Who knew that Canada would turn into an outpost of Trump Derangement Syndrome? I don’t know why, but it is that way. I guess beating up on Trump is easier than explaining to Canadians why their country keeps falling.
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The problem is that PM Mark Carney is “firing blanks” in a war:
In the immediate wake of the breakdown in negotiations between Canada and the U.S. on tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would respond with dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs against the U.S. and increase government support for Canadian businesses.
He said he would announce the details of these programs by Sept. 8, but the reality is there are serious problems with both of them.
The first is that going toe-to-toe against an American economy that is 13 times the size of ours for any extended period of time is unrealistic and would be a financial disaster for Canada.
That’s why Carney was already backing away from dollar-to-dollar retaliatory tariffs on Monday, saying Canada may pursue targeted tariffs instead.
That’s smarter but there’s a legitimate argument that any new counter-tariffs on U.S. goods will backfire because the people who will be paying for them with a higher cost of living are Canadians, not Americans.
Yes, the big loser here is Canada, and that’s why it’s hard to understand why PM Carney has crossed this line. Doesn’t he understand what a mess this hatred of Trump is creating for Canadians?
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The problem is that Canada has been in decline for a while. It did not start with the first and second election of “The Orange Man.” A few months ago, a Canadian sent me this article from The Financial Post:
Canada’s economy has been trailing behind the United States for years, according to a report from Statistics Canada published on Wednesday, and oil prices and immigration are some of the factors to blame.
The agency highlighted three key measures of economic performance — labour productivity, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and real gross national income (GNI) per capita — and how they stand in Canada compared with the U.S.
Canada’s economic woes (or misplaced priorities) are also clear from the fact that, for decades, Canada failed to meet its contributions to NATO. Indeed, 2025-2026 is the first time it’s met its 2% benchmark. It speaks loudly, but has long been too fiscally dysfunctional to pay for even a little stick.
So, what would a smart PM do? He’d sit down with President Trump and cut economic deals, as the EU, Japan and South Korea did. Second, he would call on Canada to drill baby drill and use energy to expand their prosperity.
Again, what’s PM Carney doing here? The only explanation is that PM Carney is playing on this irrational hatred of Trump consuming Canada. The good news is that PM Carney looks “tough”, whatever that means. The bad news is that the Trump presidency will end in 2029, but the Canadian economy will still be around and continue declining.
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It’s insane, but Trump Derangement Syndrome will do this to people.
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