threats, Manifest Destiny threats, economic nationalism, or worse. But when chaos is in the atmosphere, people want to do something. We want to act.
Those with a Canadian bond—now more than ever—are listening, and many will take action. We can empower them to remind Americans of the strength of our shared economies, security, and history.
Let’s make it easy for them to do so.
Disclosure: While working in Washington, D.C., at Grassroots Enterprise and later Edelman, I partnered with the Canadian Embassy (and others) as a digital advocacy developer and consultant to launch Connect2Canada in 2005. I served as a strategist, tactician, and driver of the project until 2012—and I loved every minute of it.
I’m the Managing Partner of NATIONAL in Atlantic Canada. Our firm has created a pan-Canadian service offering to help our clients successfully navigate this period of uncertainty in Canada-U.S. Relations. Throughout my career, I’ve been privileged to lead and work on advocacy-led movements to motivate action and render real change. Reach out if you’d like to hear more about any this, or need help in current Canada-U.S. relations.
Photo credit: CanadaInUSA Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/C9AQD4hR6B8/
Originally published on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/advocacy-trade-war-canadas-potential-grassroots-asset-kevin-mccann-0gpye/
