“I know Canadians are famous for being nice. Thoughtful. Decent. Those are great qualities in human beings. But in a knife fight with Donald Trump, none of them matters”—Bradley Tusk, American venture capitalist, political strategist.
It’s been an interesting ride since Trump was re-elected.
He mused about using tariffs to force Canada to fix its “lax” border security, asserting that we were flooding the US with fentanyl and illegal migrants. (Less than 1% of the fentanyl and illegal crossings into the US come from Canada). He said the US had paid “hundreds of Billions of Dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada.” And that the US didn’t need anything Canada produces and should become “our Cherished 51st State.”
When Canada didn’t jump at the chance to join the USA (a slam dunk decision, who wouldn’t want to become an American?) he retaliated with economic force.
Just as he said he would.
Despite all this, some Canadians are still asking themselves: What does Trump want?
Good Lord, people, he’s spelled it out in his actions (25% tariff) and his words (from Truth Social to Davos). He wants us, more specifically, our natural resources.
The only question Canadians should be asking themselves is this: Are we going to give Canada to Trump?
Which brings me to Prime Minister Trudeau’s speech last night.
The PM said many things about Canada being America’s friend and standing by America’s side when it counted, including fighting and dying with Americans in Afghanistan and sheltering Americans who were stranded here after 9/11. Apparently, this is no longer enough. Now America wants our energy and our water and our critical minerals, the list goes on.
We’re nice, but we’re not stupid. As Bradley Tusk said, we’re in a knife fight with a bully. It’s sad it’s come to this, but here we are.
Canada will impose a package of retaliatory tariffs totaling $155 billion on goods–$30 will go into effect on Feb 4 and the remaining $125 B kicks in three weeks later.
Furthermore, “all options remain on the table.” These options include non-tariff options which could restrict the supply of critical minerals, potash, and energy to the US if Trump doesn’t back off.
Tomorrow is Monday. The stock market will let us know what corporate America (all those CEOs who thought Trump was their friend) thinks of Trump’s plan to annex Canada by economic force. I predict they won’t be happy.
It will be a rough ride, but remember, this isn’t the first time we’ve been attacked by our “friends” to the south. America came after Canada with military aggression in 1775 and 1812 and economic aggression in 1930.*
We repelled them then and we will repel them now.
*Confederation didn’t occur until 1867, but Canada has been around as a “vaguely defined place” since the mid-1500s.
Susan on the Soapbox 
Totally agree, Trump is a bully, and once you give a bully your apple they want your whole lunch, and once they have your lunch they want more. It is going to be rough but we have to stick together and not give in. Let’s expand our markets and look for better friends. The rest of the world would be wise to distrust America under this administration. And we need a Premier who goes a bit further than expressing “disappointment”. Anger and resolve are more motivating. I will not be buying anything manufactured or packaged in the USA. Canada First!
Amy: I really liked your line: “Let’s expand our markets and look for better friends.”
I’m 100% on board with buying Canadian. Last night I cancelled a gift order I was about to place with the Smithsonian Museum shop. I’m sure the Smithsonian people are lovely but I will not spend another dime in the US on anything if I can avoid it.
Your comment about our premier is bang on. Her charm offensive accomplished nothing. Oil/gas was nailed with a 10% tariff. It would have been 25% but for the fact someone convinced Trump that this increase would hit Americans at the gas pump. Tomorrow we’ll see how the stock market will react. It won’t be pretty.
Don’t forget that the 10% tariff is for ALL energy, not just AB’s. No doubt NE states would be hopping mad if the electricity from James Bay and Labrador got hit with 25%. Our maple MAGA premiers efforts were embarrassing.
PS changed log in email from gmail to local shaw cable. every little gesture etc
watty: I agree. Every little gesture helps. My sister on Vancouver Island sent me a news clipping saying American border towns are bending over backwards to intice Canadians to come down and spend their tourist dollars. Unfortunately for them, they voted Trump in and now they’re going to have to live with the consequences because being “nice” to us now simply doesn’t cut it.
I think it’s time we go full on anti-isolationist. I think that means we make our capacities the most effective possible. I think we, at the same time, collaborate with other like-minded countries to multiply the strength of our joint and independent capacities. There are countries in the world working hard at this. Let’s join them.
mikegklein: I agree 100%. I believe Corporate Canada liked the ease and profitability of allowing the US to turn into its number one customer, but to be overly reliant on one customer makes you vulnerable. We’re learning a hard lesson here. One that I hope we’ll remember for decades to come.
Trump has demanded we drop our prices between 10 and 25%. That sounds “merely” transactional, but the late Prime Minister John Turner was correct when he told Mulroney in 1988 that shifting our economic orientation south to the US through free trade would inevitably result in control going to Washington. Turner was correct, and Trump knows we put ourselves into this vulnerable position. This is about national interests and Premier Smith and the whole free trade/rule of law gang were naïve to think it was all just transactional and have walked down that garden path for too long.
For example, it is too bad Trudeau-the-younger listened to the big American grain companies and crapped all over China on canola dockage. Like China, the rest of our international grain customers no longer specify “source Canadian” because we no longer have a Canadian Wheat Board providing quality assurance, thanks to Harper. We no longer have the requirements in the AutoPact which forced auto companies to manufacture a percentage of the cars they sold here in Canada. And most of the farm equipment I buy was once manufactured in Ontario but now comes from south of the border or overseas. Talk about unilateral disarmament.
It is time to drop the illusions of free trade with the US and recognize we must act in Canada’s national interest by connecting with the greater world outside of the US. A good start would be dropping our hostile relationship with China while Ottawa negotiates bilateral sectorial trade agreements with America and the bigger world. Trump may feel America does not need most of what we produce, but the rest of the world does and with a bit of courage, we still have options.
Caron: I don’t know if I’ve answered you yet, WP is all over the place today, but I wanted to say I agree with you 100%. Even Stephen Harper who pardoned the the farmers who transported Canadian grain into the US (“Go Free Trade”) said Trump’s threats of tariffs were not the words of a friend. We need to look elsewhere for trading partners, we need to look elsewhere for help with national security (paying our fair share to NATO) would be a good start. We need to stand up for every province and territory in Canada. We can’t break ranks and act in our own self interest because no matter how hard you try, you are never Trump’s friend when your standing between him and something he wants.
