Aug 11, 2026 · 20 min · 11 segments
What happens when the ability to build is no longer just an economic issue, but a matter of national sovereignty? Jody Thomas, former Canadian National Security and Intelligence Advisor, joins us to…
Jody ThomasGuestAmber MackHostEarlier this year, you said in a media interview that Canada must be very conscious of the fact that we are seeing an unprecedented threat to Canadian sovereignty.
Well, certainly the most obvious is what we're hearing from the president of the United States in terms of Canada and the 51st state and that continual attack on our economic sovereignty through tariffs.
But I think more broadly, what we're seeing is an interest in Canada as the world geopolitical situation is changing.
We're facing threats for the first time in our lifetime, any of our lifetimes, kinetic threats that can reasonably reach Canadian shores from a adversarial territory.
But I am saying that the geopolitical situation and the evolution of militaries has meant that Canada is no longer geographically isolated.
And so we are facing threats from an economic perspective and through rhetoric, but also real actual threats that could impact Canada.
And it's something that Canadians have to think about differently for the first time, really, in any of our lifetimes since the end of World War II.
Was there a moment or a series of moments when you started to realize that things were changing?
And so I've been very cognizant and aware of what's going on in the world and what military threat is out there.
you know, in parallel, the U.S. withdrawal from the rules-based order that it created post-World War II.
I think that the American people have borne too much responsibility for keeping the world safe, and that's grossly unfair to them, and the rest of the world has to step up.
Earlier this year, you said in a media interview that Canada must be very conscious of the fact that we are seeing an unprecedented threat to Canadian sovereignty.
Well, certainly the most obvious is what we're hearing from the president of the United States in terms of Canada and the 51st state and that continual attack on our economic sovereignty through tariffs.
But I think more broadly, what we're seeing is an interest in Canada as the world geopolitical situation is changing.
We're facing threats for the first time in our lifetime, any of our lifetimes, kinetic threats that can reasonably reach Canadian shores from a adversarial territory.
But I am saying that the geopolitical situation and the evolution of militaries has meant that Canada is no longer geographically isolated.
And so we are facing threats from an economic perspective and through rhetoric, but also real actual threats that could impact Canada.
And it's something that Canadians have to think about differently for the first time, really, in any of our lifetimes since the end of World War II.
Was there a moment or a series of moments when you started to realize that things were changing?
And so I've been very cognizant and aware of what's going on in the world and what military threat is out there.
you know, in parallel, the U.S. withdrawal from the rules-based order that it created post-World War II.
I think that the American people have borne too much responsibility for keeping the world safe, and that's grossly unfair to them, and the rest of the world has to step up.
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