As many had anticipated, including within this very column, US President Donald Trump initially employed his characteristic tactics when discussing Canada and tariffs — using shocking statements as part of his negotiation strategy. During his "Liberation Day" event at the White House on Wednesday, he did not propose significant new tariffs specifically targeting Canada. His comments primarily focused on criticizing Canada's longstanding system of supply management, which ensures higher-than-market prices for certain agricultural products and protects Canadian farmers' earnings. These policies have long been criticized by People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier and seem outmoded even without needing criticism from the US president. A better approach would be providing targeted financial support directly to farmers rather than burdening consumers with increased costs for everyday items like breakfast foods.
The duties imposed on Canadian vehicles will largely diminish due to parts sourced from the United States. We possess comprehensive counterarguments for the tariffs levied on steel, aluminum, oil, and potash. It would be ideal to implement mutual elimination of all import taxes between the US and Canada; however, failing this, we must disregard U.S. Treasury Secretary Scot Bekkerman's counsel against retaliating. As an equitable trade partner, Canada ought not remain passive. While President Trump genuinely identifies issues with several nations and rightfully seeks updates in tariff policies, his grievances towards Canada lack merit. He claims negotiations will take place and achieving a sensible agreement shouldn’t prove arduous.
The amplification of this matter by the Liberals through their mock-Ruritanian performance—depicting a Churchill-like Mark Carney defiantly raising his fist over the Great Lakes and vowing to combat the Americans on the shores, hills, and streets without ever conceding—is now unmasked as an attempt to deflect attention away from the disastrous track record of the past decade. Regardless of what unfolds behind closed doors during specialized trade discussions, it is clear that Canada enjoys far superior and calmer access to one of the largest markets globally compared to most countries.
Trump’s comments about Canada becoming the 51st American state were always nonsense designed to stir the pot and alarm the other side in preparation for serious negotiations. Such comments were in any case invited by former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s feeble statement that the Canadian economy would “collapse” if subjected to 25 per cent American tariffs. That (false) preemptive surrender and Canada’s anemic free-loading in NATO, to the point that our fine but pathetically small and under-equipped Armed Forces could now probably be routed by the Palm Beach Police Department, invited such disparaging reflections. But they did not justify Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s anti-American snideries and his childish disparagement of Trump as “orange man.” Fortunately, Trump rose above such churlishness and has professed complete equanimity about dealing with either party in the government of this country. Our election campaign was launched on a phony issue, and the president of the U.S. has assisted us in conducting a serious election campaign. Let’s do that.
Natural resources constitute the overwhelming majority of our exports to the U.S., which illustrates the absurdity of Carney’s apparent desire to leave them in the ground and strangle the petroleum industry to reduce Canada’s use of carbon, while it continues to rise elsewhere and continues to expose climate change alarm as the hysterical lunacy that most of it is. Carney represents a continuation of the policies of the Trudeau government with which he has been intimately associated for many years.
With the Trump scare finally put to rest and the Liberal Party's empty promises rendered obsolete—using Nixonian lingo, they've become "inactive"—we can start hoping Canadians will demand accountability from their government after ten years of stagnation. Even though the U.S. is recovering from one of the least competent presidencies seen since prior to the Civil War, the typical American still enjoys about 50 percent more discretionary spending power compared to an average Canadian. Consequently, Canada continues to drop in global rankings based on wealth per person. The nation faces ridicule worldwide as perhaps the most blindly progressive state, led by a Prime Minister who once deemed the term 'mankind' gender-biased, endorsed misinformation supported by the ex-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which alleged Canada committed near-genocide against Indigenous peoples, and played a part in undermining the use of the English language in Quebec.
As Canada’s standing and reputation globally have waned, Trudeau has handed over responsibility to an individual who has never experienced an election before and is fervently dedicated to implementing policies aimed at achieving net-zero carbon emissions, regardless of the cost. The most striking hypocrisy in this election so far surpasses even the Liberals' pretense of shielding Canadians from the perceived threat posed by America; it lies in Mark Carney’s track record as a central bank governor.
The most recent Liberal TV ad I've come across claimed that Mark Carney navigated Britain through the Brexit turmoil. However, he was actually at the center of the crisis: Carney spearheaded "Operation Fear," an effort aimed at intimidating Brits into staying within the EU, thereby undermining centuries—about eight hundred years—of parliamentary sovereignty in favor of stringent regulations dictated by Brussels' authoritative approach, marked by higher taxes and centralized control. This shift would also mean that British ties with the U.S. and the Commonwealth could be overshadowed by the E.U.'s hostile stance towards Anglo-Saxon nations. Parliamentary authority and its supreme courts were poised to cede power to socialist elites like those found in Davos. Carney openly identifies himself as part of this elite class, asserting that such elitism is precisely what they require. Despite his claims, Britain dismissed him vehemently—a sentiment so strong it nearly led to public humiliation akin to being tarred and feathered. Carney echoed the panic peddled by then-Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne regarding monetary independence for the Bank of England. Cameron assured full treaty reforms but returned empty-handed compared even to Chamberlain's modest gains post-Munich Agreement. After failing in Britain, Carney now seems intent on giving another go at influencing politics abroad, perhaps seeing himself more suited to lesser leagues rather than top-tier governance roles where leadership skills appear lacking alongside questionable motives.
National Post