We certainly shouldn’t dismiss this possibility out of hand…but it might mean changing our minds on some international issues. Fear plays such a large role in holding us captive to the American version of just about everything.
Perhaps solidarity is what I mean instead of anti-isolationist.
It’s a bit scary how much power the Mango Mussolini has. I did not realize that there seem to be no curbs to a President’s power even if he is obviously ignorant of the facts, outrageously racist, and openly corrupt.
Canada has no choice but to stand up to this bully, but I suspect that he will not budge until enough Americans are hit in the pocketbook and start to speak out. Right now it feels like most Americans are perfectly happy letting this dangerous buffoon do whatever he wants.
I’m afraid I am of the opinion that he will not ever back down. I’m afraid what we must do is ignore him and go our own way. The US public elected him, they will have to figure out what to do with him. Let’s look for people who willingly collaborate as we will collaborate, Let’s not allow ourselves to be prey for predators, mindless, selfish, ego-driven predators.
Public Servant: Agreed. Given that the US Supreme Court ruled that the president is immune from prosecution for whatever he does while performing his presidential role, Trump has very few, if any, constraints. The American people had better wake up to the danger they’ve put themselves in.
Luckily we’re Canadian. We’re not hamstrung by the corrupt American courts and weakened American institutions. We can choose not to be sucked into the mess he’s made. If anything he’s economic attack on Canada has made us stronger. He ain’t seen nothing yet.
That Supreme Court ruling is the clear indicator of the unravelling of the USA, not just as a democracy, unravelling period.
Americans are afraid I think. If you read Chris Hedges, you’d be surprised by the blowback people get if they try to stand up for Palestine….or protest the carpet bombing that has levelled Gaza in the last few months.
We need to keep reminding ourselves that the American Empire is a military Empire….approx 800 military bases all over the world…..owned my a country dominant enough to have convinced many of us wanna be pundits that Russia is the threat!!!
It’s absurd if you know anything about international history since WWII……..but most North Americans buy into it, for reasons I can’t quite fathom.
I’m just excited waiting for some of them to ‘enlighten’ me…lol
You are dead on!John McWilliams KC
Thanks John! Never a dull moment, eh?
Susan,
You are much more optimistic about Canada’s “response” than I am. Perhaps if our federal governments over the last 68 years (and I’m not picking party favorites, but the last one has been the worst) had been more proactive and stopped taking “the worlds longest undefended border” or we are separated from the world by two (soon to be three) oceans for granted and had taken care of the things that most legitimate countries take care of like national security and defence. Or maybe less getting so caught up in social engineering to the nth degree (you may insert racist, bigot, prejudiced and all the other words used to describe someone who isn’t buying the left wings ideological belief anymore…here, I stopped caring). We might not be in the mess we currently are.
As I don’t want to labour the point here is my suggestion to the Liberal Party of Canada who has done nothing, since the last federal election except to retain power, because it is the best job that most of them will ever have including our current PM.
Being that no country believes Canada has any courage, grit or backbone anymore and that we are nothing but whiners and our promises are meaningless. Lets show them! How about Mr. Trudeau goes on air and tells the Americans that we’ve had enough and that if we have been such a bad country that as of Tuesday this week Canada will shut down the border, all Canadians and Americans should return home if they are in the US or Canada, or be prepared to stay for the duration. All land, air and sea traffic between Canada and the US will cease and not one person, product or anything from Canada (including oil and gas) will cross our border. An iron curtain will descend across the “longest undefended border in the world” and that it will stay shut until Donald Trump and the Americans wake up or invades us. It might cause an invasion by the US (as a clear and present danger to the good ol U.S of A) and of course we have nothing to stop them with. However like the T Shirt from the 70’s stated it will be “our last great act of defiance”.
Of course that will never happen because the virtual signallers on the left and the right wing nutbars on the right can’t find common ground and agree on something we will do just enough to negotiate away yet more of our country to keep the crumbs from the American table.
Once you told me that “a person who doesn’t have an ideology is like a ship that has no direction” or words to that affect. I say that Canada has too much ideology and a ship only has direction when the engines are running, otherwise it is adrift and thanks to the left wing and the right wing ideology Canada is adrift. It might be too late to save it from itself, but no matter what we do the next 20 years could be very difficult for us. Even if we can show a modicum of grit and change how we deal with the world. Thank you.
Einar
Please forgive any spelling or grammar issues I was on a roll!
Einar,
You’re forgiven (for the spelling/grammar issues–which I’m too worked up to notice!). I understand where you’re coming from.
Seems to me an unforeseen (but welcome) consequence of Trump’s economic attack on Canada is it’s pulling Canadians together, regardless of their political affiliation and/or ideologies. I’ve been talking to older people and younger people, everyone I’ve talked to sounds like Peter Finch’s character in Network. They’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it any more. Trump made a terrible mistake in thinking he could roll over us and make us the 51st state. We should use this opportunity to take stock, regroup, and as Amy said, expand our markets and make better friends.
Susan it is so great to hear some good Canadian common sense. You are bang on with the analogy that this is a knife fight. Well Donald you are about to learn just how tough we are.
His statement that a new golden age for America tells me everything I need to know. In order to accomplish this it will take enormous resources which we have and they don’t. If we were not members of NATO OR NORAD he would just take us by force. I don’t believe he wants to take on the rest of Europe which he would be doing with such a brazen move. Instead he can do this economically.
However I think he has miss judged us.
We hold some very serious cards in our hand. One being energy. We do have an obstacle there with our Premier not being a team Canada player. I hope with enough pressure she can see the light and understand the bigger picture. Imagine if we stopped subsidizing our sale of oil and gas to the Americans. Let them pay full market value. Imagine when the cost to fill their tanks goes up 30 to 40 cents a gallon. The American east coast gets electricity from power plants located in our eastern Provinces. There are also many other natural resources that they require to flourish.
