In the six months since Prime Minister Mark Carney won a minority government, his campaign slogan of “Elbows Up” has become a punch line with each new non-response to the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In the wake of auto makerStellantis throwing 3,000 Canadian jobs into doubtby moving production of its Jeep Compass from its plant in Brampton to Illinois because of Trump’s tariffs, Carney said it’s thewrong time to retaliate, despite Ontario PremierDoug Ford urging him to do so.
The PM said the reason is that Canada is currently engaged in “deep” and “intensive” negotiations with the U.S. seeking relief from Trump’s sectoral tariffs on energy, aluminum and steel.
We agree with Carney’s position that imposing counter-tariffs on U.S. goods simply raises their cost to Canadians.
But it also means that despite the “Elbows Up’ rhetoric Carney employed during the election – made famous by his ad with comedian Mike Myers, comparing the trade war to a hockey game – he has sat on the bench while Trump has cross-checked us into the boards over and over again.
With every new hit, Carney has responded with concessions to Trump, including toughening border security, meeting our NATO target of spending 2% of GDP on defence, scraping the digital services tax and dropping counter-tariffs on many U.S. goods.
While many of these concessions are good things in and of themselves, they haven’t produced any tangible results in the trade war – other than Trump praising Carney as a great prime minister.
This has also eroded Carney’s efforts to keep the premiers united in responding to the trade war.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called B.C. Premier David Eby’s opposition to a new oil pipeline “un-Canadian and unconstitutional.”
Ford says there’s “no damn way” Carney should heed calls by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to accept China’s offer to drop its 100% tariff on Canadian canola oil, in return for Ottawa eliminating its 100% tariff on Chinese-made EVs, arguing it would devastate Ontario’s auto sector.
All we can hope for is that whatever the Carney government is agreeing to with U.S. negotiators behind closed doors, it will lead to a deal Canadians can live with.
