As the 21st Century approaches the end of its third decade we see a pattern of fear-factor politics dominating the public discourse; it’s the common denominator that causes undue stress in society. Consider for example:
- the unwarranted fear pushed onto the population at large during the Covid 19 outbreak even when it was known early on that the only real risk was to the immunocompromised elderly folks that bore over 80% of the deaths; with a global mortality rate of .073% compared to the 1918 Spanish Flu rate of 2.9% Covid was in reality an epidemic not a pandemic,
- climate hysteria led by the decarbonistas buying into the faux-science of anthropogenic causation and an unscientific modelling regime put in place by the UN Panel on Climate Change that omits crucial factors, a fact ignored by legacy media and governments as they push fears on the public blaming climate change for floods, fires, droughts and hurricanes ignoring much worse historic information,
- the pernicious persecution of Canada’s 2.4 million licensed firearm owners under the pretence of public safety in aftermath of the April 2020 mass murders in Nova Scotia by a madman using smuggled guns from the US; and this given the fact that gun crime with illegal guns in our cities has gone up 43% under Trudeau’s watch with no evidence whatsoever that legally owned firearms are a problem.
The latest scare-mongering hysteria resulting from Trump’s intent to invoke tariffs has gone way over the top. Canada’s economy is 75% service dependent so we’re only talking about a portion of the other 25% with respect to US exports. The only sane voice in all of this is Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta when she made a proposal to our government to appoint a Canadian border Czar to beef up our border control which is what America wants. Last year 19,000 illegal migrants were caught trying to enter America and it’s well known that Vancouver has become a global drug smuggling hub along with the money laundering that goes with it; Sam Cooper’s book “Wilful Blindness” goes into this in detail and it’s mind-blowing.
Our Current Account surplus of 45 billion is not that significant given that mutual trade totals almost a trillion dollars and most of our surplus relates to the export of crude oil, 60% of US crude imports, to refineries that are built to specifically handle this grade of oil. We are joined at the hip by 420K km of pipelines as well as corporate structures such as Imperial Oil owned under the ExxonMobil umbrella. Trump can say “drill baby drill” all he wants but US sweet oil can’t be processed in the refineries using Canadian crude.
US tariffs are not the end of the world for Canadian companies. Our products are priced in American dollars and so the exchange rate gives back a huge bonus to Canadian companies; this is a significant mitigation factor to tariffs. In addition we can invoke tariffs on US imports as we did during Trump’s first term and the dollars generated can be used to help our industries and incentivise technology. We should know by now that Trump’s bark is louder than his bite.
The current wrong-headed panic at both the Provincial and Federal levels needs to stop. The messaging has been so bad that hockey fans have booed the American national anthem representing the nadir of shame for any intelligent Canadian. We need to quit the whimpering over tariffs. According to studies by the Fraser Institute, in 2013 the GDP/capita was $53K for both the US and Canada but as of 2024 Canada is still at $53K and the US has surged ahead to $82K, a testament to Trudeau’s legacy. We need to stop focusing on pronouns in this country and do whatever it takes to pave the way to a steeper growth curve.
To make matters worse we have a PM that has prorogued Parliament for 3 months so the Liberal Party can implement its leadership race. This political gamesmanship interregnum, seemingly contrived by a backroom uber-strategist, in effect gives the executive branch the freedom to grab the limelight, attempting to create hero-worship, and thus give a salving effect to their corruption. I can only hope that my fellow Canadians see through this transpicuous ruse, rise from obliviousness and in the federal election to come will make the necessary change to help get our heads out of the sand and start us back to prosperity.
Ron P Alton
Richards Landing, Ontario
2025/02/21