I do not like too think this way, however we may need to show these cards to President Trump so he fully understands the potential consequences of his actions. We need to do this though in a manner that somehow he can present to his country that the tariffs were the right move on his part. This mans ego is extremely fragile and he can never loose. I believe that we have smart enough people north of the border to accomplish this task.
Finally I am getting tired of people like him and Putin playing with all of our lives. I wish they would crawl back in the hole they came from.
My two cents.
Sincerely, Please keep up the great work.
Robert
Robert, great comments, thanks. You make a good point about the need to make it easy for Trump to climb down from this horrible situation he ‘s put himself in. I’m hoping that after a couple of months of pain, he’ll latch on to a face-saving “win” and say, there, mission accomplished, and get on with his main agenda which appears to be taking a wrecking ball to the US. Meanwhile we can strengthen our economic ties with other friendlier countries and make it easier for those who want to help Canada succeed immigrate here. I suspect there will be quite a few coming our way from the US.
Don’t know if you’re old enough to remember a movie called “Key Largo” with Humphy Bogart and Loren Bacall but Edward G. Robins
mysteriously: I’m afraid I don’t remember “Key Largo”. Would you care to clarify?
I was at a gun show in Wyoming years ago, and one of the vendors said when he heard I was Canadian, “Well you all need us to defend you ‘cause of your silly gun laws.” I replied, “No, I don’t think so, we burned your White House down.”
Lori: What a terrific response to the gun vendor. When we lived in the States (2000-2007) we met a cop who said Canada was more dangerous than the US because in Canada you had to use a knife to kill someone and that meant you had to get really close (he attributed a closer proximity to being more evil) whereas in the US you could kill someone from a distance. It made no sense to us, we tried to get into a discussion about gun ownership making school shootings so deadly, but he dismissed them as the work of a mad man. People kill, guns don’t, that kind of thing. We met many Americans who lived in an alternative universe where America was the best place on the planet, Americans were the best people in the world, and everyone else would give their eyeteeth to become an American. Very strange.
You know Susanâ¦â¦â¦..endless circles of password nonsense are losing you comments from people such as myselfâ¦.life long readers who know the right wing gamesâ¦â¦â¦â¦why when I come on am I sent in pointless circles looking for new passwords I wonât remember.???
Itâs happening too often now to be anything other than artificial stupidity at work.\
M. I Nokleby pen name Ingamarie.
Noklebym: I’m so sorry to heard this. Once again I’ll ask my daughter who can manage IT stuff better than I can, to take a look at it. I have no idea why this happens to some people, but not others. Thank you for letting me know.
Tried again and this time they just told me âthis comment could not be postedââ¦â¦â¦.but didnât ask for anything, or give any reason.
Iâm wondering if right wing artificial stupidity algorithms are already poised to take down civil commentaryâ¦â¦â¦â¦.in the interests of musky authoritarianism.
Nokleby
Just by seeing the squares in your text tells me that you are copying or sending posts from word or some other software like your phone.
Copy that to notepad and then copy it here. Notepad will get rid of the symbols that are causing the squares an can cause other issues.
I’m gong to try and comment here….but last time, what I wrote wouldn’t post…I don’t text, don’t have a stupid phone…so everything happens on my computer…and from time to time, I’m taken down weird regressions.
Let’s see if this gets through.
I think the problem is symbols that you have in your text that cannot be well interpreted by this platform. That is not unusual at all and even with all the last developments it does still happen.
So I am not sure where you have your text before you post it to this blog but I am sure that if you copy first to notepad it will get better.
Try it and let me know what you are using I may be able to help – by using I mean where do you have your original text.
Trump promised a golden age. Musk promised hard times first. Isn’t the first step in grief work denial? If I hear one more person refer to the USA as “our ally ” I will scream . It is worse than a protection racket . It is the attempted destruction of the fabric of Canada in total and absorption of the remnants. It is immoral and corrupt and all american. It is abusive, obscene and business as usual.
But most of all it is not a correctable error of thinking , it is a declaration of the promise of our destruction. It is a declaration of WAR.
They have declared economic war on us, for no factual indiscretion, for the singular purpose of breaking us and acquiring our land mass and resources. No tapdance will change that target fixation.
Acceptable losses and collateral damage can and will be massive, and have all been factored in and with the immunity that being surrounded by billionaires gives you. It will be another happy ending for the rich people.
Conservative Canada thinks it is a great idea. Traitor Smith and weasle O’Leary flocked to marlago to promise compliance and facilitate our surrender. Shades of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffery Epstein. Procurers and whores do self advertise as “diplomats” sometimes.
‘lil pp adopts a new posture he thinks gets him more votes, not realizing the new governors will be the provincial leaders and the new feds will be drumpf and co.. (Now do you see Dougies emergency election needs?)
Canada has managed to offend anyone else strong enough to save us . Brics gained the Philippines and now is an economic alliance composing about 50% of the world with 1/3 of world GDP. (See why the US needs us and Greenland and Panama at any price? This is the hail mary pass for a faltering empire )
So please know, no matter how much good feeling is between our peoples the dear leader at the top with the army of billionaires and the militaries and the police forces and the laws has no interest in any negotiated truce less than our unconditional surrender and is willing to take everyone on that ride.
On the lighter side , it’s war and we don’t negotiate with tarraffists do we?.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWijx_AgPiA
Trump promised a golden age. Musk promised hard times first. Isn’t the first step in grief work denial? If I hear one more person refer to the USA as “our ally ” I will scream . It is worse than a protection racket . It is the attempted destruction of the fabric of Canada in total and absorption of the remnants. It is immoral and corrupt and all american. It is abusive, obscene and business as usual.
But most of all it is not a correctable error of thinking , it is a declaration of the promise of our destruction. It is a declaration of WAR.
They have declared economic war on us, for no factual indiscretion, for the singular purpose of breaking us and acquiring our land mass and resources. No tapdance will change that target fixation.
Acceptable losses and collateral damage can and will be massive, and have all been factored in and with the immunity that being surrounded by billionaires gives you. It will be another happy ending for the rich people.
