Prime Minister Mark Carney Does (Very Very) Good

Now this is the way I want to wake up in the morning: to news that gets me excited! In this case, it is our Prime Minister doing what is best for Canadians by walking away from negotiations with Trump’s people. As reported by Jordan Gowling, Christopher Nardi, and Stuart Thomson for the National Post:

OTTAWA — In a stunning setback in trade negotiations with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced late on Friday that he is suspending talks and will match steep new U.S. tariffs that are set to come into effect on some Canadian goods.

Canada and the U.S. were engaged in intense negotiations to reach a deal that would help avert new 50 per cent tariffs on $29 billion-worth of Canadian goods, which were initially set to kick in on Wednesday, but U.S. President Donald Trump extended the deadline until midnight Friday.

“In recent weeks, we made important progress toward improving Canada’s position as having the best deal in the world with the U.S. However, that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians,” said Carney, in a statement sent to reporters 20 minutes before midnight on Friday.

“As a result, this evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S. and have directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa.

“They have worked hard, in good faith, to defend the interests of Canadians throughout these negotiations up until the very last minute. However, last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal,” the statement reads.

The government also announced that it would introduce “additional measures to support Canadian workers and businesses” affected by the U.S. tariffs.

I also give credit to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, because while he does suffer from FACO at times when it comes to his threats against Trump, he talks good here:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he supported Carney’s decision to end the talks and retaliate against the U.S. tariffs.

“The prime minister has my full support for a strong response—tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar. As we fight to protect Canadian sovereignty and economic security, everything needs to be on the table. Ontario is ready to do its part,” said Ford, in a statement on social media.

This news makes me very very (very very) happy. I was recently quite displeased with Carney when he asked the provinces to put U.S. wine and spirits back on their shelves, but this latest decision is better late than never. He has my full support!

Recent poll results from Leger have indicated a majority of Canadians are opposed to making any concessions at all, and almost half of us would want a new election if any deal is made (for the record, I would not want a new election because the current alternatives stink). Even a bare majority of Conservatives want him to take a hard line on Trump. It seems clear the Prime Minister is taking this feedback seriously.

I now look forward to hearing from the people who called me a Maple MAGAt and Pierre Poilievre supporter when I previously voiced my opposition to making a deal with Trump, particularly in terms of U.S. liquor sales. Show your consistency!

Also, to the snotty “It might feel good, but…” crowd: yes, this latest news makes me feel very good, but it is also very rational because making any deal with Trump is a complete waste of time and resources which could be better spent on diversifying our economy away from its high dependence on the U.S.

Even when Trump does sign a deal, he inevitably breaks it whenever it suits him. And that assumes he even signs it in the first place, because once he realizes we are willing to sign it ourselves his very tiny b-rain and its zero-sum logic will see an opportunity to demand even more from us. To quote Adrian Morrow, Mark Rendell, Bill Curry, and Marieke Walsh from The Globe and Mail:

Mr. Trump and Mr. Carney had reached a deal earlier in the week, causing the President to put his new tariffs on hold until 12.01 a.m. Saturday while the two sides finalized details. But Mr. Carney said the U.S. tried to change the deal, so he broke off the talks and recalled Canadian negotiators.

“Last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any deal,” the Prime Minister said in a statement. On Mr. Trump’s new levies, he added, “Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses.”

As for U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, he can go straight to Hell, turn right, go down the next set of stairs, and do unnatural things to himself:

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters on a conference call late Friday that it was Canada that caused the deal to fall apart by asking for more.

The “Kyle’s Mom” approach to international relations did not work back in 1999, and it does not work now.

I also want to give major credit to respected Canadian economist Jim Stanford for his recent post on LinkedIn in which he wrote:

Turns out the ‘deal’ with Canada that Trump (not Carney) announced the other night was no more real than the 14 ‘deals’ he’s announced with Iran, or the dozens of others he trumpets with no underpinnings. He’s shown he’s desperate to proclaim a victory with someone, anyone.

And he’s shown what he needs from us: oil, aluminum, potash, critical minerals & a great big market for everything from cars to digital services. Pushing back dollar for dollar, including exports taxes or quotas, is the only way to reign in his madness.

I was especially tickled when I read the part on export taxes, because I have long been a supporter of using them if it was not for Carney being blackmailed into taking them off the table by Alberta Premier Danielle “Unprecedented National Unity Crisis” Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott “Whatever Danielle Said” Moe.

Finally, even though it was written prior to Prime Minister Carney walking away from negotiations with Trump’s merry band of idiots, the editors of The Globe and Mail made some good points in a recent editorial with respect to U.S. liquor producers publicly supporting Trump’s attacks against us:

Certainly, U.S. producers have not helped their cause by supporting Mr. Trump’s threat last month to put a 50-per-cent tariff on a long list of Canadian goods. Cheering the economic kneecapping of a country you wish to regain as customers is never a good business strategy.

…

For U.S. alcohol producers, Mr. Trump’s actions are likely to cause a long and painful hangover.

I have no sympathy for those people. And while I do not want to be a broken record:

And Mr. Trump remains the erratic president he always was. Any deal negotiated this week will last as long as he feels it should. The review of the North American free-trade deal will bring new curveballs. And there is no reason to believe the President will not start musing again about annexing Canada, a topic he re-floated as recently as June.

No matter how beloved someone might have been in Canada, most of us will not tolerate sleeping with the enemy:

Even a figure as lauded as Wayne Gretzky found out the hard way, publicly vilified for spending time with Mr. Trump and his statue in Edmonton smeared with feces. A popular graffito across Canada is a crossed-out U.S. flag with the slogan “there is no enemy like a friend betrayed.”

In short, to quote legendary rock band The Sisters of Mercy, when it comes to dealing with Trump we should stop wasting time “negotiating” with him and instead “Walk walk walk walk walk away”.

In closing, I want to thank all of my paid subscribers for their subscriptions, and to encourage the rest of you to also consider paid subscriptions. I love to do research, but I also enjoy paying my bills, so a paid subscription would be very helpful in ensuring I can accomplish both.