Well, there goes my spending power. Maybe.

[robkelk]

Chrystia Freeland, the deputy Prime Minister of Canada, was scheduled to present a financial update to the House at 4pm today.

She just resigned from the Cabinet.


Whatever the reason, this sends a signal to His Orangeness (Premier-elect of the 11th Province!</joke>) that his tactics are working...

[Labster]

The first paper was due at the same time as the drop date, eh?

Bad news for Ukraine, probably.

[robkelk]

When I first heard about this, I thought she was falling on her sword for the country, or at least for the party.

I've now read her resignation letter.

She didn't fall. She was pushed.

[Labster]

Not only was she pushed, she was pushed out by Donald Trump.

How Trump divided Trudeau and Freeland

I’m impressed at the loyalty Governor Trudeau is showing. Appeasement will definitely work this time.

[robkelk]

... Governor Trudeau ...

And fuck you too, Labster.

[robkelk]

After a night's reflection... I'm not yet retracting my comment. I clearly marked my similar statement as a joke, and I would expect one of All The Tropes' bureaucrats to follow ATT:1WAY even off the wiki.

[robkelk]

Prime Minister Trudeau cancels year-end media interviews to “reflect”

I hope he reflects on what happens when one tells one's longest-standing political ally that they're being reassigned to a ceremonial post, when going up against someone who would rather be in charge than be right.

Which means I have a decision to make, because there's an election coming up at some point next year... Who do I vote for?

• The man who's shown he's more interested in keeping power than in serving the country?
  
• The man who can only speak in three-word rhymes and refuses to discuss actual issues, which tells me that he's more interested in gaining power than in serving the country?
  
• The man who's led his party through three elections, ending up with fewer caucus members after each election?
  
• The woman who's leading a party that doesn't have a chance of gaining power?
  

Honestly, the only party that's sounding at all statesmanlike throughout all of this is the one that only runs candidates in one province, and it isn't the province that I live in.

[MilkmanConspiracy]

Maybe Gregory Gurvera will run again on an Ottawexit and to build the Ottowall. He also has no chance of winning, but I’m sure his plan to print money and give everyone a "government job" which for somehow he thinks are easy and cushy will work great for the Ottawa Economy.

Jokes aside, I’m not Canadian, and the Canadian talking heads my friends recommend all seem to talk about America way more than Canada, which makes me not trust them much at all, so not only am I low information, I’m going to be hypocritical and give my take despite not being Canadian, albeit someone with weak ties to Canadians via distant family and some travels a while ago (Both of which by no means gives me much qualification, but perhaps is worth more than being completely ignorant.).

Canada could use a unifying leader like Wilfrid Laurier or Lester Pearson, but I don’t see a person of their caliber at an international media level. If there isn’t a leader that is actually that good, and it doesn’t sound like there is, the best thing to do may actually be to find the one who’s most like to win, and care (At least for their own self interest) what their constituents think and act upon it. If there was enough grassroots support, it may motivate them to act as they should, though the cynic in me says it wouldn’t work either due to a lack of public pressure or for any number of other reasons. Ultimately it comes down to the Canadian people to hold their government accountable, which is easier said than done: They’ve certainly done a better job at it then the countries where I have resided, if that’s any consolation.

[MilkmanConspiracy]

For the record in case it wasn’t clear, I’m under no illusion that most government jobs are easy or cushy. (Correct me if I’m wrong in the case of Canada, but I think it’s nearly universal that government employees are overworked and underpaid)

[robkelk]

Canada could use a unifying leader like Wilfrid Laurier or Lester Pearson, but I don’t see a person of their caliber at an international media level.

Agreed 100% in all respects. The problem is that politics has become so toxic that anybody who can make a living doing something else-- anything else -- is doing so. Foreign interference doesn't help, either.

For the record in case it wasn’t clear, I’m under no illusion that most government jobs are easy or cushy. (Correct me if I’m wrong in the case of Canada, but I think it’s nearly universal that government employees are overworked and underpaid)

True in the short- and medium-term, but career Canadian civil servants are one of the very few groups that still get a defined-benefits index-linked pension. It takes four decades to qualify for one nowadays, but that does happen and it goes a long way to balancing out the payment inequity. (Fair disclosure: I am a career Canadian civil servant, with less than a half year to go before retirement. Yeah, I'm that old.)

[robkelk]

Well, Trudeau has taken a page from the Conservative playbook (Stephen Harper era) and prorogued Parliament. There won't be another legislative session until March 24, and anything that was on the order paper is dead. Considering that the Conservatives have been filibustering everything for months, that doesn't change much in the short term.