Conservative Canada thinks it is a great idea. Traitor Smith and weasle O’Leary flocked to marlago to promise compliance and facilitate our surrender. Shades of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffery Epstein. Procurers and whores do self advertise as “diplomats” sometimes.
‘lil pp adopts a new posture he thinks gets him more votes, not realizing the new governors will be the provincial leaders and the new feds will be drumpf and co.. (Now do you see Dougies emergency election needs?)
Canada has managed to offend anyone else strong enough to save us . Brics gained the Philippines and now is an economic alliance composing about 50% of the world with 1/3 of world GDP. (See why the US needs us and Greenland and Panama at any price? This is the hail mary pass for a faltering empire )
So please know, no matter how much good feeling is between our peoples the dear leader at the top with the army of billionaires and the militaries and the police forces and the laws has no interest in any negotiated truce less than our unconditional surrender and is willing to take everyone on that ride.
On the lighter side , it’s war and we don’t negotiate with tarraffists do we?.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWijx_AgPiA
You go my friend. More of us need to look at the BRICS………not as a threat but as one more sign that we aren’t the only people who’ve been bullied into economic subservience by the mighty American petrodollar….
My only caveat would be that I suspect many Americans who voted for Trump voted out of desperation and despair. Because the rate of impoverishment in that faux republic as been growing since NAFTA….their billionaires abondoned them to go off and exploit the young workers of Asia.
Nor China is rising and we’re going to be talked into her being the threat??? Because she can make an EV better and cheaper than Americans can??? Because the standard of living of her workers is rising…while American wages have stagnated under NAFTA???
We’ve been in bed with an abusive partner for far too long….reassured by the fact that we have the same skin colour, that they won’t steal what’s ours???
From here on in, Silence is Complicity……..and we’ve been complicit in stripping the third world and the global south for far too long already.
Amen about our complicity in neglect of the Third World. The world needs to be a collaborative place, that means full inclusion, other than enabling those bombastic, militaristic and authoritarian regimes.
First we neglect, ignore them………and then when Amerika thinks its necessary we demonize and make enemies of them. It’s stupid and needs to stop.
Lungta mtn: great comments. Let me just add that Trump has indicated that even though he is going to impose tariffs on the EU he’s going to maybe a little easier (maybe) on the UK (I don’t know if he thought the UK was in the EU or what). The reason for his beneficence is he likes Keir Starmer. I think the real reason is he’s fixated on the 1908 treaty between Great Britain and the US which, according to him, drew the border along the 49th parallel. He figures if he’s nice to Starmer (i’LL ONLY BURN DOWN HALF YOUR HOUSE, NOT ALL YOUR HOUSE) the UK will let America take Canada back. Or some such idiocy. The man is a “tarraffist” (loved that!) and we don’t negotiate with tarraffists.
PS loved the Creedance Clearwater Revival clip.
It’s not a question of what Donald Trump wants. It’s a question of what the unelected captain at the wheel wants. That is much worse.
Canada must not cede to those who have threatened to annex us. Annexation of a sovereign nation is an act of war. This trade war IS a war. We are at war, Canada, like it or not. Everything is at stake now. We won’t get a second chance. All in, or lose it all. Vive le Canada!
This is an excellent read. Consider that both Danielle Smith and Doug Ford have brought StarLink into play in their provinces. I hope our federal government is calling on former senior advisors right now. Once foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy has spoken out. He does not mince words about the gravity of this situation. Our existence as a nation is threatened if we don’t move quickly, sternly and intelligently to stop it.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/observers-call-for-pressure-on-us-corporations-as-trump-musk-take-aim-at-canada/
He told the Jan. 27 event held by the Canadian International Council that he’s increasingly worried about meddling in Canadian domestic affairs by Musk, a social media mogul and the world’s richest man.
He added that “other owners of big digital platforms” could undermine Canadian democracy.
“They are going to try to affect our election,” said Axworthy, who was foreign minister from 1996 to 2000.
Axworthy argued the federal government must “make sure that they don’t screw the thing up, and make sure that we aren’t denied our rightful place to make our own choices”
University of Waterloo political scientist Emmett Macfarlane has called on the federal government to go much further. In a Jan. 21 blog post, he argued that Ottawa should consider banning X, Tesla and Musk’s satellite broadband company Starlink.
“We should treat Trump and members of his administration like Elon Musk as akin to Russian oligarchs,” Macfarlane wrote. “We need to impose meaningful costs on the U.S. for its economic aggression.”
I agree with you……..and have long thought it was the American Empire doing the most meddling in our democracy….given which, I’m wondering if all the worry about India or China might not have been a diversion…like “nothing to see here…….look over there instead’.
Certainly in the convoy crisis, dark money mostly came from the USA right wing.
Real friends those guys.
Who did this? Where did the foreign funding for Take Back Alberta come from? How much?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/david-parker-take-back-alberta-fines-political-advertising-1.7450567
Which country is the greatest threat to Canada’s sovereignty? Do we know all the ins and outs of the truck convoy financing and personnel across Canada and in Alberta? And as discussed, did the foreign interference inquiry point in the right direction or did it amount to a smokescreen for the worst culprits?
Albertarian: you raise some very important questions. Unfortunately we don’t have the investigative journalists here in Alberta who can dig into this and get some answers.
Albertarian: thanks for the link. Axworthy may be 85 but he’s very, very sharp about these techie things. Much more so than people half his age, including politicians who don’t see the danger until it’s right on top of us.
Yup.
Propaganda always tells us that Russia is our biggest threat.
Like both of you I am no stupid. The US, who is definitely a threat to many other countries in the world, has now turned their usual strategies against us.
Trump is a psychopath and he thinks like Hitler. He is going to clean up all criminals and conquer new lands for his mafia. He is so ignorant that he does not realize that his team including himself are criminals. Trump is a felon but he only likes white felons.
We should have become way more self sufficient and stop being too lazy and work harder to have our own sustainable and independence country.
Trump wants Canada period. If you think he is joking, you better change your mind set. Actually he wants everything including GAZA. He wants to build a middle East Disney World there.
