​Canadians greet Mr. Disturber With their elbows held way up

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.

To “drain the swamp” of Washington DC, he claimed that dead people (or their families), between the ages of 100 and 360 years old were still collecting Social Security cheques. The respected Associated Press news organization has fact-checked Trump’s statistics and finds that while some people’s names may appear on an out-dated government database, no Social Security payments have been made to them.

Trump’s intent in using the statistics is certainly to undermine U.S. Social Security system which, after all, is much less generous than Canada’s comparable system.

 As the redoubtable Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders argues, Trump “is creating a parallel universe for himself…a set of ideas that either have no basis in reality to the great scheme of things…are nowhere near the most important concerns of the American people.”

There were many ironies in Trump’s speech. In one blatant example He vowed to impose the death penalty for any person convicted of killing a police officer. Yet, Trump has issued pardons to most of the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters on Capitol Hill, and five peace officers died in defending the home of American democracy.

Now, Canadians have business to address: the leadership of the country, and the approaching federal election.

With the Liberal leadership convention looming this Sunday, March 9, Mark Carney, economist and former Bank of Canada Governor, is the clear front runner, with the most caucus and cabinet support.
 
Carney points to the fact that he was born in the Northwest Territories and grew up in Alberta. Despite his perceived lack of fluency in French, he has the backing of key Quebec ministers, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
 
Despite Carney’s obvious strength in economics and banking, he has stumbled in speaking plainly about his personal financial holdings. He also lacks experience in the cut and thrust of politics and the need to have a thick skin in a “take no prisoners” environment.

Carney is haunted by the political ghost of Michael Ignatieff, the former Liberal Leader with strong academic credentials who never gained great success in the political realm.
 
Yet, Carney’s sober, and steady approach contrasts well with the more emotional stance of both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland.
 
Likely standing in second place in the leadership race, Ms. Freeland broke publicly with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last fall. As she was the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, she still bears the stigma of the Trudeau years, despite her sharp break from Trudeau.
 
Her greatest advantage is in having handled trade negotiations for the Liberal government during Donald Trump’s first term in office. She is proud that she gets under Trump’s skin, and he does not like her. It remains to be seen whether the animosity between her and Trump will stand her in good stead if she wins the Liberal Leadership.
 
Freeland is a former journalist, has been a long-term ally of Ukraine and was ousted from Russia under by Vladimir Putin. Like Carney, she has an important Alberta connection. She has a strong farm heritage, having grown up in the Peace River country of Alberta.
 
Interestingly, Freeland, has the support of many members of the Irving family in New Brunswick, perhaps because of her strong role in the trade talks during the first Trump regime.
 
At age 37, the Oxford-educated Karina Gould also makes a strong contribution to the race. Although she is likely in third place, she would bring youthful energy and vigor to the party leadership. She is the proud mother of two children, both of whom she gave birth to during her time as a member of the House of Commons. Gould served effectively as Government House Leader, including jousting successfully in the House of Commons with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
 
Gould cheerfully backs the social side of the Liberal record, such as the popular national childcare program.
 
She is thoroughly bilingual and speaks a fluent “Quebecois” French. She has also shown she is not afraid to spar with frontrunner Carney, saying the Liberals will not win by being “Conservatives lite.”
 
In fourth place is Frank Baylis, engineer, successful entrepreneur, and a former Liberal MP for the Montreal riding of Pierrefonds-Dollard. He is the founder and CEO of the firm, Baylis Medical Technologies, and has a strong record of promoting diversity and civil rights.
 
As the Liberals close in on their leadership convention, there is a great uneasiness in the country. Trump’s disrespect for Canada and its sovereignty has prompted an unprecedented unity and patriotism in the nation. There is great apprehension about the economic impact of the tariffs and worry about incomes and jobs, but the response of Canadians is increasingly one of anger. An elbows-up mentality exists in the fine country of Canada. Bravo.