There were several silver linings to the clouds this week.
When the Going Gets Tough…
…Canadians band together. All sorts of news stories about “buy Canadian” moves. Canada is planning to fight in any way we can, and we’re letting Americans know it. Trumps move to postpone the tariffs had a lot to do with US industry push-back. They deserve consideration. They bought him the White House, after all.
Secondary Effect
The only conclusion we can draw is that Canada is not broken. This puts a certain Conservative politician in a bind because one of the legs just got pulled out from under his demagoguery.
Trudeau Steps Up
Being the man with nothing to lose has its advantages. Trudeau has dealt with Trump before. So has Freeland. When real trouble shows up, people start looking a bit closer at political rhetoric, and check people’s record for evidence, something the Liberals have been unsuccessfully advocating for months. It’s hard to be an Opposition leader during troubled times. Attacks on the government can be seen as disloyal.
The ”Hate Trudeau” Movement
The problem with basing your party’s political platform on the reputation of its leader is a double edged sword. For the party, when he goes out of favour he drags them down as well. However, it’s also a problem for the opposition, because when he quits, their lack of any other planning shows up. And when he goes on the media and starts sounding prime ministerial again, they’re really in trouble. As a result, the Liberals are climbing out of the tank and the Conservatives have plateaued.
Whoda thunk, hey?
Fentanyl
For the record, Canada’s contribution to illegal fentanyl imports to the USA is in the 2% range. “Facts” that play just fine to Trump’s base don’t stand up to the light of reality.
My Story of the Week
Polls have recently shown that Albertans aren’t buying Danielle Smith’s selfish ‘our oil profits above all’ policy. They think oil should be a bargaining chip just like everything else.
The Bottom Line
Okay, its nothing to write home about, but for the depths of winter, it was a pretty upbeat week.
P.S. How the Stock Market Works
Trump lays on a tariff. Stock market dips. Trump rescinds the tariff. Stock market rises. The real winners are the ones who know what he is going to do so they can buy and sell appropriately. I.e. his friends. Tesla stock jumped 3% on the day Trump postponed the tariff. That’s $24 billion. Elon Musk owns 13% of Tesla. He made over 3 billion dollars on Tesla alone that day. A nice job if you can get it.