Probably we will do well to understand narcissistic personality disorder as Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, has eloquently identified. Let’s recall Trump feeling slighted by Trudeau’s remarks at the 2018 G7 summit after Trump left early to meet North Korea’s dictator. At the time one of Trump’s staff suggested there was a special place in hell for one like Trudeau. And then having his bullying withstood by a strong woman, Chrystia Freeland, in re-negotiating NAFTA, his fragile ego took another hit. It’s all about revenge as demonstrated by his purge of anyone who opposed him.
And “Hooray” for the female Episcopalian bishop who graciously offered a different way – the way of mercy. This way is still open to Mr. Trump and for the sake of the world, let’s pray he stills takes that path.
Yes, Survivor, while Trump may throw around statesmanlike words, none of which it is obvious he does not appreciate or understand, it’s strictly personal, normal autocrat behaviour a la Putin. Orban, Kim.
Survivor: excellent comment. I sometimes wonder what it is in the make up of people like Trump and Musk who have all that money and all that power and still have to be the centre of the adoring crowd. Whre these ‘poor’ guys the ones who got shoved into lockers when they were in junior high? Did they throw themselves at the prettiest girl in the school, only to be rejected? did whatever happened to them leave them so maimed that they need to be written up in the history books? If so, they’re going about it in the wrong way. Their legacy will not make them, or anyone who supported them, proud.
And yes, the female Episcoplian bishop had more courage and moral conviction in her little finger than these two will ever have, period.
Pundits, economists & politicians have been saying that we need to make some changes to boost domestic economic growth as one strategy to weather the storm visited upon us by the Trumpster. Those changes include breaking down “interprovincial trade barriers”, and “streamlining regulatory processes” governing major infrastructure projects, like pipelines, mines, and freeways. Both of those ideas sound god on the surface, but when I look at them more carefully they give me pause.
On interprovincial trade barriers, those most frequently cited are 100% about each provincial government exercising its own jurisdiction in a manner responsive to its citizenry. Regulations around trucking are meant to ensure safety and protect highways from damage caused by overweight or oversized loads, and not as easy to make uniform as some might think. For example, BC has had to impose new regulations about load heights after a number of incidents involving trucks striking overpasses — and some of the offending trucks were from Alberta. What do we think is the likelihood that Alberta, with its long, relatively straight highways, and anti-regulatory ideology, will make its trucking rules as stringent as those of the province to the west?
On regulatory scrutiny of major infrastructure projects, when we talk about “streamlining” approval processes, the underlying assumption is that there is really only one legitimate answer, and that is a ‘Yes’. So “we need to make the process get to ‘Yes’ more quickly” with less “red tape”. But oftentimes, the right answer should be ‘No’ — as with Grassy Mountain coal mining, to cite a current issue. Environmental stewardship and Indigenous land rights are often reasons why a regulator may need to say ‘No’, but proponents often won’t take ‘No’ for an answer. And when the regulator says ‘Yes’, the process leading to that answer often doesn’t have the integrity for opponents and other stakeholders to accept that decision. So the project review goes through multiple cycles of appeal and court challenge before a true final answer is reached. How can we “streamline” this journey without either bypassing the concerns of project opponents?
Yes, 25% tariffs on all Canadian exports to the Benighted States are going to be a hit on our economy, although Trevor Tombe said last week on David Herle’s “The Healy Burly” podcast that the hit would not be the economic catastrophe some people have been breathlessly predicting — he predicted instead it would amount to a fairly “ordinary” recession. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-herle-burly/id1280218816?i=1000685514861
But let us tread carefully on how we adapt our economy to these new changed circumstances, lest the cure be worse than the disease.
Thanks for two good points…….on trucking (that Saskatchewan tragedy had its origins in Alberta’s lax regulations…the young man driving the truck was as much a victim as those young boys)……….and the Grassy Mountain madness is another ‘first’ for the province that wants to cooperate with Trump………for some fairly obvious reasons.
Regulations exist for reasons…….often very good ones.
Absolutely agree Jerrymacgp. Among the first things Trumpers did was defang regulatory agencies, fire all the staff. That eliminates the Rule of Law governing society for the common good.
jerrymacgp: Thanks for this very informative comment and the link to the podcast. As you point out people like Tombe who actually know something about this stuff say it won’t be the disaster others are predicting. I read an article in the Globe which said that if our provincial governments eliminated tariffs that would go a long way to counterbalancing the negative impact of Trump’s tariffs. It’s time the provinces recognized they’re not isolated fiefdoms, but rather part of the fabric of Canada, because contrary to what people like Smith think most of us are not Alberta first, Canada second, our loyalties lie the other way around.
And our Premier is grandiosely strutting around claiming victory because the oil and gas tariffs (the only industry of any consideration to her) weren’t higher, smugly telling the rest of Canada that if they only followed Alberta’s plan and caved in to the Orange Ogre everything would be just fine. This is like begging a bully not to knock your teeth out at recess, then thanking him and claiming victory on the playground that this time he only broke your nose. Man alive!
Welcome to Alberta…….home of the terminally entitled.
Jason: brilliant analogy!
Canada’s biggest challenge is that we have been paying lip service to broadening our trade relationships for decades with very little results. Our business leaders have become lazy. Trade with the US is easy due to proximity, same language, similar customs and values, similar legal systems, etc. Trade with nations that speak different languages and have different customs and legal systems requires a different skill set that many of our business leaders have not had to develop when they can much more easily sell to the US.
It has now become imperative that Canadian businesses develop those skills very fast.
The EU had to address those exact issues to realise their dream. It was not easy. It still is not easy but they’re making it work. I wonder if Canada’s massively multicultural society might not fit in with those efforts and perhaps even contribute to their success.
kre8tivelaw: this is absolutely correct. Corporations opt for the easy route. Corporations pride themselves on strategizing for future. I don’t know how many times I’ve sat in a board room listening to executives talking about the future, but at the end of the day it’s just easier to continue to serve your biggest customer south of the border. Then bam! This happens. So now they’re strategizing how to open up manufacturing plants in the US so they won’t get hit by the tariffs. In the end it’s all about profit. Being a Canadian company means nothing to them.
