If you have been keeping up with the news cycle, Justin Trudeau and Team Canada, Mark Carney, and Chrystia Freeland are all in agreement on a dollar-for-dollar retaliation if President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on Canadian goods in February. Canada’s GDP for 2023 was $2.3 trillion USD, around 70+% of our trade goes to the USA, and the US GDP was about $26 trillion. Signaling to Trump “You’re not so big; we have tariffs too” is not diplomacy but idiocy. Some in the Liberal Party should have sufficient intelligence to know that.The question then becomes: why are all these actors so keen on fighting with Trump. The obvious answer is that it plays well with Canadian voters, but a more intelligent plan could also appeal to the voters who may not have to suffer from a tariff war. Perhaps there is something more behind this.If Canada Axed the Tax, replaced the communist-inspired progressive tax, lowered or eliminated other personal taxes, lowered corporate taxes, and incentivized entrepreneurial startups and business expansion, and in so doing made the Trump tariffs irrelevant, would that not be better than a tariff war? Some of Canada’s premiers have come over to Premier Danielle Smith’s plans which use oil, gas extraction and mining to lead an economic expansion. All good ideas that should have been implemented fifteen years ago. So, what are the Liberals fighting for?Trudeau, Carney, Freeland, and Karina Gould, based on their past actions and statements, are all globalists. They are the promoters of multinational trade agreements called “Free Trade” but actually–managed trade, wherein a small elite group makes massive profits from knowing the right people, having insider information, and influence markets to their advantage at the cost of the middle class. They use multinational agreements that undercut workers in Canada and establish dispute boards that challenge national sovereignty. We have all read reports of the Canadian middle class being “hollowed out”. One of the cornerstones of the middle class has been homeownership, which now, for many Canadians, is beyond reach. More wealth is concentrated in the top 10% of Canadian earners, while the middle class has not kept up, according to Statistics Canada. These economic effects are the result of the UN and WEF globalist vision that has been made policy in Canada, as has mass immigration, which is causing chaos to our housing and healthcare industries. It is no coincidence that many countries are facing the same problems.This is what Trump is fighting, according to his speeches. His bedrock supporters are people who believe they have been paying the price for such agreements, watching their jobs being shipped overseas. Disputes within multinational agreements are extremely difficult to resolve because there are so many parties involved. Some reports try to label Trump as an isolationist. He is no isolationist; remember, he likes to make deals. He wants bilateral trade, and he wants to promote business growth in the USA; just like other national leaders trying to grow their business sectors. Having a clear understanding of this man and his vision for the USA and the world is crucial for developing a sound approach to negotiations.When you see the media taking up the fight banner, ask yourself: why poke the bear? Why not be smart and make Canada great enough that tariffs are water off a duck’s back? Who or what are they protecting by fighting? Statistics clearly show it is not the middle class.Trudeau, Carney, Freeland, and Gould, being globalists, are fighting to keep the system that provides them with power and wealth. All of them are millionaires. Not one of them has proposed expanding Canadian businesses by lowering taxes, shrinking government, or modernizing the Canadian economy. Canada, the accidental 51st state, will be the future. Here’s how it will happen if the Liberals don’t find a leader with a vision for the future instead of rebranding “tax and spend."Trump will make the changes to both the individual and business tax systems and move to a new globalization with a bilateral trade system using tariffs. First, Canadian businesses, services, and manufacturing, that can move to the US will. Second, the US military will have to protect the northern border as Canadians en masse, flee to the US to do the same work for significantly more money and fewer taxes. There could be a vote to join with the US, but Canada may be so empty Trump could just come here and plant a flag. The only people left in Canada will be those in isolated communities working in the resource sector and agriculture while being paid in US dollars. Statehood will be granted pro forma. Personally, I think King Charles is doing an excellent job, and the parliamentary system has several advantages over the presidential US–style system. Perhaps most Canadians are unaware of these advantages, and even if they are aware, it may not be sufficient, nor will having national healthcare to stop the exodus.Dr. A.W. Barber is the former Director of Asian Studies at the University of Calgary. He is internationally active and has wide-ranging interests.
