Here is the link to a poll from last year: Canadians rank the European Union (EU) as Canada's second most important economic partner behind the US (43% in favor of EU), followed by the UK (40%), Mexico (33%), and China (27%).
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Aside from the obvious fact that Canada’s only physical border with the EU is the 1.2 kilometre one on Greenland’s tiny Hans Island in the Nares Strait, Canada maintains an open trade regime and could, from a technical standpoint, transition relatively smoothly into the EU’s tariff-free internal market.
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Canada-EU Security and Defence Partnership signed last June in Brussels, and the participation of Canada in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) procurement program secured in December, attest to both trade synergies and the confluence of interests more broadly.
Canada is a resource-rich country with a sophisticated, diversified economy, comparable to Europe in terms of innovation, market size, and human capital. It ranks ahead of many EU states in higher education quality, corporate research and development spending, patent registrations, and the diffusion of advanced technologies —from broadband infrastructure to digital services.
In short, Canada already behaves like a de facto member of the club in all but name.
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Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union limits eligibility for EU membership to “any European State” that respects and commits to the Union’s core values. That geographic requirement, however, is not immutable: the Treaty can be amended under Article 48, through unanimous agreement of all Member States and ratification in accordance with their constitutional procedures.
Canada’s membership would immediately expand the EU’s global footprint and underscore its identity as a values-based institutional order rather than a regional bloc.
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24 Comments
psycotica0@lemmy.ca · 18 pts · 225d
Would that mean we get A4 paper? I'd be okay with that...
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 225d
A/B paper sizing is truly the superior standard. The math is so nice.
pmk@piefed.ca · 7 pts · 225d
I get chills when I say the area of the A0 paper out loud, a feeling of order in the universe, and of beauty.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 225d
It's the size of A1 paper squared which is the size of A2 paper squared etc, right?
How much is that in cm²?
pmk@piefed.ca · 6 pts · 225d
The area of an A0 is 1 square meter, so that's 10000 cm2. A1 is half of that, etc.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 225d
That IS very satisfying! 😁
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 225d
Where are you that you don't?
dxdydz@slrpnk.net · 8 pts · 225d
Probably Canada. We use 8.5”x11” here
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 225d
In Ontario, I've only ever used A sizes. When I purchase paper it's in A sizes.
dxdydz@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 225d
I dunno where you’re buying paper but that definitely isn’t the norm. You’re either confused, lying, or buying paper from some unusual place. Go into any staples or similar across Canada and almost all the paper will be US sizes.
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 225d
Ew, have not seen that. If I had then I'd have complained about it being American.
GrindingGears@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 225d
I last bought paper in 2015, for realsies. But it's 8.5x11 for sure. US Letter. I don't think I've ever seen actual A4 except in print shops or specialty art shops. We had a drafting class in engineering school where the guy made us buy specifically A4 and A6, and I had to drive pretty much an hour each way into Toronto to find a store that had it.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 225d
The circumstantial evidence indicates leans rather heavily towards that conclusion, yes 😁
dreugeworst@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 225d
lol, I went to Montreal for a conference once and needed to print a poster at A1 size, but the file was made for A2 of something. The clerk at the copy shop told me it wouldn't fit, so I told him to just rotate and scale up. He kept insisting it would leave a white border until I finally got him to just try it... I was flabbergasted that even at a print shop they didn't know how these paper sizes work
danielquinn@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 225d
I'm just going to leave this here...
AGM@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 225d
No need for Canada to join the EU. The EU makes sense as a union of countries with shared or overlapping geography and interests. Canada is not in Europe. We are a Pacific country in addition to being an Atlantic country. 70% of our non-US trade flows through Vancouver to and from Pacific nations. Canada is better served by retaining sovereignty to negotiate trade independently to make the most of working with Europe on one side and Pacific nations on the other. Being one voice from North America among a chorus of voices from another continent in regulatory decision-making to govern all is not a good idea.
Carney has been advocating for variable geometry as Canada's method ro go forward and has only seen his support from Canadians go up in this time. Joining the EU is not variable geometry. Trade, cooperation and alignment on many issues where there is compatibility is good enough.
avidamoeba@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 225d
Also we already have a trade agreement with the EU and visa-free travel, if I remember correctly. I wouldn't mind being a part of the EU but there are pros and cons to it and we've already secured many of the pros.
twopi@lemmy.ca · 15 pts · 225d
Lol. this guy is trying to move attention away from Carney's recent trade negotiations and deals by bringing up polling from last year.
I agree that Canada should be closer to Europe.
However, you should know that OP @Scotty@scribe.disroot.org made this post and a series of cross posts in a vain attemp at countering recent growing sentiment in favour of increasing trade with China.
They had to use a poll from last year before the March 4 US tariffs and misinterpret it on purpose (international diplomatic policy vs economic trade policy) to support their position.
It is still possible to be a part of the EU and increase trade with China, this two things are not mutually exclusive.
OP's post attempting to spread fear and resentment against the just announced trade deal PM Carney made with China this past week:
https://vger.to/scribe.disroot.org/post/6851263
The thread prompting them to make the post:
https://vger.to/scribe.disroot.org/comment/9107397
Poll from this year showing recent majority support for increasing trade with China (including EVs):
https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/slim-majority-canadians-54-support-stronger-trade-ties-china
OMG, it seems like people can have multiple different opinions and have different complex relationships with different countries.
To @Scotty@scribe.disroot.org :
Thank you @avidamoeba@lemmy.ca for the link to the ipsos poll.
mrdown@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 224d
Yes Scotty is so pathetic
Smaile@lemmy.ca · 14 pts · 225d
Most of us are morally aligned with the EU already, we should tie ourselves to a more stable trading block (or soon to be federation) then the one we used to have.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 225d
Which was the "battleground" of one of the most civilized and good natured wars in human history 😄🥰
RoquetteQueen@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 225d
From a purely selfish point, as a dual citizen, I'd love my friends and family to be EU citizens, too. I just don't see this happening.
GuyIncognito@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 224d
Putting aside all the other reasons this would be a bad idea, I would at least have to see some concrete measures from European governments to slip out from under Washington's thumb. As it is, they're clamoring to remain America's lapdogs as they were before
theacharnian@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 223d
We don't need the Euro and we don't need the European Stability and Growth Pact. Both are hazardous straightjakets that we really don't have a need for.
We can and should be friends but we don't need to join.