We need to wake up and recognize this reality. Then we need to find a way around it.
It’s unbelievable to me that Trump can go on about border security and NOT SEEM TO REALIZE THAT IT’S HIS BORDER SECURITY THAT IS POOR, NOT OURS! If someone crosses the border from Canada to the US, we don’t stop on the Canadian side for security, we stop at the American side and it’s their responsibility to stop illegal things from crossing.
It has absolutely nothing to do with border security. If it did, he would be improving security on the Canadian border. I can’t believe we even give this a moment of time and thought.
He’s a Hitler wannabe and wants to control the entire world. That’s it. We need to stop buying anything from the US asap and trade with other countries exclusively.
I’ve been saying wherever I can comment, more of us need to say how border security works…….we’ve been played for suckers by a dummy who doesn’t understand the border…..likely because he takes responsibility for nothing. Why bother, when you can bully Canada and Mexico into doing your work for you?
Yup. (Just to be clear, when I say “Yup.”, that means I totally agree.)
Jan I don’t think he cares, for the reason you alluded to in your last paragraph. He says he wants border security but what he really wants is domination of North America, and Greenland, and Panama, and God only knows what else.
I think what we have to look at is, who benefits? The answer is nobody… except Vladimir Putin. I think this plan has been in the works for a long while and the Mar-a-Lago fat fuck will happily go along for that hotel he wants in Moscow.
Ian: Agree, that’s always the question. Who benefits?
Well we certainly are in a major wake up call now aren’t we?? Big Brother turns out not to be our friend. Turns out, we’re just free resources from the perspective of the uber capitalists who’ve been dictating terms to the globe in some ways, since the end of World War II.
The Cold War was their war. We went along with it. The rape of several countries in Latin America was in their economic interests. We did a good job of pretending that little Nicaragua, miniscule El Salvador, and ornery Guatemala were the problems….we looked away from their death squads………the perfidy of The School of the America’s in fostering the counter revolution that put Pinochet illegally into power in Chile…
We took in American draft dodgers during their protracted defence of capitalism in Viet Nam….we mostly didn’t condemn the carpet bombing of Cambodia and the rise of the Khemer Rouge…..and it goes on…
Two wars in Iraq…half a million children starved by American sanctions…we stayed quiet. Currently a disaster in Gaza that I dare not name, or the algorithms we’ve been told to call ‘intelligent’ may erase my comment.
So now, they are coming for us. Imagine being the 51st state., Dream on it. Giving up your health card for the right to open carry will be exciting for some…TBA in our province should love the new winds of freedom blowing through the holes in their heads….but what about the majority of us???
Are we awake already??? Looking wide eyed at a bit of truth about our neighbour to the south?? Where in fact does she get all that wealth, and how come her proxy in the Middle East has universal health care, but her people don’t???
What is America and who are the real Americans?? Because as climate disasters proliferate in that country of oil and gas dominance……..we’re likely going to have quite a few of the well heeled among them crossing into Canada.
We should perhaps be planning the reception now?
Let’s thank Trump for this wake-up call. The unintended consequences of his actions are that we, all Canadians, are now alert and aware of the dangers of going along. Let’s seize this moment to assert our own home-grown strengths, abilities and capacities and bring them to the maturity we need to live in solidarity with the rest of the reasonable, sensible world. We might be a little late to the game, but we can assert ourselves as team players and work with the leadership of these other countries and societies making the world a better place for all. Note: Not just the leaders of other countries, but the leadership shown by these societies as whole communities.
That would certainly be my preference Mike……..but needing something to fear…someone to blame is a major mental illness in the west. Look at what it has allowed us to look away from in the Middle East?
We’ve a long way to go……..and not as much heart as we likely need……….to get there.
Indeed, this has been and is an almost unbearably long learning process. Proact, not react. Have a vision and purposefully strive to realise it, not simply defend against the bad.
And above all, read a bit widely……….in people like Chris Hedges or the late John Pilger…….so that you have some context for your irrational fears. I’m constantly amazed by how many people still think Cuba is a bad place…….though they know dick all about it………and aren’t interested in hearing what you have to tell them.
It’s a David and Goliath story…….and many Canadians continue to side with Goliath…if they care about another little country’s sovereignty at all.
Mike and Noklebym: thanks for the interesting discussion. I really liked the comments suggesting we read, learn, open our eyes, see what’s really going on and work to improve things in the future.
So now we have a 30-day reprieve, at the cost of $1.3 billion, plus another $200 million for a task force, and however much it’ll cost to set up a fentanyl czar (*barf*). The teeth grind imagining what else this money could be spent on than this grossly over-blown border security issue. And in 30 days the Orange Goon could back with more demands, like allowing US banks to walk all over us. Still, it likely seemed cheaper to go along with this than get into a stupid trade war.
Yes I agree. This is outrageous and this idea of serving the bully is crazy. I am with Freeland and Doug Ford on this. Hit them with a strong blow and see how it feels. Cut oil and gas for a week and I want to see what they do.
Put a tariff of 100% on Tesla. We have EVs from other places and cheaper. Elon Musk needs to have a lesson his parents never gave him.
What the US wants is what they have done around the world since the second world war. Exploit and take as much as they can. Just talk to South Americans and they will tell you how much they love them. We should respond with as much force as possible and start the process of diversifying our exports. This dependence on the US is stupid and just convenient.
Until now they have tolerated us but now the game is visible. Even if Trump backtracks, I would start changing our economy and I would not invite a felon to our country. It is time for us to become more self confident and move forward.
We need to become more sustainable and move fast to a clean energy future and leave the US behind. They can continue with their denial and hope God helps them but this is clearly the fall of the Empire which is becoming evil and clearly undemocratic.
This is what they want and I hope that we do not do this and reinforce the idea that we are inferior to them.
The heck with the US, China and Russia.
