At a time when Canada’s economy is in crisis, leadership demands that the prime minister take charge.
But Canadians looking for leadership from Ottawa in dealing with the Trump administration’s barrage of tariffs have been left wanting.
Since day one of the trade war, Canada’s premiers have arm wrestled over how to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith started the process largely isolated among Canada’s first ministers, advocating for more dialogue with the Trump administration and a more calculated response to Trump’s tariffs instead of an aggressive response.
On the other side of the debate, Ontario Premier Doug Ford wanted to hit back hard and fast, repeatedly saying the only way to deal with a bully was to adopt his tactics.
Since day one, premiers freelanced. Smith went to Mar-a-Lago. And Ford threatened to cut off energy to several northern U.S. states.
Ford’s bombastic approach culminated in his decision to air an advertisement with spliced clips of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan talking about the dangers of tariffs in prime time on American airwaves.
This angered Trump so much that he says he will increase tariffs on Canadian goods entering the United States not exempt from the CUSMA from 35 per cent to 45 per cent, one of the highest tariff rates imposed by the U.S. on any country in the world.
As a cherry on top, the Trump administration also cut off trade negotiations with the federal government, in the midst of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s attempt to negotiate sectoral tariff relief for some of Canada’s hardest-hit industries.
Trump called Ford’s ad “fraudulent,” leading him to declare that he was “terminating all trade negotiations” with Canada.
Ford agreed to pull the ad at Carney’s request, but the damage appears to have been done. What seemed like months of trade negotiations that were on the verge – reportedly – of some kind of breakthrough seem to have been for naught. All because Trump was angered by a $75-million advertisement Ford decided to put Ontario taxpayers on the hook for.
What this all demonstrates is that Canada has a vacuum of leadership in Ottawa. And it’s never been more apparent that the Carney has failed to rise to the occasion than here.
No, Carney is not responsible for an ad aired by the Ford government (although Ford claims Carney’s office saw it). But Carney is responsible for the fact that there is such a lack of leadership coming out of Ottawa in terms of Canada’s response to the Trump administration that premiers like Ford are willing to freelance to the extent that they have. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, for instance, released his own video echoing Ford’s talking points after Trump’s visceral reaction to the Reagan ad. Meanwhile, more pragmatic premiers like Smith and Scott Moe were likely cursing behind closed doors.
A crisis demands leadership. And Carney’s leadership has been reminiscent of former U.S. president Barack Obama’s “leading from behind” approach to foreign affairs. The difference is, Carney is a national leader dealing with subnational premiers. Not a national leader allowing other national leaders to take the lead.
Leadership from behind simply doesn’t work in times like these, and particularly when the issues are of such high stakes. Carney’s approach of leadership from behind has emboldened premiers to adopt their own approaches to U.S. relations at a time when Canada needs to speak with one voice.
Carney has also chosen to allow his attention to be distracted at a time when it should be laser focused. He keeps talking about the need for Canada to diversify its trade, saying too many times to count that the old era of increasing integration with the United States is over.
Carney has therefore spent all kinds of time and energy seeking increased integration with Europe and new deals with countries in Asia.
That’s all well and fine, but the reality is that more than 75 per cent of Canada’s exports go to the United States. The old joke that when the United States sneezes, Canada gets a cold is still true. And a G7 economy like Canada’s cannot suddenly reorient away from the United States overnight.
Carney should be leading from the front. He should demand that the premiers fall in line to whatever his approach to Canada-U.S. relations is going to be. The premiers have a role, yes, but their input should be behind closed doors, not on American airwaves.
And Carney’s approach to the U.S. must also change. Diversification is important. But, right now, trade with the U.S. is more so. Enough with the cheap talk that Canada-U.S. relations have been irreparably damaged. Carney has gone to Europe three times as much as he has gone to Washington since becoming prime minister. That’s a problem.
It’s time to work with the Trump administration and address its concerns. Reorienting our economy will never happen overnight. And, given that, Carney can’t give up on a relationship with Trump, nor can he afford to allow premiers to freelance and blow up what may be quiet behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
The time for leadership from Ottawa is now. On foreign affairs, and particularly in dealing with Trump, Canada should speak with one voice. And that one voice should be looking for solutions and partnering with Washington, to get relief for Canadian businesses being run out of town by Trump’s sky-high tariffs.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
