"Riddle Me This..." | Carney's Worst Nightmare | Trump Torches the Trade Deal Canada Trusted?

I think the advice would be pretty consistent with what a lot of Canadians wanted from the government early on, which is to have the Prime Minister follow through on his promise to get back to the table and try and secure a better deal.It's not to suggest that that hasn't been thrown some curveballs from Donald Trump, and I'm not suggesting that he's a predictable negotiator.But in terms of the list of irritants, that should not surprise anybody.What should surprise Canadians and I think concern Canadians is that this hope as a strategy that the midterms might reveal something different or that maybe the U .S.would grow distracted.

Like that has clearly failed.What is happening now is the U .S.applying pressure ahead of their political cycle to try and extract whatever concessions they can from Canada.And when you have, just yesterday, the prime minister all smiles at FIFA with the president to get kicked in the teeth today, as he has been, he has some serious questions to answer.To your point on you know, bailouts and incentives.

We've been propping up a number of industries in Canada for the last 14 months as a result of tariffs.I believe part of the discussion today is increased aluminum tariffs above and beyond what are already on the table.We cannot keep giving taxpayer bailouts to make up for the prime minister's inaction to actually get to the table and find a workable deal, which, I might add, is in the interest of both countries.This is not about, you know, giving into whatever the U .S.actually demands of us.

A stronger trading relationship between the two countries and that predictability is vital and necessary for Canada's economic success.I would say that that is the case for our dairy industry as well.They're not looking to take all the quota.I think a lot of consumers might like some access to other dairy products, for example, from other countries.But we can't continue to approach things the way that we have been because clearly that is not meeting the moment.

We have to do what's in Canada's national interest.OK, what does that mean in practice?Like, I've never actually heard somebody describe what that looks like.Is it Mark Carney?intensifying negotiations?

Is it Doug Ford or Premier Eby going full tilt?

Majority is going to be here in Ontario.That's why we can't roll over.We have to hit back.We have to, rather than be on our back heel, as I said, we have to go forward, take the offense.

There is not a chance in hell that U .S.alcohol is going back on the shelf in British Columbia.And I'm proud of that.And I know the British Columbians support that.And the idea of the president that he can bully us into whatever he wishes is incorrect.

We're strong.We are, despite our many debates, united as a country.and we will continue to stand strong and we will build relationships with those countries at the national level, at the provincial level that want to have a relationship with us.

Well, a couple of points here.Number one, if we were actually strong as a nation, we wouldn't have to announce it.In fact, the U .S.would have never even tried to apply the tariffs in the first place.We also wouldn't have had to pull liquor off the shelves, removing the choice of our citizens.

Because strength actually doesn't react like that.Literally any self -help book will tell you exactly that.Secondly, if we were united as a country, then riddle me this, 42 % of manufacturers who are already in the midst of a plan to leave or are starting to leavelook into one, even though 96 % of them are covered under free trade.You also wouldn't have an exodus at record high levels of high income earners, high taxpayers, well -educated and the brightest citizens of your country.I also just really want Canadians to start paying more attention to how words are being redefined, like strength is now redefined as defiance, because actual strength would show up in trade outcomes, right?

Not in refusing to stock a product and standing firm rhetorically and calling that strength.That's a really important distinction to make, as is David Eby and many other premiers and political commentators in the establishment of the left saying things to the effect of, We're just gonna focus on people who wanna work with us.Yeah, all these countries that are excited to trade with us.Here's the problem though, and I'm generalizing here, but there is a very big difference between the work ethic and drive of American citizens, the average one, compared to that of a Canadian citizen.And I think a lot of that comes down to the opportunity that you have, your household, how you're raised, and all of that stuff.And I also do believe that it has to do with the ability of people to have big dreams and know that they can actually do it.

Like that inspires something in you in a way that a lot of Canadian youth have been totally robbed of and it is an absolute disgrace.Your environment completely shapes how you're going to turn out as a human and you become the company that you keep.So there's a reason why America represents the largest share of the global total when it comes to nations that produce millionaires.America currently holds 41%, if I'm not mistaken.Canada's nowhere on the charts there.And how does this connect to David Eby and what many other people have said about, we're just going to go with other countries who are excited to work with us.

Well, the problem is that Lots of countries actually aren't that excited to work with us because Canada is very uncompetitive and therefore very expensive and slow compared to other nations that are hungrier than us, other businesses that are hungrier than us.And we see this actually in data as well.We have very low business investment, especially compared to the United States.Canadians usually spend far less on research and development and innovative technology, that sort of thing.And that limits the ability to scale into new markets, even if you wanted to pivot away from the United States of America tomorrow.We have not invested the funds and the time into how we actually go about doing that.

And the comfort trap is another big issue here, because Canadians are blessed with having close proximity to the largest market on earth, i .e.America, and resource wealth has also removed the pressure to build those harder international relationships in the first place.So dependency isn't an accident or even a recent failure.It's the predictable result of not needing to try.And for the record, fair enough, right?

We do have the U .S.Fair enough.Canada has been able to do fine with just that.That's okay.And realistically, that is going to continue long into the future, right?

There's also the internal trade barriers, which even though promised to be removed, They still aren't.I mean, really with that, let's think about that for a second, because companies, as a result of the regulatory burdens that puts on them, they can't even easily scale within Canada.Province to province, let that one sink in.How on earth do you expect to do so internationally?If businesses can't even grow big enough domestically, it's not going global, no matter how many partnerships get signed.Like, that's just not how business works.

And again, it goes back into that comfort trap.It goes back into, well, where's the hustle culture in Canada?Well, you literally have such a hard time doing some of these things that are so easy in other nations that it's like babies are just born to just be these superstars in America compared to Canada.

I'm not sure how the federal government reaches an agreement with an administration that, as far as I can tell, isn't talking to them.I don't see that the Americans have been engaging with Canada in trade conversations in any meaningful way.

Really?Well, here's what Jameson Greer had to say about that.

The proposals are generally for promises to discuss these issues, which we're already doing, not to actually change these things.They talk about collaboration on energy.We've never had tariffs on Canadian energy.We've always been open to that and that kind of exploration.So the types of things that have been in these proposals have always been, let's talk, let's keep trading in energy, things we already do.Things that do not fundamentally commit to resolve these issues, maybe just talk about them some more.

And for us, we want them fixed.

Yeah, I mean, the fact that Canada is all talk, no action, welcome to what we call the lost liberal decade.That's kind of how you get there, right?You say all the right things, but you do absolutely nothing.That sounds like Canada to me, unfortunately.I'm Jasmine Lane.Like, share, subscribe.

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