Donald Trump’s trade war and other attacks on Canadian sovereignty have exposed the vulnerabilities of Canada’s economy, 35 years after our first free trade deal with the U.S. The Elbows Up Economic Summit in Ottawa on September 2025 convened a discussion with 40 progressive economists and policy experts on how Canada must respond.
You’ll find all materials and resources related to this initiative here, including Elbows Up: A Practical Program for Canadian Sovereignty—co-sponsored by the CCPA, the Centre for Future Work, and several national civil society organizations. It’s an antidote to the corporate rallying cries responding to Donald Trump’s threats with a familiar playbook: deregulation, austerity, tax cuts, and fossil fuel expansion.
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Elbows up: A practical program for Canadian sovereignty
A playbook for economic self-sufficiency. Because Canada can’t become a sovereign country by doing the same old things.
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Op-ed: Pipeline politics won’t save us from Trump’s economic threats
The federal and provincial governments are scrambling to shield Canada’s economy from U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest trade tantrum. But that effort is being hijacked…
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Building a Sovereign, Value-Added, and Sustainable Economy
U.S. President Donald Trump has confronted Canadians with unprecedented threats to our sovereignty and prosperity. From his inauguration speech, when he resuscitated the imperial doctrine…
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Responding to Trump demands a holistic,inclusive, sustainable national strategy
U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada’s economy and sovereignty confront Canadians with a historic challenge. We must once again demonstrate our shared commitment to…
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Elbows up, or bend the knee?
International political discourse in 2025 has been haunted by the spectre of Donald Trump and his brute force reshaping of global trade relationships to the…
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Canada’s post-Trump economy will need a much broader strategy: New report
OTTAWA—U.S. tariffs and other economic attacks on Canada require a comprehensive strategy for economic self-sufficiency, not a narrow focus on building petroleum pipelines, cutting regulations,…
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It’s time to rethink Canada’s approach to U.S. trade negotiations
July 21 was supposed to be Canada’s deadline to secure a new trade and security agreement with the United States. What it got instead was…
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Why did Canada just cave to Trump by scrapping the Digital Services Tax?
A lot doesn’t sit right about the Carney government’s capitulation to U.S. president Trump on the stillborn Digital Services Tax (DST), which would have taxed…
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Beyond “elbows up”—Our election post-mortem
It’s been an absolutely wild election. Polling predictions were a roller coaster, from a historic Conservative majority, to a Liberal majority, and everything in between.…
Get updates on international trade, investment treaties, and globalization with the CCPA’s Trade and Investment Research Project newsletter
Summit presentations
Agenda – September 15, 2025 – Lord Elgin Hotel
Co-Chairs:
Jim Stanford, Economist & Director, Centre for Future Work
Peggy Nash, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Morning Session
- 9:00 Arrival & Coffee
- 9:30 Introduction: ELBOWS UP – OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS
• Welcome, Land Acknowledgement, Overview (chairs)
• Duncan Cameron, President Emeritus, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: Elbows Up in the Long Arc of
Canadian Political-Economy
• Robert Chernomas, Professor of Economics, University of Manitoba, and Fred Wilson, Former Director of
Strategic Planning, Unifor: Canada’s CD Howe Moment - 10:30 Panel: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
• Chair: Louise Comeau, Senior Advisor Re.Climate, Member Net Zero Advisory Body
• Lee Loftus, President and Chair, SkillPlan: Jobs for Today: Construction Work in the Energy Transition
• Chris Henderson, Executive Director, Indigenous Clean Energy: Indigenous Participation in Clean Energy
Development
• Brendan Haley, Policy Director, Efficiency Canada: Energy Conservation as Industrial Strategy - 11:30 Coffee & Nature Break
- 11:45 Panel: STRONGER COMMUNITIES
• Chair: John Cartwright, Voluntary Chairperson, Council of Canadians
• Valerie Plante, Mayor of the City of Montréal: Investing in Stronger, Sustainable Cities
• Marc Lee, Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: Building Big Things in Non-Market Housing
• Angella MacEwen, Economist, Canadian Union of Public Employees: The Importance of the Public Sector
Afternoon Session
- 12:45 Lunch (served on site)
- 1:30 Panel: ADDING VALUE
• Chair: DT Cochrane, Senior Economist, Canadian Labour Congress
• Angelo DiCaro, Director of Research, Unifor: Canada’s Enduring Challenge: Building Value-Added Industry
• Marisa Beck, Clean Growth Director, Canadian Climate Institute: A New Canadian Industrial Strategy:
Innovation & Sustainability
• Marc-André Gagnon, Professor, School of Public Policy & Administration, Carleton University: Pharmaceutical
Supply and Use as Industrial Strategy
• Kaylie Tiessen, Chief Economist, Canadian SHIELD Institute: Sovereignty by Design: Industrial Policy for
National Economic Leadership - 2:45 Coffee & Nature Break
- 3:00 Panel: THE CARE ECONOMY
• Chair: Pat Armstrong, Feminist Political-Economist
• Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Feminist Economist: The Care Economy Can Help Canada Resist Trump
• Armine Yalnizyan, Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers: Why For-Profit Businesses Could Ruin the - 4:00 Closing: BUILDING (GOOD) BIG THINGS, AND BUILDING THEM RIGHT
• Alex Himelfarb, Co-Founder Pledge for Canada, Former Clerk of the Privy Council: Getting Things Done, and Done Right
• Closing Remarks & Thanks (chairs) - 4:30 Reception (on-site)
Event Co-sponsors:
