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1/ Von der Leyen just offered Canada "associate membership" in the EU in her State of the Union address. Carney was in the chamber. Standing ovation. Perhaps the clearest sign yet that some countries are actively trying to build a new architecture for global trade.

3/ Canada isn't joining the EU. It isn't pivoting to China. It's building optionality — deeper EU ties on energy, critical minerals, defense, and potentially visa-free movement, while pursuing new deals in Asia. That's less of a bloc and more an attempt at a network.

4/ Von der Leyen was explicit about the logic: "not against anyone else, but for our common strength." The network being attempted is organized around shared principles rather than against any particular power.

5/ What the EU offers that makes this possible are terms that hold, agreements that survive elections, a framework whose rules don't change with the political weather. That's what Canada is trying to buy into.