Oh, and he's stepped down as Prime Minister effective upon the choice of his successor.

Putting those two together, that means there cannot be a non-confidence motion (that would bring down the government if it passed) until March 24 at the earliest. Which, in all honesty, would have been disastrous during the "100 days" of the Governor-Elect of the USA (giving him as much respect as he gives anyone else).

[Labster]

I guess Trump put a pause on the tariffs on Mexico, then put another pause on tariffs on Canada later. In the meantime, the White House press secretary noted that there is one way for Canada to avoid tariffs entirely: become the 51st state!

Not sure which school of international relations that is, but it's definitely in character for a President who likes to grab 'em by the pussy.

[Norgarth]

Doug Ford has apparently decided to not pull back the provincial tariffs on electricity until Trump cancels his tariffs entirely.

[robkelk]

Yeah.

Do it, or don't do it. Stop dithering, because every dither reduces the value of my retirement savings.

[Jinx999]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_Wooing

I thought it reminded me of something.

And he really should revoke the 2nd amendment rights of anyone responsible for managing supply chains and logistics, because they must be going insane by now.

[Labster]

I've never heard of the "Rough Wooing", though I admit my Scottish history is fairly spotty.

I also have no additional sympathy for people managing logistics -- reacting to stuff like this is literally the job, and happens all of the time.  Storms, diplomatic tiffs, and accidents are happening constantly so this just another variant of normal.

On the other hand, I've read about restaurants who have spent the last month researching price changes and new recipes to save money, paid to print new menus, only to have Trump cancel tariffs at the last minute... maybe?  Restaurants will be raising prices on imported foods anyway, because they've already had costs related to the tariffs, which may still go into effect.  And that price increase is inflation.  Companies that sell goods don't know what things will cost, they don't know which direction to expand, so they are hiring less and less, which means unemployment.  All from something that didn't happen yet.

Also Trump is considering 250% tariffs on Canadian dairy.

[classicdrogn]

It's easy to see how he became such a massive failure at business, not understanding even the first principles they operate by. It's like putting a toddler om front of a chess board and watching them chew on the knights, give the queen to the dog, and shove a bishop up their nose.

[robkelk]

"Give me the list of all the goods, and all the services, that the Americans are buying from us because they like us." I have still not received that list.
--Jean Chrétien, speaking in 2025 about Canada not joining the 2003 invasion of Iraq

So, yeah, the USA does need things that Canada has.

The sooner that's realized south of the border, the sooner my purchasing power comes back...

[Dartz]

Surely, international trade can route around America the same way the internet routes around damage. It'll be slower, but it'll cut the problem areas out.

All the stuff Canada sells to America - I'm sure the rest of the world buys similar things from America
And all the stuff America buys from Canada - replacements can probably be found in the rest of the world.

The global market is huge, after all.

[robkelk]

Alas, our exporters have gotten lazy, depending on the easy north-south flow of goods and neglecting to build sufficient infrastructure to transport food and products east-west to our ports. We can do it, but not quickly or cheaply.

The last month has finally shown people here why that's a bad thing.

[Labster]

Eh, you build in backups and you’re being wasteful and inefficient. You omit backups and you’re being greedy and negligent. Either way the government is at fault.

It’s a prisoner’s dilemma, because it’s caused by a convicted felon.

[Labster]

How many seconds did it take for Doug Ford to cave to Trump?

[robkelk]

Not a cave - an exchange for a face-to-face with the Secretary of Commerce.

And the orders to stop selling US alcohol are still in effect.

[MilkmanConspiracy]

The order to stop selling US alcohol may have a surprisingly large impact, even if or when relations "Normalize". This is a golden opportunity for southern Ontario to capitalize on its position in the Pino Noir belt and boost its Viticulture with domestic consumption.

Additionally, I think Canada and the United States are basically the only countries that produce maple alcohol in appreciable amounts, albeit something that is a niche in both markets. It effectively gives the Canadian makers of it a bit of protectionism by default, which may be beneficial for niche producers without huge markets.

[robkelk]

That's because Canada harvests over four times as much maple syrup as the US does, and the amount of maple syrup harvested in the rest of the world put together pretty much amounts to a rounding error compared to what North America harvests. If you have actual maple syrup (not high-fructose corn syrup with maple flavour) and it doesn't have a label of origin, odds are about three in four that it came from Quebec.