Leaders must make trade war, not snarky words, the priority

There is little question that trading barbs with United States President Donald Trump is good for the popularity of political leaders in Canada. The real question is whether the leaders hurling the barbs are risking permanent damage to Canada’s economy to indulge in their mudslinging fantasies.

Canada’s most outspoken political leaders, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, are enjoying historic levels of popularity as they engage in an ongoing war of words with Trump.

Carney, in particular, needs no encouragement in this regard; the PM owes his improbable 2025 come-from-behind electoral victory over Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives to his firm resolve in the face of Trump’s first round of tariffs.

More than a year later, Carney has given little indication that he is ready to wilt in the face of Trump’s provocations.

Carney stepped away from trade talks last month after deciding what the Americans were asking for amounted to “an attack” on Canada’s economy and sovereignty.

There are few in this country who think he did the wrong thing. And yet, there are also few who would deny that Carney and the Liberals have seen their popularity explode with each show of strength in the face of unrelenting pressure from Trump.

Carney’s Liberals, for example, are currently leading the federal Conservatives by 20 points or more in most national opinion polls. Liberal candidates won three byelections on Monday night, stealing another seat directly from the Tories.

However, rising popularity and an impressive byelection winning streak has put a bit more mustard on the prime minister’s bun.

The morning after the byelections, Carney was asked when trade talks with the U.S. might resume. He shrugged and warned the Americans that they won’t get any time with Canadian negotiators until their behaviour improves.

In the wake of the collapsed trade talks, Trump issued an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” and the White House has been busy sending out bitchy memes on social media. They included an image of an American eagle standing on a Canada goose.

This prompted Carney to issue a warning to Trump and the Americans that made him sound less like a head of state and more like more like a frustrated teacher cautioning the class clown about the consequences of continued shenanigans.

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions,” Carney said.

There is no doubt Canadians are lapping up this stuff. However, there is a fine line between standing up for yourself and your country, and provoking an irrational bully into more bully-like behaviour — as Ontario Premier Doug Ford has, and may once again, learn.

Late last month, Ford told Trump during a news conference that if he followed through with new tariffs, the president could “kiss my ass.” Trump responded, claiming that Ford “is better known as the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great Rob Ford.”

(Side note: all things being equal, the line about Doug Ford not measuring up to Rob Ford — the disgraced and crack-addicted former mayor of Toronto — was pretty fantastic. Respect to White House researchers. But I digress.)

Two grown men tossing middle-school-grade insults at each other makes for great theatre, but it would be hard to argue Ford’s insults strengthen Canada’s position in trade. On the other hand, his outbursts appear to have significantly strengthened Ford’s position with Ontario voters on the eve of three byelections there Thursday.

The votes are critical tests for Ford’s Progressive Conservative government, which has been hemorrhaging support over the past two years.

A month ago, Ford looked like a dead leader walking. However, a Liaison Strategies poll taken in the days following his decision to offer his posterior for the president to smooch show a provincewide increase in support to 36 per cent, a 50 per cent increase over the 24 per cent he polled in July.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has even gotten in on the insult bandwagon.

Known largely as a rather eloquent commentator about Trump and trade, he recently got his snark on by likening Trump to “a rock band that’s really past their prime, and they’re in a casino, playing some song from 50 years ago… He’s trying to play the hits for his base… but it’s not his best work.”

Kinew does not need a Trump bump in support like Ford, and his popularity is not overly reliant on standing up to Trump like Carney. Still, the chance to hurl rhetoric seems to be too delicious to pass up.

Canada and its political leaders should absolutely stand up to Trump and refuse to be lured into a trade deal that is bad over the long haul.

At the same time, getting drawn into repeated mudslinging with a politician who rewrote the book on political mudslinging is a dangerous game. Canada must remember it is trying to win a trade war, not a war of words.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca