Canadian Pride, Canadian Anger

 

If you think about it, in some ways we owe Don Trump some thanks. Not only has he roused us from out normal placidity, evern torpor, to feel deep pride in our country, he has also made us very, very angry. In the long term, that can only work to our collective good.

As previously noted, Canadians are responding to American tariffs by making concerted efforts to buy Canadian products, shunning the American version in increasing numbers. Similarly, plans to travel to the U.S. are being cancelled, often redirected to other countries, including our own.

Canadians are clearly putting their money where their mouths are.

Pam, a 64-year-old retired woman from British Columbia, said she and her husband had cancelled a five-week trip to Palm Springs, losing their $5,000 (£3,900) deposit. They were planning, she said, to buy a Honda truck now instead of a Ford. 

One woman from British Columbia who lives a 10-minute drive from the US border and is participating in the boycott pointed to the irony of having joined several Facebook groups promoting Buy Canadian campaigns – one of which had now ballooned to 1.2 million members.

The tariffs, or rather our government's response to them, have had a massive impact on the politics of this country. A Polaris Strategic Insights survey reveals the following:

Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara, said the survey contained warning signs for federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in his looming faceoff with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal successor.

 Fully 41 per cent of respondents believe Poilievre would “do what Trump demands” while 27 per cent felt the Tory chief would “strongly oppose his demands.”

In contrast, just 17 per cent thought Liberal front-runner Mark Carney would do what Trump wanted, while 44 per cent said the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor would oppose the president’s demands.

Similarly, 16 per cent said Liberal hopeful Chrystia Freeland would do what Trump demanded, while 44 per cent said the former deputy prime minister would oppose his demands.

Probably the most heartening news I read this morning was Justin Trudeau's response to Trump's demand that Canada cease retaliatory tariffs:

... Trudeau declined, agreeing only that he might delay the second tranche of countermeasures, depending on whether Trump agreed to abide by tariff-free access under the North American free trade deal the two renegotiated and signed in 2018.

But Canada’s counter-tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. imports would remain in place until U.S. tariffs came off, Trudeau is said to have told Trump. 

I couldn't be prouder of our government at this moment. 

Canada Strong!