Elbows Up, Heads Down: Time to Get Real on Canada-U.S. Trade...

Memes won't save auto jobs — a deal will.

I have about as much time for people who want to make memes calling Canada “shitty” as I do for ridiculous reporters who think they are being serious in asking American military officials about their invasion plans for Canada.

None.

Maybe I’m too rational. Maybe I’m too focused on trying to get a deal because I know the economic consequences of not getting a deal.

I come from a blue-collar city; I know people who work in the kind of plants that will be hurt by an ever-increasing tariff war. That’s why my focus is always on getting a deal, because that is the real way you protect jobs.

Marc Nixon, a man who has made a bit of a name for himself producing online content, mostly video-based, and who has done some good work — his video in response to Mark Carney saying talks can resume when the Americans stop making memes is too much for me.

I get it, people are having fun and some of them are funny, but this one, and many others, are not. I don’t see the point in running down your country to “own the libs.”

There is a tendency among some folks on the right in Canada to take their criticism of Carney and Canada so far as to endorse Trump. That’s what this looks like and it’s not where I am or want to go.

Maybe your view is different; if so, you can join the online chorus calling me a Liberal.

I’m not — I just put my country first.

That doesn’t mean cheering Carney or accepting everything he says or does. It does mean not cheering for the other guy.

As for demanding a visiting military officer explain his plans to invade Canada? Give me a break.

Here is Global News reporter Ben O’Hara-Byrne asking Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of the Pacific Command for the U.S. Navy about following orders to invade.

Enough with this idea that the Americans are set to invade us. Forget the idea that they are trying to take us over.

Here’s how O’Hara-Byrne defended the exchange on X after the fact.

In some ways I get it, I’ve asked provocative questions and they sometimes lead to good responses. Ben pushing back several times makes me feel something else is at play.

Too many Canadians are freaked out that the Americans are about to invade at any moment. Read the Letters to the Editor of the Globe and Mail for regular update from octogenarians writing in to say they will grab a gun or a rake to fight off the American invasion.

I understand that Trump made a bunch of 51st state comments early on. In February of 2025, I even interviewed Steve Bannon, formerly one of Trump’s top advisors, about the whole idea of whether the 51st state thing was real. In February 2025, sitting in Washington, Bannon said it was and explained why he supported it.

Since then, Trump has said many times that it’s not happening, even saying during Carney’s first White House visit that it takes two to tango and Canada wasn’t interested.

Being hysterical with the “Elbows Up” rhetoric doesn’t help anyone, but neither does trashing Canada and elevating Trump.

Let’s try to stay firmly attached to reality in all of this.

For the record, my Bannon interview…

As for the idea of counter tariffs…

This is something that seems to divide economists and politicians.

On this one, I’d say the economists are right. Not that I always think elected leaders need to follow the advice of politicians, but here they have a point.

Counter tariffs are counterproductive.

I spoke to Professor Eric Ham from Toronto Metropolitan University, the place most of us still call Ryerson, about the issue. He was pretty blunt in his assessment.

You can read it in the column or watch the video here.

Did Carney end trade talks for political reasons…

I’d say yes and no, and I’ve said so, but I’ll explain why.

Both sides are claiming the other made last-minute demands to change the deal.

They can’t both be right, or can they?

My belief, from listening to all the public statements, parsing the careful language each side uses, and speaking to many people in the know on background, is that the two sides were talking past each other.

Negotiations start out verbally and progress to written agreements.

The Canadian side said they wanted tariffs reduced on Canadian-made autos. The Americans said yes, they could reduce them to 15%, which when combined with discounts for American-made parts brought the effective tariff down to 7.5%.

When the deal started to be drafted, the Americans only had a reduced tariff for cars and light trucks, but not medium and heavy-duty trucks. The Americans say these are different classes of vehicles and were never meant to be included; the Canadian side says they believe it was always meant to be all autos.

Howard Lutnick says that the Canadian side didn’t raise the issue of medium and heavy-duty trucks until 4 p.m. on Friday.

Here’s why I don’t believe that to be true.

The CEOs of GM and Ford in Detroit called the White House to explain that they needed medium and heavy-duty trucks to have the same treatment. GM is producing the Silverado at their Oshawa plant and will soon produce the Sierra there, while Ford is retooling their Oakville plant to produce trucks like the F-350 and F-450.

Building these trucks in Canada under a 25% tariff just isn’t feasible.

My belief is that once Carney realized that he couldn’t get a deal on trucks, he decided to pull out the sovereignty card, the French-language card, and use them for all they were worth politically. So no, I don’t think he walked away from the deal for just political reasons, but I do think that once a deal wasn’t on the table, he made it political.

As I’ve written, all three major political leaders are using this spat for political gain, and it’s working for them, while the little guy pays the price.

Here’s my video rant on how Carney, Ford and Trump are all using this trade spat for their own political benefit.