Northern Reflections: Boneheads

Yesterday, on his way to what comedian Bill Mahar calls one of his “Nuremberg Hillbillies Rallies,” Donald Trump threatened the “ruination” of Canada. Daniel Dale writes in The Toronto Star: He told reporters on Air Force One: “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time. Now, they’ve got

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Northern Reflections: Not His Strong Suites

Lawrence Martin writes that, if sanity prevails, Donald Trump will not impose tariffs on automobiles manufactured in Canada. Recently, there has been a strong chorus in favour of sanity and against Trump’s claim that the tariffs would strengthen American national security: Vehement voices came together Thursday at Commerce Department hearings

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Northern Reflections: NAFTA On the Rocks

During the past year, NAFTA has been encountering ill winds and rough seas. The ill winds come from the Blow Hard-in-Chief. Peter Clark writes: The Prime Minister has used his personal relationship with Trump to avoid crises. Now Canada is deemed “spoiled” and “difficult”. Trudeau is doing what a responsible

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Northern Reflections: He Does Not Understand

Before anyone starts to agree with former prime minister Stephen Harper’s conclusion that the Liberals have been “napping on NAFTA,” Tim Harper suggests that they take a look at Stephen Harper’s record of dealing with Washington: While in opposition, Harper aligned himself with George W. Bush’s “coalition of the willing,’’

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Northern Reflections: Is NAFTA Dead?

Andrew Coyne’s conservative soul was perturbed by what Chrystia Freeland said yesterday: I said we should be prepared to walk away from the negotiations. I didn’t say we should deliberately sandbag them from the outset. The government of Canada has at last revealed its objectives for talks on renegotiating the

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Northern Reflections: Who Knows?

NAFTA will be renegotiated. But, Tim Harper writes, the negotiations will not be a disaster: Robert Lighthizer [Donald Trump’s Trade Representative] released his 18-page list of priorities for coming NAFTA negotiations, and there was none of that lightning and thunder. Reaction from Ottawa and Canadian trade experts was a polite

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