Canada-U .S. history provides lessons on how Canada can deal with a hostile Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s threat of 25 per cent tariffs against Canada — combined with his ongoing denigration of Canadian sovereignty, including his recent threat to take the country “by economic force” — have Canadians rightly concerned about the immediate future.
Unfortunately, the federal government’s initial reaction to Trump 2.0 has not inspired confidence.
The tone was set with what longtime Liberal strategist Peter Donolo called outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “panicked — and degrading — pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago.”
The government’s $1.3 billion in border measures — including “an aerial intelligence task force with more helicopters and drones” and a “North American joint strike force” to fight organized crime — are, in a sense, even worse: answers to problems that exist only in Trump’s fevered imagination.
As Canadian officials certainly know, Trump’s unhinged portrayals of illegal migration (up in recent years but far below the levels seen at the U.S.-Mexico border) and fentanyl imports (less than 20 kilograms of fentanyl in 2023 intercepted by the United States at its northern border) are ridiculous.
Trump’s actual problem is reportedly the U.S. trade deficit with Canada (also a manufactured problem that’s actually a sign of American economic strength).
These border policies are troublesome on their own. But........
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