Canada is currently facing the potentially worst economic crisis we have encountered in decades. Many Canadians, including some of our political leaders, have chosen to respond to the threats U.S. President Donald Trump has made by a revival of an odd version of patriotism which involves such juvenile acts as booing the U.S. national anthem at hockey games, signing a futile petition to remove Elon Musk’s Canadian citizenship and taking U.S. products off the shelves at liquor stores.
It’s understandable that many Canadians want to blame Trump, but it would be more accurate to direct our ire at the federal Liberal government for their horrendous policies of the last nine-plus years which have severely weakened our economy and increased our vulnerability to attacks by Trump or anyone else. All of Trump’s main targets in Canada – weak borders, chaotic immigration, lax drug policies and neglect of our military – were deliberate policy choices that should never have been pursued in the first place. Having created the problem, the Liberals are now trying to politically capitalize on Canada’s misfortune by whipping up jingoistic anti-American sentiment. Don’t fall for it, Canadians.
Fixing these issues is in Canada’s interest, Trump or no Trump. That should be the focus of our federal government right now, not pausing the business of government to permit a navel-gazing Liberal leadership contest. Now that the contest (coronation?) is finally over, the federal government should waste no time on more silly actions that might feel good in the short term but accomplish nothing and do some substantive negotiating with Trump and his colleagues. An ongoing spitting contest helps no one, and Canada will get the worst of it.
Unfortunately, the new Liberal leader and prime minister, Mark Carney, seems prepared to continue most if not all of the same Liberal policies that have failed so badly in the past, despite his attempts to claim he represents change. It is therefore difficult to see a sensible resolution of Canada-U.S. disputes under a Carney government. There is no doubt that personal animosity has played a part in the Canada-U.S. conflict, as Trudeau and his cronies’ regular ridiculing of Trump personally for the last few years has come home to roost. That any political leader would do anything so immature and foolish to such a key ally defies belief, no matter what their personal opinion might be.
From a business perspective, there are several priorities that should be acted on immediately to strengthen our economy. These include a return to historical levels of immigration, cleaning up the border, reducing taxes on individuals and businesses, downsizing government to permit productive private sector growth, streamlining the regulatory red tape monster that is discouraging investment and ruining our ability to undertake major projects, reforming trade irritants such as our supply management regime in dairy and poultry, increasing investment in our military and ending the current approach of blocking the development of our natural resource wealth.
Most of these changes will take considerable time to accomplish, but some things can be done quickly. An obvious target for fast action is the carbon tax. It appears that the federal Liberals plan to once again hike the carbon tax in just a few weeks on April 1, this time by almost 20 per cent to $95 per tonne. Instead of punishing Canadians yet again with a tax that is massively flawed and accomplishes little, eliminating the tax completely on consumers and the industrial carbon tax on businesses would go a long way toward blunting the negative impacts of the threatened tariffs on Canada and improve business competitiveness. The same goes for excessive personal and business taxes, which are destined to become even more economically damaging if Trump follows through with his stated plans to reduce U.S. taxes.
It is rumoured that Carney will get rid of the ill-advised increase in the capital gains tax, despite Liberal insistence just a few short months ago that that this change was absolutely needed. Carney should also jettison the planned emissions cap on the oil and gas industry, although this is unlikely as it would be a complete abdication of his leading role in recent years to promote a “net zero” emissions economy globally.
Instead of Canada getting cheap but short-lived thrills out of trying to kick sand in the face of the U.S. bully from a position of weakness, how about a strategy to strengthen Canada for the long term? The route taken by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and some other Canadian business representatives, involving selling Canada’s importance to a wide array of U.S. politicians and businesses based on hard facts, experience and the many valuable, positive elements of our long, successful relationship is bearing fruit. A number of senior U.S. officials close to the Oval Office are beginning to push back in Canada’s defence, once the facts are made clear about how much the U.S. has to lose from tariffs on Canadian products and other measures being imposed by Trump.
The current environment of tariffs on one day and off the next creates terrible uncertainty and hurts both countries. Whatever Trump does, Canada making progress on these key issues will be hugely beneficial to Canada for decades to come. That will, however, require a virtual complete reversal of the policies the Liberals have pursued over their entire tenure to date, something highly unlikely to happen under a Liberal government, even with the newly minted leader. Don’t take the bait, Canadians. To follow the course needed to put Canada back on a positive, prosperous trajectory, a change in government will be essential.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
