kEiThZ
Superstar
That's the point, we have potential influence and military power, but we don't even try to create or use it.
I think that whole list of resources we provide to the US just proves that we're largely relevant only as a resource colony. And the only reason resource extraction is a smaller part of our GDP is because our FIRE sectors are so huge. I guess some of the laxest money laundering regulations of any major economy is a service we provide to the world....
But really, military and economic influence only comes from those that are willing to provide it. If we aren't willing to provide military support or say ramp up oil and gas exports when our allies need it, then we really aren't as useful to them as we think.
To be clear, there's nothing wrong with being less relevant globally. You don't see Poland or Morocco (countries with about our population) claiming to have a global leadership role. But we get, "Canada is back!" rhetoric with an unwillingness to actually contribute all that much.
I'd like us to be honest in our dialogue. If we think militarism is purely something for the Americans, and that we shouldn't have to field an armed forces capable of guarding our sovereignty, then maybe it's time we're honest about our position as an American dependency? Let's make it official. We can save $20B per year on defence and just pay the Americans $10B in protection money annually and accept that they make defence policy for Canada.