UPDATED: Keep Calm And Carry On

That's the advice of Justin Ling as as the deadline for Trump's new set of punitive tariffs fast approaches, and that strikes me as eminently wise, for any number of reasons:

The Americans are apparently still demanding we join Trump’s half-baked Golden Dome missile defence system, ditch our made-in-Canada procurement rules and get back to the business of buying almost exclusively American military hardware. Each should be a firm red line for us.

[W]ere the prime minister to brief the public about where things are at, I think he would find that most Canadians are ready to say: no deal.

Stubborn and prideful though it may be, it’s the right move. We are just three months from the U.S. midterm elections, which Trump has, thus far, failed to rig in his favour. If the Democrats can regain control of Congress, it will put Trump’s ability to levy tariffs in considerable doubt.

As well, we know, along with the rest of the world, that Trump's signature on a deal means nothing.

... Trump uses tariffs as a means of extortion — and after he’s successfully extorted his victims, we know he keeps the tariffs in place anyway.

Indeed, even the right-wing press is taking a hard line on these 'negotiations'. The National Post's Kelly McParland writes that talks with Trump are pointless.

Whatever the temporary pain, Canada would be far better off in the long run avoiding any sort of agreement that lets Washington claim the slightest victory in its attempt to bully concessions out of Ottawa.

Better to walk away, let the White House do its worst and deal with the consequences. That will inevitably be the result under this administration in any case.

If the reports are true, Washington is essentially demanding a surrender of our sovereignty:

special rights to Canadian minerals, required purchases of U.S. technologies, guaranteed access to Canadian resources, all of which represent a surrender of Canada’s right to do as it pleases with its assets.

Now’s as good a time as any to inform Washington Canada is uninterested in further pointless discussions, and let ordinary Americans get back to bearing the brunt of their president’s expensive obsession.

As I have written before on this blog, the national mood is one of defiance and anger, as well it should be. Mark Carney's government will also soon be facing three byelections, events that should give him pause if he is tempted to continue down the path of appeasement that has yielded nothing but more outrageous demands from Trump.  

Sometimes, the voice of the people demands to be heard and heeded.

UPDATE: And on the topic of the voice of the people, here's one that speaks for me:

Enough capitulation. The time is now to stand up to Trump

A clear message for Carney: Canadians will not tolerate any more concessions to Trump, Aug. 14

I am fed up with Prime Minister Mark Carney knuckling under to U.S. demands.

Enough is enough.

Now he’s telling Canadians to prepare to put U.S. liquor back on the shelves. No more. If Trump continues with his nonsense, then let’s play our ‘trump’ cards: electricity, steel, aluminum, fertilizer, lumber and oil. The U.S. is in dire need of all our resources, whether they want to admit it or not.

We need to get all the key players together who represent these resources and come up with a game plan.

Regardless of what Trump says, the American president is under pressure from major industries to keep CUSMA in place.

Premiers, put your money where your mouth is and stand up to Trump.

Larry Snow, Oakville

 

 

He's Done It Again

 

We probably all remember an activity in elementary school called show-and-tell. It consisted of bringing something to school to explain to classmates how it worked, what it was for, etc. It was an activity designed to foster public speaking and student confidence and, according to some, helped build character. It was part of most people's early education.

I can only imagine it was one of Mark Carney's favourite activities when he was a youngster. Unfortunately, that early experience does not seem to have served him well as prime minister. How else can one explain how he keeps telegraphing to Donald Trump and his minions our negotiation 'strategy' (if it can even be called that) in advance of CUSMA renegotiations and pending punishing new tariffs of 50%, set to begin in August.

Despite averring that "everything is on the table" in anticipation of those new tariffs, Mr. Carney has essentially shown and told the opposite.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is ruling out restricting Canada’s oil and gas supply to the U.S. in the face of President Donald Trump’s expanding trade war, removing a potent bargaining chip as Ottawa seeks a deal with Washington.

Mr. Carney’s government is also planning to scrap a tax on online streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, the latest in a series of concessions to U.S. trade demands for which Canada has not received anything in return.

Make no mistake - oil would be a potent bargaining chip, and even though we might be very reluctant to turn off the taps, there are other possibilites, such as substantial export taxes.

The U.S. is heavily dependent on Canadian oil – importing about four million barrels a day, nearly two-thirds of all its petroleum imports – making it a powerful potential leverage point.

As well, Carney justified another capitulation as an affordability measure:

Mr. Carney also defended Ottawa’s decision to end a 5-per-cent tax that streamers must pay to support the creation of Canadian television, movie and music content. A government lawyer wrote in a July 17 court document that Ottawa intends to “eliminate” the levy.

The Prime Minister insisted on Wednesday that the policy U-turn was about keeping streaming services affordable. “Most Canadians have one or two or more of these streamers and it’s real money. This stuff adds up.”

These most recent measures are but part of a larger pattern:

Since taking office last year, Mr. Carney has made a string of concessions to Mr. Trump, such as rolling back retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods and cancelling a planned digital services tax. Earlier this month, Ottawa agreed to give the U.S. half the net toll revenue from the new Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor and Detroit, even though Canada paid the entire $6.4-billion price tag to build the span.

The result of these appeasement measures? 

So far, however, Mr. Trump has only increased tariffs on Canada and the two sides have not reached Mr. Carney’s promised trade deal.

Former U.S. diplomat Scotty Greenwood sees the folly of such capitualatory measures, saying we need to show strength to the Americans:

“Canadians have been hesitant or reticent to flex their muscle. It’s time to be really tough and really flex,” she said. “With this particular President, this particular counterparty, you’ve got to negotiate from a position of strength.”

I 'm sure I am but one of millions of Canadians growing increasingly dismayed by Mark Carney's 'tactics'. Indeed, they suggest only that he is preparing to bring just one more thing to his show-and-tell performance with the United States: