​Canadians now have every reason to be confident about the future of the country

  Canadian Press photo

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.

 An appointment such as this would prevent her from being disgraced, even though she has declared her support for Carney after the vote was announced. However, she made a cheeky offer during the leadership campaign when she said she would offer Carney the job of Finance Minister if she were elected leader. In politics, this was a political mistake and a “no, no”.

As for Karina Gould, she is well liked and has appeal with young voters, as well as those who like her support for popular Liberal social initiatives such as universal $10 daycare. She ought to be invited back into the cabinet, perhaps in a social portfolio.

Now back to the tariff war. Carney offers a solid, serious, and no-nonsense approach to dealing with Trump. The U.S. President appears to place a lot of emphasis in his dealings on whether he likes or dislikes a person.

Trump did not like either Justin Trudeau or Freeland, beginning with his first term in office. Carney will not leave many edges exposed to Trump.

The Toronto Globe and Mail reported Thursday that Prime Minister Carney’s first trip outside the country next week will be to Europe, with meetings in France and London. This will be good news for those pushing for new markets for Canadian goods in the face of American tariffs.

Besides the recent crash in the stock market, nothing has shocked Trump more than Premier Doug Ford’s imposition of a surcharge on the electric power exports to three northern states. After an intervention by Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, Ford walked back the surcharge.

Nonetheless, Ford’s action made Trump realize that Canada is not a pushover and has means which are frightening to Trump and show him there is a price to pay for his insulting threat to make Canada the 51st U.S. state. Canada’s stalwart Finance Minister, Dominic LeBlanc was to travel Thursday with Ford to hold more talks on energy exports.

Ministers such as New Brunswicker, LeBlanc, have done well in their jobs since Justin Trudeau decided to step down. Others who have impressed include Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. Both have provided strong Quebec support for Carney, and they are virtually certain to remain in senior roles in the new Cabinet.  Leblanc has been a cabinet workhorse and appears indispensable at this point.

The tariff war has already begun to sour for Trump. Democrats have begun to come out against Trump’s tariffs. And more importantly there is finally a chink in Trump’s MAGA armour with the first Republican law- maker calling for Trump to mend his ways.

Don Bacon, a plain-speaking Nebraskan Republican representative in the U.S. Congress has spoken up on behalf of “two centuries of friendship” between Canada and the United States.

Avowing old-fashioned Christian values such as the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", Bacon said in a CBC television interview on Monday: “I’d rather not lose my soul” than support the unneighborly stance of Donald Trump.

In a nation that respects military service, Bacon has solid credentials. He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Brigadier-General.

Trump’s favorite gauge of public support is the stock market. With Wall Street tanking recently, there is increasing talk of a recession looming in the USA as well as in Canada. 

Nonetheless, with the Bank of Canada’s drop in its key lending rate to 2.75 per cent, young families struggling to own their own home may feel encouraged. Current mortgage holders with variable interest rates will also be pleased.

In New Brunswick there is continued good news on gas prices, with a 2 cent per litre drop in gasoline expected Thursday.

Trump has not given yet on this tariff gambit, as his most recent levies on steel and aluminium attest.
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But as the clouds gather over Trump’s foolhardy enterprise, an eminent New Brunswick businessperson, who we shall not name here, said very recently, that Trump’s folly is going to implode very soon. Hear, Hear!