On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that Donald Trump was softening up Canada by attacking our economy ahead of an attempt to annex the country.
Let that sit for a moment.
Because it’s easy to miss the significance of the statement. We live in an era of exaggeration, and a moment of frenetic happenings. But the prime minister of Canada has said that the global hegemon is attacking this country economically in the hopes of later annexing it. To put it mildly, the stakes right now are high, and our leaders must rise to meet the challenges these stakes imply.
At least one premier understands the assignment. After Trudeau spoke, Ontario Premier Doug Ford held his own press conference in Toronto. “I want to inflict as much pain as we possibly can until we get to a deal,” Ford said.
He laid out a plan to hit the United States hard in response to Trump’s attack on Canada’s economy and sovereignty. You could write a book about Ford’s failures. Some people have. But his approach to dealing with the Trump regime is spot on.
Ford’s plan, at least the initial phases of it, includes support for federal retaliatory tariffs in what he called the “first round of retaliation.” The premier has directed the LCBO, the province’s monopolist wholesaler of alcohol and one of the largest purchasers of beer, wine, cider, and spirits in the world, to pull American booze off its retail store shelves and to halt sales to other retailers, including bars and restaurants. As Ford highlighted, that’s $1 billion worth of product a year from 35 states, dried up more or less overnight.
No single province can take on the Trump administration on its own, but Ontario is the most populous province in the country and home to the largest economy in Canada — and it’s got a government that fits its scale. Ford is banning U.S.-based companies from bidding on government procurement, which, he noted, is worth $30 billion a year all told, with the potential for another $200 billion upcoming as part of provincial infrastructure growth. That move will cost the Yankees tens of billions of dollars, Ford said, as he urged municipalities to do the same. Coupled with the LCBO directive and Ford’s cancellation of a $100 million contract with Trump-toady Elon Musk’s Starlink to provide rural internet access in the province, the lost revenues start to add up. You know what they say, a billion here, a billion there, and soon you’re talking about real money.
Bullies like Trump only understand the language of power. You can’t smile or handshake your way out of their attacks. You’ve got to sock them in the kisser. Ford says he’s “ready to escalate” his response, promising a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exported to the US — to millions of homes — if tariffs don’t come off right away. He’s also threatening to halt electricity imports all together in April if Trump ramps up tariffs even further, as promised.
If that’s not enough, Ford is considering, and urging other premiers to consider, taxes or export controls on critical minerals, which the U.S. desperately needs to build and maintain products that range from cell phones to fighter jets. He mentioned high-grade nickel, of which Ontario provides half of what the U.S. needs, and potash, which is essential for fertilizing crops. “Without potash down there,” Ford said, “they don’t have a farming system.” People who can’t afford to feed themselves? Well, that’s how you get revolutions. Ask the French.
We’re just in the early days of the tariff crisis. The other side of the retaliation coin is domestic support measures, which Ford has promised with efforts reminiscent of the pandemic, but the details of which he’s yet to specify. A comprehensive and just response will require rigorous support for individuals and businesses, especially for the poor or those otherwise struggling. In the past, Ford has failed on this front, so there’s reason to be nervous. But if he can build a support agenda to match his attack plan, then he’ll have done the province a great service indeed.
“The coming days and weeks will be hard,” Ford said on Tuesday. Yes, yes they will. These times will test our resolve. That resolve has been tested in the past, to mixed results. For instance, just think of the pandemic, during which we showed unity and solidarity, until we didn’t. But the coming days and weeks — or months, even years — can be made more bearable and given more purpose with aggressive, bold plans to hit back against Donald Trump and the U.S. while supporting Canadians and building an economy that is less reliant on an increasingly unreliable, and unhinged, global hegemon. To his immense credit, Doug Ford has taken a big step in that direction. Good for him, and good for us.
