Canada is on track to become an associate member of the European Union. Which sounds good, except for the fact that nobody knows what that means.

To state the obvious, Canada is not part of Europe. Joining together with the 27 EU countries might raise a few challenges.

Someone is bound to object. After all, ten EU members have yet to ratify the trade agreement negotiated a decade ago. The paperwork will drag on for years, and may never be completed.

There could be benefits to EU membership. I would like to be able to travel there without needing visa (which is required now for longer stays). Maybe air fares would drop (unlikely). A common currency? I wouldn’t be opposed, though no-one has proposed that.

However, it is likely there would be more drawbacks to an arrangement with the EU than benefits. The EU Parliament has a tendency to impinge on national sovereignty. It never met an unnecessary regulation it didn’t like.

That may not be fair, but it is the impression I have. I was a big fan of the EU before visiting the EU Parliament in Brussels. What I saw there gave me second and third thoughts. It seemed like the EU likes to meddle in areas that I would have thought were the domain of the individual countries.

Sovereignty issues aside, I am not sure that Canada’s relationship with Europe is what it once was. Closer trade ties are a good thing, but we want that with everyone (even with the US if they ever have a sane government again),

When I was young, Canadians looked to Europe as the “mother country.” Our roots were there: England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Ukraine and many other places. It isn’t the same way now. Sixty years of immigration has changed our makeup.

Yes, the majority of Canadians have European roots – but it is a small majority. There are almost two million Canadians of Chinese extraction – though closer ties with China’s dictatorship does not make sense. There are more than a million of Indian descent, but like with China, the Indian government has exhibited hostility toward Canada, allegedly sponsoring terrorist attacks on our soil.

A special relationship with the EU? Without details it is not something I am all that enthused about.

Then again, it is probably better than a lot of the alternatives.