Donald Trump is bashing our country with tariff after tariff, and the most serious being the 25 per cent on our automobiles and parts going to the USA. All this is very serious indeed, but the Against the Flow blog today is looking to give readers some peace and comfort with the coming of spring and the awakening natural world after a long, tough winter.

There is no surer sign of spring than the return of our fine feathered friends. Of no bird is more visible and heart warming than the reappearance of the Red-Breasted Robin. The early spring snowfall which farmers see as “fertilizer” for their crops, has not deterred the robins. For the most part, the frost is no longer in the ground, so these birds can dig their beaks into the soil to find their favoured food, earthworms.

After a long, old-fashioned winter, cold with plenty of snow, nothing is more cheering than seeing the robins spreading over the fields and indulging themselves in their special way.

Other birds that fly up from the south in springtime are the beautiful and diverse members of the warbler clan. In a little more than a month they should begin arriving. They range from the beautiful Magnolia, with black and yellow stripes, to the handsome blue and yellow Parula, to the patriotic Red Start. The warblers are a bird-watcher’s dream come true.

It looks very much like Mark Carney will be visiting Governor-General Mary Simon this Sunday to call an election for April 28 or May 5.

The CBC reports that its Poll Tracker (with an amalgam of several polling firm numbers) shows that Carney and the Liberals have moved slightly ahead of Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives, 37.7 per cent to 37.4 per cent.

The Against the Flow blog is not in the habit of breaking news stories, but what the heck, this could be the most important election in history for Canada, with U.S. President Donald Trump disrespecting our sovereignty and attempting to use tariffs to take over our country.

The new Liberal Prime Minister Carney has been steady on his feet in his first week since becoming Canada’s Prime Minister. Opinion polls show support for his Liberals has risen 17.6 per cent in a matter of days. Carney was wise in his first week to travel to Great Britain and France to meet with allies, rather than going to Washington DC to talk with Donald Trump before the U.S. President shows “respect” for Canada.

Things are looking up for Canada.

Canadians are more united and patriotic than at any moment in our history.

The country’s first ministers have made it plain that they are prepared to fight back against Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The new leader of the federal Liberal Party, Mark Carney, to be sworn in Friday as the next Prime Minister, won his party’s election with a landslide victory last Sunday.

Carney took 86 per cent of the Liberal Party votes, compared to just eight per cent for his nearest rival, Chrystia Freeland, three per cent for Karina Gould and three for Frank Baylis.

The strength of Carney’s win gave him room to manoeuvre in the choice of his cabinet which is to be announced on Friday. The new cabinet is expected to be much smaller than the over-sized last cabinet (39) of Justin Trudeau. Carney’s cabinet will reflect war footing with about 20 ministers to battle Trump and his tariffs.

Freeland has already occupied all the senior portfolios in the Trudeau governments, foreign affairs, finance minister and deputy prime minister. She is unlikely to receive any of these this time; however, an ambassadorship to a country such as Ukraine, where she is highly respected due to her advocacy for Ukraine and against Russia’s Vladimir Putin, when working as a journalist there earlier in her life.

As Canada nears the day when she renews her national leadership, followed by a federal election, U.S. President Donald Trump demonstrated on Tuesday his true character with his disturbing congressional address.

Trump wanted to give the impression he is a man of steel. Certainly, his well-choreographed speech showed that he is no slouch. Yet, by week’s end his “Mr. Disturber” approach to his imposition of tariffs began to melt.

On Thursday, he put off all tariffs against Canada and Mexico for a month. He backed off, not out of the goodness of his heart, but because the American stock market, something he watches very carefully, has tanked. We should not underestimate Trump, but in portraying himself as a man of steel, he has shown Canada and the world that he is a bully.

Like all bullies, he is a coward.
 
This week at the Capitol, Trump was like a puppet master introducing hard luck individuals in the galleries, his voice dripping with emotion. Trump preyed on the tough circumstances of these folks to bring credit to himself. All the while, he surrounded himself with billionaires he calls his friends, many of whom he appointed as members of his cabinet.