Donald Trump promises 25 per cent tariff on products from Canada, Mexico

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NAFTA hasn’t existed for years.

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On the one hand this is threatening and scary. On the other hand, this is Trump’s way of declaring opening position on a new trade agreement. He’s scrapping the old one he made.

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On the other hand, I’d love to see a short trade war, because it hits Trump-loving provinces the hardest. Let leopards eat their faces.

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I wish the other problems facing citizens of Canada… Federal government

Day to day problems are rarely handled by the federal government.

You’d need to ask your provincial and municipal governments why they aren’t moving with urgency to help Canadians.

While you’re at it, ask Doug Ford why he hates the people of Ontario.

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I’m not sure I understand your point. I’m talking about things like housing and affordability, which affect people across the country. These things could be handled more proactively on the federal level, and with coordination between GoC and the provinces. A $250 cheque and a gst holiday in advance of an election is bread and circuses. There are real issues that the nation is far behind on. The current government has done a bad job with these. They’ve lacked the ability or will to even identify housing and affordability as matters for intervention.

Sorry, I just can’t agree with anyone who thinks the current federal government has done all they could do to address these issues. The whole notion of “that’s not the job of the federal government”, it’s mealymouthed, and I don’t think it’s an acceptable position.

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I think it’s cruel to wish ill fate on a fellow Canadian. Please consider that no province in this country, from east to west, is a monoculture, politically speaking. I say this as an Albertan.

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Bang on. They’re all culpable and doing nothing to address the underlying problem because they all know the solution bites the hand that feeds them (those with money).

As a good example we all witnessed over the last year + constant initiatives by all governments to free up capital to ease the building of housing. Outside of the government what private company is going to not want to maximize their profit when building housing? Rental units and low income housing will never be prioritized. Hell starter homes will never be prioritized there’s no money in them.

Every opportunity for any level of government that is flush with land to say “we will build housing” like they did decades ago. Of course that would require real leadership and we all know that’s not what is on the menu in politics anymore.

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Which provinces do you think would not get hurt by this, or even not as much? BC is the only one that might get away okay that I can think of, and I’m not even sure about that.

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This one’s pretty damn existential. Man, you thought inflation was bad before…

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Honestly there’s easier ways to use politics for money, if that’s actually their conscious goal.

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Under CUSMA it’s not. Not even remotely. Ask if he cares.

What are you gonna do, call the Earth police?

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CUSMA is basically NAFTA 2.0, though, so that’s not the most helpful reply.

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Seriously, we should be getting in with them really hard right now. It’s the only hope if we want to stay relevant as a sovereign nation in any way.

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Yeah, the next test is how he responds to all the Americans begging him for a carve-out at the very least. He could tell them to pound sand, or completely reverse course. Both seem about as likely.

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I’m talking about things like housing and affordability, which affect people across the country.

Housing is not the responsibility of the federal government. Any support they offer would need to be handled by Provincial leadership and municipalities.

As for “affordability”… that’s a very broad term. Are you referring to anything in particular?

The issue with blaming the feds, is that the feds can only do as much as the other governments (provincial and municipal) are willing to do.

In Ontario, for example, we have a crisis in education, healthcare, public safety, poverty, and crime.

These are issues that affect nearly all Ontarians on a daily basis, yet our government wants to waste money, and people want to blame Trudeau.

Our Provincial Government should be primarily focused on those concerns, but they’d rather misspend tens of millions to remove safe cycling infrastructure from the City of Toronto.

And you should also keep in mind that we have a minority Federal Government, so other parties, including those known to NOT CARE about people, are creating consistent roadblocks to progress in areas where the Feds have influence.

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Trust me, I know EVERYONE will get hurt by a trade war because each province trade with the US more than with each other. But one in particular will be brought to its knees.

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Ontario?

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Oh this isn’t ill will. It’s good for them. Some lessons are hard. Hopefully Trump will give them some self-realization that they are not American but Trump’s enemies.

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Oil and gas products were the single biggest export item to the US at US$128.5b in 2023. The next biggest category was vehicles at US$58b.

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Oil can, at some additional price, be redirected, though. A specific part for an American automobile, on the other hand…

Then again, Ontario is just as conservative lately, and has always been more American, so if it’s revenge against the right you’re after maybe that works.