The Prime Minister has repeatedly invoked “wartime” mobilization to describe Canada’s response to the tariff war and the loosening grip of the rules-based international order.

That’s more than just evocative rhetoric; it points us towards a proven playbook for a country that needs to move at a speed not seen since the Second World War.

Wartime mobilization, however, was actually a lot more than just moving faster.

Governments identified the greatest threats to their economic and national security, determined which capabilities were missing, and brought together researchers, industry and government to build them.

Canada’s current focus on major projects, trade infrastructure and resource development is a logical first step.

Ensuring robust supply chains across food, transportation and energy is the foundation of economic resilience.

But resources alone won’t secure our future.

Technology and ideas create leverage.

In a volatile world, the countries with the most influence aren’t necessarily those with the biggest economies or the largest armies.

They are the ones that find the solutions that others need, thereby making themselves indispensable.

Wartime history offers a blueprint for how a nation achieves that status.

During the Second World War, Canada needed aircraft and the British needed to build aircraft far from the Germans.

The Government mobilized industry and highly skilled workers around that mission, transforming Malton into a major aircraft production centre for the Allied war effort.

What began as a wartime necessity created expertise, industrial capacity and engineering talent that lasted long after the war ended.

Similar stories played out across the Allied world.

In the United States, soldiers urgently needed penicillin.

The Government partnered with universities and pharmaceutical companies to scale production at an unprecedented speed, turning a scientific breakthrough into a strategic advantage that continues to pay dividends today.

Australia, isolated from many of its allies, couldn’t rely on imported radar equipment.

So, it brought together scientists, universities and industry to build domestic radar capabilities, helping them protect their shores from air raids and establishing them as a global leader in radar technology.

In each of these cases, governments....