Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “elbows up” rhetoric hasn’t exactly translated into action, and the recent events surrounding the American capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro are just the latest example of this.

Don’t get me wrong: nobody expects Carney or Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand to go out of their way to antagonize the Trump administration with bravado-laden statements. Anything that this government puts out with respect to the United States has to be incredibly carefully worded, especially when one considers that our free trade deal with the US and Mexico will be renegotiated this year.  

But does not antagonizing the Trump administration mean we can’t ever call them out for anything?

When Trump called off the trade talks with Canada, did Carney blame Trump for walking away from the table? No, because Trump taking his ball and going home is the fault of Ontario Premier Doug Ford for taking out an ad that correctly portrayed former president Ronald Regan’s views on free trade and tariffs and hurt the president’s feelings. It doesn’t matter that Ford pulled the ad or that Trump initially........

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