Lets get less dependent on easy money with China and let us grow our character. We do not need to be subservient to anyone
https://albertapolitics.ca/2025/02/brace-for-more-bait-and-switch-having-squeezed-a-few-concessions-out-of-canada-donald-trump-will-soon-switch-to-new-demands/
Carlos: your comment about talking to the South Americans reminded me of something my mom said. She was a girl in Hungary during the WW2. The Americans used Radio Free Europe to encourage the Hungarians to fight against the Germans but when the war ended, they let the Russians take Hungary. The same thing happened in the 1956 Hungarian uprising. My mother had very little use for the Americans saying they took what they wanted and then bailed. It was true then and it’s true now.
Susan your mom is right – I have seen the same anywhere the US grabs natural resources without much respect for the locals. I have no use for them and I wish them luck but I have for a long time already boycotting their products.
I think the Canadian government should immediately tax Tesla 100% to teach that nut a lesson. In France and Germany Tesla has already starting the fall. I just hope it will be for good.
Carlos: yes my mom was one of the smartest political analysts I know. Living through the war and it’s aftermath taught her a lot about political power. I’ll never forget her telling me that when you see news clips of happy villagers waving small flags to welcome in the conquering army ask yourself where the villagers got all those flags. It was her experience that the soldiers handed them out to the villagers and ordered them into the streets to wave for the cameras. Smile or be shot.
And yes, boycotting Tesla and imposing import taxes on Tesla would be a good start.
Perhaps the U.S. president dreads appearing impotent by NOT unilaterally intimidating and/or exploiting via absurdly-unjust 25%-across-the-board tariffs against the relatively weak(er) nation that dares to resist his skewed concept of equality, the one typically giving him the lion’s share?
The school-bully analogy once again is warranted and befitting. Such a bully is especially angered by the relative weakling who in the least stands up to him. And this, unfortunately, goes beyond the U.S.
I’ve noticed a particular irritation expressed by the governments of China and (increasingly) India when Canada’s government — unlike with, say, mighty American assertiveness — dared to politically challenge them, even when on reasonable grounds.
Most recently, Canada dealt (at least somewhat) firmly with India’s government after Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh separatist, was assassinated in Surrey, B.C., last year. Undoubtedly already aware of the diplomatic furor likely to come, even at Canada’s expense, an investigation nonetheless resulted in Canada charging three Indian nationals for the killing.
Besides a few other examples, China seemed particularly angered by it being the relatively weak Canada that on Dec.1, 2018, had arrested and held on house arrest Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive and daughter of the tech corporation’s founder. Considering that a U.S. arrest warrant obligated Canada to detain her, why didn’t Beijing publicly express similar bluster towards Washington D.C. and, most notably, the then first administration of Donald Trump?!
Such nations’ governments apparently are feeling and expressing a growing sense of foreign relations and power-politics entitlement involving Canada — one that Canadians are expected to simply get used to, somewhat like the child stuck with the school punk whose concept of his fair share will always be three-quarters of the pie.
__
P.S. In one survey discussed on CBC radio in mid-January, most of the Americans polled who said they support Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canadian goods (albeit a minority opinion) suddenly change their minds if that tariff ends up costing them that much more for Canadian exports. The Only If It’s In My Own Back Yard mindset is depressingly alive and well, even between supposedly good neighbors.
fgsjr: Thank you for thiese comments. Very insightful. The school bully analogy is a good one. What’s going to be interesting is what happens to global financial markets (and the super rich all over the globe) when Trump kicks off his tariffs on the EU and other regions. Like the school bully, Trump doesn’t have much for brains.
What I want to know is, who exactly elected Danielle Smith official representative of Canada to the Trump Administration? Is no one going to tell her to stop flying to Mar-a-Lardo or The Lard House to “talk” to the Orange Yam as if she’s representing all of us rather than herself and her rich benefactors?
Judging by what is going on, she will soon open an Alberta franchise in Mar a Lago. I for one would hope the love continues to grow and she moves there definitely.
Trump is an embarrassment and so is Danielle Smith, so what a good opportunity to form Dumb and Dumber and go on a tour together. First stop GAZA where they can build Mar a Lago 2.0.
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/braid-danielle-smith-says-border-cartel-funding-genuine-problems-u-s
I can only imagine what young people are thinking about us so called adults these days. No wonder they prefer their phones. A lot less absurd than reality.
Kelly: Smith was lauded in the PostMedia press the other day for leading the way for Trudeau. this makes absolutely no sense. The best Smith was able to come away with was a 10% tariff on energy. Trudeau landed a 0% tariff on everything for 30 days. Having said that Trump just announced he was imposing a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum so it seems to me it doesn’t matter what our politicians think they’ve secured in the way of relief, it won’t last long. Which brings us back to the suggestions others have made here that we have to be prepared to hit back with retaliatory tariffs that impose real pain.
Strange they neglected to mention Kevin O’Leary had got there ahead of her. Why isn’t he named the person leading the way for the PM? That would be more fitting for the PostMedia philosophy of public governance.
Mikegklein: Now that’s a good question. Perhaps they think Kevin O’Leary is an American (Wiki says he’s a Canadian who lives in Florida) and as such not as great an advocate for Alberta as our very own Danielle. Either that or he didn’t simper enough in front of the great man for their taste.
Here is an article that is important reading for all Albertans that believe in reality and good government. Interesting to see if this comes to something.
In the meantime I do hope that Athana Mentzepoulos sues the heck out of the UCP gang.
https://albertapolitics.ca/2025/02/did-take-back-alberta-steal-the-2023-alberta-provincial-election-for-the-united-conservative-party/
Carlos: thanks for the link!
It’s time to bring the gun. Shut off the switch on the 33 Terawatt/hrs (that’s 33 MILLION Megawatts) first – that pain will be shared by BC, Alberta, Ontario & Quebec. If that doesn’t make the orange shit gibbon back down, then cut off the strategic minerals – potash, uranium, rare earth’s, etc. Again, shared pain by several provinces. Save the oil for last, and letting the southern bastards freeze in the dark should be accompanied by ironclad promise to build an east bound pipeline.
That is what makes sense to me – why having any respect at all for this arrogant , liar , felon dictator just because he is an American?
