Listen Up! Elbows UP! – Part Two | Commentary

“The President (Trump) has been batting around Canada like a cat that just found a mouse.”  – Scott Robertson, digital media political commentator and Publisher of Canada Now.

Last week, the title of my Listen Up article was ‘Elbows Up.’ In the past few days, Donald Trump has doubled down, and I now intend to do the same. 

The thrust of what I wrote a week ago was that Canada, in trade negotiations with the United States, will never be treated fairly by the Trump administration and that attacks on our sovereignty will never stop as long as Donald Trump and his potential MAGA successors are in power. 

I suggested that various attempts to employ a strategy of appeasement with the Trump administration were worth trying, but have not worked and will not work, and that it is making Canada look more like a supplicant than a proud and independent country seeking equality in trade negotiations with the United States.  

My point was, and remains, that it is time to exercise strength rather than compliance in our dealings with the Trump administration in the United States. It frankly saddened me that some who commented on that article were more interested in defending Mark Carney than they were in recognizing the real danger Canada faces from an unhinged and uncontrolled Donald Trump who is hellbent on destroying Canada as we know it.

I have said before that I believe Mark Carney is the right person to be our Prime Minister, at the right time. I stand by that. He has worked hard to increase our international trading relationships and to lessen our dependence on the United States. He has also tried to find a path to deal with the United States that also works for Canadians. On that particular initiative, he has been thwarted at every turn by the Trump administration.

 I also believe it is now clear that a significant change in strategy and a tougher and more visible stand against Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada is sorely needed. The good news is that, as a result of events over the past week, we are seeing early signs of this from the Carney government. 

In the past ten days or so, United States President Donald Trump has threatened to dump three more significant tariffs on Canada. One of them is a 50% tariff on billions of dollars of Canadian goods. Another is due to smoke from Canadian wildfires that are daring to cross into the United States, and yet another is alleging unfair trade practices related to Child labour. It seems like any excuse will do, and it is potentially a further devastating attack on Canada’s economy.

Whether or not those threatened tariffs, many of which are in direct contravention of the current CUSMA Agreement, will actually materialize is a matter of conjecture. But whether implemented, delayed or removed, they will remain a hammer over Canada’s head in an effort to bend our knee to the United States.  

The conclusion can only be that, while Canada has attempted to avoid confrontation, the United States under Donald Trump has continued to escalate its tariffs and threats anyway. This is in spite of Canada’s tone or concessions to date. The Carney government must now recognize that pressure constantly applied to Canada by the Trump administration is structural rather than temporary and act accordingly.

At this moment in time, the United States is not our friend. Over and over, the Trump administration has made that clear. Just this week, Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor to the President for trade and manufacturing, called Canada’s trade negotiators “dishonest,” nothing less than pure hogwash designed to undermine Canada’s integrity. 

There are some that would say we should just suck all of this up. I say we should not, and thankfully there are now some signs that Mark Carney believes that as well.

I thought it was a brilliant move by the Carney government to disinvite senior United States officials to the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge on Friday. Trump will sulk about it, and who knows if the bridge will actually open tomorrow or be closed again at Trump’s whim. Nevertheless, it was a message sent and the right thing to do.

In the face of the rainfall of threatened tariffs on Canada from the Trump administration in recent days, Mark Carney has said that he plans to “intensify” trade negotiations with Trump.  That too is the right thing to do. Carney has a responsibility to get a fair trade deal with the United States if at all possible. 

But there must be a red line.

On these major tariffs, Trump has set a 30-day deadline for when they will be imposed. Mark Carney sees this as an opportunity to force the focus on getting an acceptable trade deal with the Trump administration.

The gauntlet has been thrown down by Donald Trump, but also a deadline has been set. Our Prime Minister needs to enforce it. After that, without visible and substantial success, delays or a lack of mutual concessions should no longer be tolerated or go unaddressed. That is the red line.

The real problem in negotiations with the United States, however, is that of trust. How can Canadians ever trust the United States government again if deals and agreements can be simply ripped up and tariffs imposed unilaterally? 

Regarding the CUSMA negotiations, Toronto Star contributor Blane Haggart said the following: “If Trump can’t be trusted, then it is literally impossible for any trade agreement to provide the “certainty” that Carney and so many business leaders desire.” This is the almost impossible challenge that the Carney government faces.

It makes sense to me that effort should be made to settle our differences with the Trump Administration in the United States over the next month or so. But if that deadline passes without visible success and fairness, all bets should be off. Reciprocal tariffs should be imposed on top of any other sanctions and international agreements necessary to show Donald Trump that Canada will stand up and oppose his aggression.

There is no question that a lack of a trade agreement between Canada and the United States will be a significant hardship for workers, families, farmers and businesses in Canada. But the same can be said for those on the other side of the border as well. One can hope that this will bring Donald Trump to his senses, but that hope is faint.  

We must also face the reality that, whether there are agreements or not, there will never again be certainty in trade relations between Canada and the United States, or at least not for a very long time. 

Mark Carney has said that in all circumstances Canada will work relentlessly and take any measures necessary to build our strength at home and to support strong economic opportunities for all Canadians. I believe he means that. But Donald Trump has demonstrated with his new substantial and unwarranted tariff threats to Canada in the last week that he means it too.

That means we must recognize the new reality of our relationship with the United States. 

Bottom line. We cannot allow Donald Trump to play cat and mouse with Canada.

Elbows up indeed!

Hugh Mackenzie  

Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to the former Premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.

Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.

In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.

Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.

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