Last week Donald Trump said he does not need anything Canada has.

Today is Canada Day. The CUSMA deadline passed this morning. The trade agreement covering 85 percent of Canadian exports to the United States is now in annual review, with a president on the other side who has publicly said he does not want it. That is the honest context for where Canada stands on its 159th birthday.

So what does Canada actually have.

Canada has 20% of the world's fresh water. The largest coastline on earth. The third largest oil reserves on the planet. The most arable land per capita of any G7 nation and the cleanest electricity grid in the developed world. Canadian lumber built half of America. Canadian potash feeds a third of the global food supply.

And the people.

Canada took in people from every corner of the world and made them Canadian. Jonathan David, son of Haitian immigrants, scored a World Cup hat trick wearing a maple leaf. Kawhi Leonard won a championship here in 2019 and chose to come back. Not to the US. Back here.

Here is the week.

Canada qualified for the World Cup Round of 16 for the first time in history. Hit NATO's 2 percent defence target for the first time in decades. Survived a trade war without flinching. Kept the deal that protects 85% of its exports intact even when the other side said they did not want it. Stephen Eustáquio scored in the 92nd minute and coast to coast this country felt something it has not felt in a long time.

Canada is not perfect. Our grocery bills are too high. The dollar is sitting at 70 cents. Housing is still broken for an entire generation. The political class still moves too slow on the things that actually hurt people and too fast on the things that look good on a feed. None of that goes away because it is July 1st.

But this is a country worth fixing. And it helps to know what you are fighting for before you decide whether it is worth the fight.

Canada has fresh water when the world is running out. Canada has land when the world is running out of food. Canada has people who came from everywhere and chose to stay. That is not nothing. That is the whole thing.

Trump said we don't need anything Canada has. One hundred and fifty nine years of evidence suggests otherwise.

Happy Canada Day. Now let's get back to work.

Until next time,

Dean

P.S. What does Canada have that you think the rest of the world does not fully appreciate? Hit reply and tell me.