A Stay of Execution -- For Now

Trudeau appealing to Americans about why tariffs are bad

After all the anxiety in the past few weeks and days, Canada got a "stay of execution", as Trump decided to give us 30 days extra before deciding if he will go ahead with the 25 percent tariff -- or not.

This morning Vancouver time, he spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau twice; after the first time, Mexico got a 30-day reprieve which put pressure on Canada to get the same deal.

While there was a collective sigh of relief heard across the country, the threat still looms and Canadians are angry because Trump is acting like a bully to get what he wants.

Trudeau promised to appoint a fentanyl "czar", to list Mexican cartels as terrorists, and kicking in more money on top of the C$200 million to secure the border. 

"Less than one percent of fentanyl seized in the US is traced to Canada -- that's one percent too much," said Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc yesterday.

"We have exactly the same views as the American government in terms of the importance of this. We're not the significant source of the challenge but we want to be very much part of a joint solution. We're prepared to step up and do more," he said.

But is it our fault there is a demand for fentanyl in the US? 

Later Trump claimed US banks couldn't get into the Canadian market. However the reality is that American banks already do business in Canada with large lending and commercial and investment banking operations.

According to the Canadian Bankers Association, there are 16 US-based bank subsidiaries and branches in Canada holding about C$113 billion in assets.

Despite all the mis or dis information Trump is ranting, he is still keen on making Canada the 51st state to the ire of Canadians.

Over the weekend during hockey games, Canadian fans booed while the Star Spangled Banner was being sung, and now people are spending more time in supermarkets and grocery stores reading labels to buy Canadian.

A product that is "Made in Canada" means at least 51 percent of the products used to make something are Canadian, whereas "Product of Canada" means 98 percent of the ingredients are Canadian.

In the meantime Canadian politicians need to be prepared for plans A, B, C, D and so on to hit back against Trump's (mostly baseless) claims. He's playing to a domestic audience that he thinks knows nothing about Canada.

It's quite amazing that Trump has forced us to rally together and be more patriotic than ever. And if we can break down provincial barriers that would be even better.