Elbows up, gloves off.
Photographer: Steve Russell/Toronto Star/Getty Images
Can Canada Survive Donald Trump?
Under assault from an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian United States, the country’s future looks less secure than at any time in postwar history.
On a Thursday evening in early September, King Street West was crowded with fans and industry types attending the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Just down the street from the red carpets, at an event space upstairs from a bar, a markedly wonkier assemblage had convened. The Canadian Club Toronto was sponsoring a Q&A discussion with Canada’s Commissioner of Competition, Matthew Boswell. Despite the entertainment alternatives on offer just down the block, the room was packed.
The Competition Bureau seeks to bolster Canada’s economy and root out anti-competitive practices. It issues reports about the state of national competitiveness and casts a cold eye on threats to consumer interests. Boswell, smart and engaging with a self-deprecating measure of Canada nice, had just opened the floor to questions. More than 47 minutes into the evening’s discussion, Vass Bednar, the head of a Canadian think tank, rose to ask about “the elephant in the room” that had gone tactfully unmentioned.