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txlseries4 said:
A couple days ago Singh said he'll support legislation to deal with the tariffs and will vote down government in March
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Interesting! I'd missed that.

I'm sure he'll find another excuse in March (probably April by then) if it suites him. "After discussions with the Prime Minister, and his support for X, I feel it's best for us to have an election in October ..." :)

I expect we may here more about reconvening Parliament for a special session in the Prime Minister's address later today.
 
My opinion is that if Canada wants to become less reliant on the US, it fundamentally has to free interprovincial trade.

The EU is an ocean away, and the US will always be the path of least resistance, but Canada has many low-hanging fruits that can improve its standing.


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www.imf.org

Internal Trade in Canada: Case for Liberalization

This paper assesses the costs of internal trade barriers and proposes policies to improve internal trade. Estimates suggest that complete liberalization of internal trade in goods can increase GDP per capita by about 4 percent and reallocate employment towards provinces that experience large...
www.imf.org
 
nfitz said:
I'm sure he'll find another excuse in March (probably April by then) if it suites him. "After discussions with the Prime Minister, and his support for X, I feel it's best for us to have an election in October ..." :)
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Swinging Singh is maddening. Grow a spine already.
jje1000 said:
My opinion is that if Canada wants to become less reliant on the US, it fundamentally has to free interprovincial trade.
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Agreed. We're in the top 10 for national GDP, top 20 for per capita GDP, and top 10 for innovation index. We're the 5th largest oil producing nation. If we can break down barriers to trade within Canada we can unleash our advantages.
 
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There's many lessons that should come of this. I'm really afraid the country won't learn most of them.

One of them should be to our political elites. Their ties to the US aren't great for us. I'm sure, Trump's animus is at least partly motivated by his dislike Trudeau and all the virtue signalling against Trump during the first term and then the quiet cheering on, of Democrats through the recent election. On the flip side, Poilievre and the Conservatives are now swallowing hard after aping MAGA a bit too much and trying to simply kiss up too much to Trump. Our political class needs to rediscover their Canadian identity instead of trying to basically act as Canadian franchises of the American political system. Even smaller parties like the NDP aren't immune.
 
One thing to note is that Canada does not have as much leverage on electricity and oil as one would think- the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline partially runs through the US, and shutting off electricity to the US (primarily to Democrat states) can lead to some pretty bumpy downstream effects in Eastern Canada if the Americans choose to respond- only so much can be transported by rail or bought overseas.

In the long-term, Energy East must be brought back as a national security project, economics be damned.

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jje1000 said:
One thing to note is that Canada does not have as much leverage on electricity and oil as one would think- the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline partially runs through the US, and shutting off electricity to the US (primarily to Democrat states) can lead to some pretty bumpy downstream effects in Eastern Canada if the Americans choose to respond- only so much can be transported by rail or bought overseas.

In the long-term, Energy East must be brought back as a national security project, economics be damned.

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No one said it would be nice, but if someone intend to use the threat of pain to bend you to their will, you are better off calling their buff. It is time to act like a country for a change.

AoD
 
Personally I'd love to see a full visa implementation for all US Citizens in all circumstances (Business, Military and Leisure) effective 15 days from today.

Trump wants stronger border controls, fine. Implement strict visa requirements to ensure that everyone is vetted coming into Canada.

I'd also love to see the cessation of US-Canadian diplomatic relations over this but that's more of a nuclear option. Expelling the entire US Diplomatic Corps and recalling our Ambassador would send a clear message however.
 
jje1000 said:
One thing to note is that Canada does not have as much leverage on electricity and oil as one would think- the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline partially runs through the US, and shutting off electricity to the US (primarily to Democrat states) can lead to some pretty bumpy downstream effects in Eastern Canada if the Americans choose to respond- only so much can be transported by rail or bought overseas.

In the long-term, Energy East must be brought back as a national security project, economics be damned.
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The lack of an east-west pipeline does seem to be a gap in our energy security.

Recently read about a 1977 treaty between the U.S and Canada that "prohibits imposing duties on the use of transit pipelines, as well as any import or export taxes on transiting hydrocarbons", but all bets seem to off when it comes to Trump honouring America's agreements.
 
Bojaxs said:
The one good thing to come out of all this is it has essentially woken up Canadians to the fact that we can no longer rest on our laurels and rely on America for everything. Canada has to diversify, innovate, and be more productive.
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What do you mean by ' rely on America for everything' ? I agree that there's a lot we might do to make our country less reliant on American products. Number 1 on my list right now is to buy much less American products. When reading articles on the import of American tariffs in the New York Times, for one example, there is little said about the Canadian anger and new Canadian consumer preferences to buy Canadian. Maybe, the news outlets don't really care how we feel - time to disturb the complacency in my opinion.
 
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