The Road Ahead for America and Canada
When Justin Trudeau was first elected prime minister of Canada in 2015, it was partly because of the sort of empty bombast that had helped get Barak Obama first elected president in 2008. Obama had promised “Hope and Change” while Trudeau promised “Sunny Ways.” By the time Trudeau was first elected, America had already soured on Obama, among other things because of his abysmal economic management, his divisive rhetoric, and his stoking of racism.
Trudeau’s predecessor, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, had no such baggage. Under his leadership, Canada weathered the subprime meltdown crisis better than any other country in the G7 group of nations. Moreover, during Harper’s entire time in office, Canada continued on its longstanding trajectory of racial harmony and sensible immigration policies.
Tragically, Trudeau has done to Canada what Obama and later Biden did to America: He has acted as a wrecking ball to both Canada’s economy and civic culture. Unfortunately, Canadians never got the memo about the destructiveness of the Obama administration, largely because Canada’s mainstream media is as ideologically leftward biased as its American counterpart — perhaps even more so because Canada’s mainstream media has been subsidized by the Trudeau regime.
The leader of the pack is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). When I was a college student, I worked for a couple of summers as a copy clerk in the national TV newsroom of the CBC. Back then it tried very hard to report the news objectively and hold the government to account. I no longer recognize it due to what it has become today.
Following the futile skirmishes of the War of 1812 — a war which essentially was really between the United States and England — America and Canada have long had very good relations. During World War II, when Canada punched above its weight, this relationship was cemented and continued during the Korean War. Before his death, my late father-in-law was summoned to Washington and honored for his service during the Korean War by his American comrades-in-arms.
The U.S.–Canada relationship has had its touchy moments over the years, most notably the dispute about the softwood lumber trade, but these things are normal in the course of long-term relations, even between friendly nations. However, it was seriously damaged during Trump’s first term by Trudeau’s stupidity and recklessness and this may have left a bad taste in Trump’s mouth. Trade and immigration were the main sticking points between the U.S. and Canada during Trump’s first term and continue to be so today.
In 2017, when Trump instituted a travel ban from several foreign nations for national security reasons — dubbed a “Muslim travel ban” by his critics, although it was not restricted to Muslim nations — Trudeau jumped on his high horse and proclaimed that Muslims were most welcome to come to Canada. This resulted in a flood of immigrants from Muslim countries to Canada and would have had no effect on America except for the fact there was consequently a southward flow from Canada to the U.S. As is well known, border security is presently a huge issue in America and Tom Homan, who Trump has nominated as border security czar, has maintained that some of the migrants who are trying to enter the United States from Canada are on the U.S. terror watchlist.
On Nov. 26, Trump announced that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on both Mexico and Canada if they didn’t staunch the flow of illegal immigrants across both borders. In response, Mexico quickly announced that it would stop all caravans headed northward. Trudeau and Trump had a two-hour talk after Trump’s announcement during which Canada’s prime minister also promised to help secure America’s northern border.
It must be remembered that immigration is almost as much of an issue in Canada as it is in the U.S. and the vast majority of Canadians despise Trudeau for his lax immigration policies which have put a huge burden on housing and social services. Trudeau will do his best because he has to, but Canadians are looking to the Conservatives to do the heavy lifting after they come to power in the upcoming federal election. It won’t be easy any more than it will be easy for America, but it is a job that can and will be done.
There is no indication that the president-elect is intent on bludgeoning America’s northern neighbor. Pete Hoekstra, who Trump has nominated as his ambassador to Canada, is a former Republican congressman from the state of Michigan and was also the former ambassador to the Netherlands during Trump’s first term. This is a classic appointment since Hoekstra, coming from a border state, ostensibly understands Canada better than many other American politicians. An even more positive indication of Trump’s goodwill is that there have been hints from his transition team that early on he intends to allow the completion of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S. which will be of great mutual benefit to both countries.
Leading up to the next federal election, the mainstream media in Canada have already started demonizing Pierre Poilievre. Because the Trudeau regime cannot run on its dismal record, they have taken a similar tack to that taken by the American mainstream media before the American election. Laughably but predictably, they have been saying that the Conservative leader is even worse than Donald Trump — implying, of course, that he’s worse than Hitler — but underlying this smear is the fact that he is harder to demonize because he does not have Trump’s warts. No mean tweets to grouse about — what a pity!
The same political currents that turned the American electorate so decisively away from the Democrats and towards the Republicans have also turned the Canadian electorate away from the Trudeau Liberal regime and towards the Canadian Conservatives under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre. I might be wrong, but I imagine that Pierre Poilievre and Donald Trump will get on famously, even more so than Brian Mulroney and Ronald Regan during their historic Shamrock Summit.
After he wins the election, Poilievre can lay the groundwork by pledging to commit Canada to meeting its defense spending commitment in the NATO alliance, as Trump has long urged. This would be to the benefit of both nations because, under the Trudeau regime, the military has been sorely neglected and it’s high time Canada stopped being a freeloader (as are most European nations). Meeting its NATO commitment would show Canada’s goodwill towards America in the alliance while bringing its military up to snuff.
Under the Trudeau regime during Trump’s first term, Canada and the U.S. may have been working at cross purposes but that will not be the case after Canada has elected a Conservative government and, as these things go in Canada, the Conservative government is bound to be in power for a long time. The excitement and enthusiasm about Trump’s win is understandable and it is shared by a great number of Canadians. However, as we all know, it’s easier to break things than to fix them. In the meantime, it would be best not to start a trade war as it would hurt both countries because America could use Canada’s oil just as much as Canada would like to sell it.
READ MORE from Max Dublin:
Chabad Fulfills Its Mission, the UN Does Not
Has Canada’s Taxman Been Weaponized?
Healthcare in Canada Wasn’t Always This Way
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