For some time now, a number of Canadian governments appear to have been pursuing a policy of cutting off Canada’s nose to spite our face. This old expression refers to a self-destructive act of revenge that ends up harming yourself more than the person you are trying to punish. This has certainly been true with our policies related to trade with our largest and most valuable trading partner, the U.S. From the juvenile “elbows up” refrain during the April federal election to the silly claim made by Prime Minister Mark Carney that President Donald Trump wanted to “break us, so that America can own us,” the Canadian government response to U.S. trade actions has been unhelpful at best, damaging at worst.
The latest salvo in this continuing saga is Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s running an insulting and possibly inaccurate ad campaign during World Series baseball games using old quotes from former U.S. president Ronald Reagan about opposing tariffs. This campaign was clearly designed to make a direct hit on Trump. Not surprisingly, Trump responded badly to this insult and said that trade negotiations with Canada were suspended indefinitely.
It was initially said that Carney knew nothing about this ad, but that is pretty hard to believe. Just a few days before the ad ran, Carney had dinner with Ford at his home. Carney and Ford have been very chummy over the past few months. Can anyone really believe that a major ad campaign like this, spending an immense $75 million of our tax dollars to run an ad in the U.S. during the World Series, was something that Ford would not tell Carney about? C’mon.
More recently, information has revealed that Carney was possibly aware of the Ontario government ad campaign. It may be that Carney is using Ford as his “bad cop” to Carney’s good cop. In this scenario, Carney can look like the reasonable, calm negotiator with the U.S. while Ford can look like the emotional politician that takes potshots at the U.S. at every turn. If this is true, it is a pretty dismal strategy for Canada.
The real question is how do Carney and Ford believe this approach will benefit Canada? We have already seen retaliatory tariffs imposed against the U.S. by Carney, only to damage Canadian businesses and employees. When Carney finally backed off these tariffs as their negative impact became more and more clear, the expectation was that Canadian officials would start to favour an approach of negotiation with their U.S. counterparts rather than confrontation. Having made this change, progress in the trade negotiations was made and there were rumours that a deal on important sectors such as steel, aluminum and energy resources was imminent.
Then, the ridiculous Ontario ads hit the public domain and all progress made to date was squandered. How can anyone believe that these ads were a helpful contribution to the ongoing trade negotiations? Ford stated that he believed the ads got the attention of U.S. officials, but that makes no sense. Even worse, other provinces such as Manitoba and BC have lauded Ford’s approach and B.C. Premier David Eby said he was thinking about running some similar ads from his province. All of these premiers seem to believe that playing fast and loose with taxpayer dollars to promote a position that doesn’t help Canada at all is going to be positive. They need to give their heads a shake.
There has been speculation for some time that a number of Canadian politicians don’t actually want to conclude a trade deal with the U.S. in the foreseeable future, as they believe it works in favour of their partisan political interests to keep the U.S. administration as the enemy. Unfortunately, a number of Canadians have bought into this foolishness.
The bottom line is that this posturing by Canadian politicians is hurting the Canadian economy and Canadians in general. Not reaching a deal with our most important trading partner because that satisfies their partisan political goals is an appalling stance that betrays the Canadian electorate. Because of the ridiculous Ontario ads, trade negotiations with the U.S. are now stalled for the foreseeable future. Canadian politicians need to realize that their job is to serve Canadians, not thump their chests to benefit their own political goals. We are truly cutting off our nose to spite our face. Never a winning strategy.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