Go after him and big. He barks but with us he will coward. Just cut 3 million barrels a day for 3 days and he will be on his knees crying.
He has a big propaganda machine telling all of us that he is the best negotiator in the world, but that is bullshit. He needs to get a wake up call and all we need to do is not inviting him for lying sessions about us. We do not need preaching. Squeeze him to the max and nothing will come out of it other than what he is – SHIT. We need to have courage that is all.
Carlos, I keep seeing reports that Trump wants the rest of the world to “respect” America (ie him). This is ludicrous. People have to earn others’ respect. They don’t get it by intimidation and throwing their weight around. I wish Smith would figure that out. She said Canada needs to stop poking the bear. Well he poked us first and he’s just announced he’s going to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on everyone, including Canada, notwithstanding the so-called moratorium on tariffs he announced just a few days ago. We need to have courage and push back hard.
vibrante: as you said there is much we can do. We just need to find the courage to do it.
I continue to be thankful for our “constitutional fire extinguishers” – the vice-regal representatives, and that our Supreme Court justices have more integrity and fixed terms.
When the orange shit gibbon (he doesn’t rate polite address any more) tries more extortion, it’s time to bring our fire our bigger caliber weapon. Shut off the 33 million megawatt/hrs of electricity.
When he escalates, stop exporting the strategic minerals – except the oil. As much as it pains me, Smith is partly correct – it’s an economic weapon of mass destruction. Real wars are fought over oil.
Sorry about the double posting- my tablet and WordPress appear to be having a passing match.
Vibrante: No problem. Every time I turn around WordPress is fiddling with its website. It drives me mad!
I continue to be thankful for our “constitutional fire extinguishers” – the vice-regal representatives, and that our Supreme Court justices have more integrity and fixed terms.
When the orange shit gibbon (he doesn’t rate polite address any more) tries more extortion, it’s time to bring our fire our bigger caliber weapon. Shut off the 33 million megawatt/hrs of electricity.
When he escalates, stop exporting the strategic minerals – except the oil. As much as it pains me, Smith is partly correct – it’s an economic weapon of mass destruction. Real wars are fought over oil.
Vibrante: I too am grateful for the checks and balances built into our democratic system. Most politicians abide by our political norms, although that seems to be slipping lately with politicians like Smith and Poilievre who’ve strayed so far from their conservative roots that they’re no longer conservatives.
What else is new? This is the freedom that Danielle Smith talks about all the time. Of course we understand what that means. Freedom from audits and any other type of oversight. Freedom of raiding taxpayers money and at the same time scream out loud every single opportunity of lowering taxes.
I think Danielle Smith forgot that we are all already VACCINATED against extreme right wing bullshit.
https://albertapolitics.ca/2025/02/athana-mentzelopouloss-bombshell-allegations-about-sketchy-deals-at-ahs-pushed-by-officials-and-political-staffers-set-off-huge-storm/
There should be a full public inquiry on this with absolutely everything made accessible to the public. Never mind the cost. True or not, it’s in the public interest to get all the details on this. It’s best for the UCP too, as if the inquiry exonerates them people will be more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt next time, as opposed to the suspicion engendered by the typical UCP shiftiness.
Alas, that won’t happen. The UCP are far too big control freaks to allow a full impartial inquiry. They have to meddle. And the UCP, to my mind, really don’t believe they are or should be accountable to the public. They define arrogance and entitlement. They’ll try to brazen this out, acting like they wouldn’t be screeching if this were involving anyone else.
Your last paragraph is how they understand democracy. I just read an article by professor Jared Wesley from the University of Alberta which explains clearly what is going on here. I think it is a good read for all of us. It certainly helped me figure out this strange process we are witnessing in Canada as well.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/02/06/Problem-Populist-Politicians/
Carlos: thanks for this link. Dr Wesley does an excellent job of explaining the difference between populism and democracy.
As expected, Smith’s denying any responsibility for what happened. With even more audacity than usual, she’s trying to pin this all on Alberta Health Services, basically claiming their incompetent and her chaotic, bewildering reorganization is needed to straighten them out. The suggestion is these allegations are somehow AHS trying to resist change. Oh Brother!
Agree, luckily the AG’s standard isn’t the criminal code standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. All I can say is I’m really looking forward to the AG’s report.
I thought that we had gone through this all ready a little over a year ago. Remember when a certain family practice Dr put out an email to her patients that there was going to be a subscription fee moving forward and out of this you would get preferred service?
I seem to recall that after the Federal Government threatened Premier Smith and her cronies with pulling back federal funds tied to health care. Ms Smith came out and adamantly stated that they were not interested in privatizing health care in Alberta.
It seems to me they are just relying on a short or no memory with its constituents. Well this one remembers extremely well. Is the Auditor General not appointed by the GOP? I really hope that this time they have crossed the proverbial line in the sand and opens the doors to a thorough investigation.
Keep up the great work.
Jason, I absolutely agree with the idea that these allegations are so heinous that a public inquiry is in order. As for the cost, it pales in comparison with the millions Smith et al have squandered on Turkish Tylenol, the failed privatization of lab services, etc.
Thank you for sharing the Tyee article. Quite illuminating.
Carlos: one of the things I found really interesting when I read Carrie Tait’s article in the Globe and Mail was the reference to the $614-million spent on services from MHCare and companies associated with Mr. Mraiche, the fellow who provided the luxury NHL tickets to Smith and crew. This UCP government certainly knows who its friends are.
Oh of course they do know who their friends are.
This is what they call freedom. Being able to corrupt, get money under the table, no regulations. We understand what they want but we do not want that at all.
Danielle Smith as always as she did with the preacher that she called and wanted to pardon, is hiding again behind lies. I hope she goes down with this one.
She is as corrupt as her TBA boss
Carlos: she’s certainly feeling the pressure. Like I said the criminal code standard isn’t the standard the AG will use here.
Trump’s tariffs seem aimed at reducing trade imbalances, but they risk escalating global tensions and harming consumers with higher prices. He seems more focused on economic self-interest over international cooperation which may lead to war (by other means), or could lead to a tensed scenario that we cannot imagine yet.