Dear ABMInsider,
Yesterday was inauguration day for the 47th president of the United States, an event I found myself paying much more attention to than past presidential inaugurations—with one exception. The standout for me was President Barack Obama, an event I watched with hope, optimism and pride. He wasn’t my leader, but he stood for ideals I admired. Mr. Trump? Not so much.
I don’t like the man... but that doesn’t mean I underestimate him. Neither should you.
That much was evident from last night’s media event/press conference as he signed executive order after executive order after executive order. Between pardons for 1,500 people convicted of crimes on January 6, 2021, to America’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization, to his “let’s make a deal” decision to keep TikTok operational for another 75 days, to his deliberate “Drill, baby, drill” blind-eye to climate change and global warning... in between all of that, he tossed out February 1 as the day he plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports to the United States.
He threatened those tariffs some weeks back, sending Canadian provincial and federal representatives into panic mode negotiations and strategic planning. When he didn’t implement the tariffs right away, there was a sense the Team Canada negotiations might be working. Now he’s threatening again, with an implementation deadline less than two weeks away.
I’m not here to debate the fairness or unfairness of what he does or doesn’t do. That really doesn’t matter. What does matter is what we, as Canadians, are going to do about it. Sure, there’s talk of retaliatory tariffs, but they could hurt us here in Canada as much as they will the U.S. Clearly, the fact they are our biggest trading partner has made us vulnerable.
Here's some disturbing food for thought: Trump is essentially a massive walking, talking ego, one that now has a tremendous amount of power at his disposal and zero concerns about pleasing anyone so he can get re-elected. He very deliberately invoked the phrase “manifest destiny” in his remarks last night, as he talked about taking back the Panama Canal and annexing Greenland.
The United States has a bigger population than we do… A bigger economy than ours… A larger armed forces… And a leader with Putin-like aspirations of empire expansion.
Make no mistake: The next four years are going to challenge Canadians and national unity like never before. They say what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. We just have to figure out how to make it through to the other side.
Easier said than done.
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Dawn Chafe Executive editor & co-owner dchafe@atlanticbusinessmagazine.ca |
