Two days after the American tariff announcements, and I found myself still struck by the tone that the federal Conservatives have adopted with this, squarely blaming Trudeau rather than the uncertainty engine known as Trump, and engaging in the same kind of disingenuous narrative-building to justify their stance. In particular, they have been trying to claim that when Trudeau made his tour of steel and aluminium plants earlier in the year, that it was a “victory tour,” which is vastly different from how I remember it. Back then, it was about reassurance and the prime minister wanting to tell them that he had their backs and given that the government was ready for these tariffs to happen and had a package of retaliatory measures ready to go, it means that they didn’t take the reprieve for granted – entirely negating the premise of the Conservatives’ attack lines. Not that facts matter. They are also insistent that the Trudeau government has allowed itself to get “distracted” by the feel-good chapters around labour and gender in NAFTA negotiations, which again, is novel if you pay the slightest amount of attention to what’s been going on. But this isn’t about truth – this is about building their narrative that Trudeau is a dilettante who is incompetent and that the Conservatives are the real grown-ups in the room (despite evidence to the contrary). And because people have let Scheer and company lie with impunity on all sorts of files for months now, they feel emboldened to take this course of action, despite how gauche or out of step with other conservative voices in the country it may be, because they see this as their long-term game plan. And we’ll see if any of those voices call them out on it.

As for the impact of the tariffs, it turns out that they could have a far less detrimental impact on Canada’s aluminium industry because it exports more product to the US than we do steel, and America’s own smelters are older and less efficient than Canadian ones, meaning that these tariffs won’t do anything to help support the US industry, and American producers say that they could do more harm than good. Steel, of course, is a different story. The whole tariff issue, meanwhile, could mean that the lock that the American arms industry has on our military procurement may be at an end, and that our Forces may start looking to Europe for equipment instead – something that may actually be more affordable, but the tendency had been to buy from American producers under the guise of “interoperability” with American forces. As for the American companies facing retaliatory tariffs, well, they’re still learning about them, but most don’t seem too concerned. At least not yet. And many Republicans and businesses are lashing out at Trump for the move – including anchors at Fox Business.

In further reaction, Andrew Coyne believes that the sheer size of the US economy means that our retaliation will come to nothing, and even if we coordinate with other countries, we’re unlikely to change Trump’s mind, so better to work to contain the US presidency. Susan Ariel Aaronson suspects that the tariffs will weaken America’s national security interests rather than strengthen them, as Trump has used as the excuse to enact them, while Andrew MacDougall thinks that Trump’s move may benefit Doug Ford, who pledges to lower taxes and cut red tape that may appeal to people who think this can help keep Ontario’s economy competitive.

Good reads:

• A dozen “outreach countries” have been invited to attend next week’s G7 summit in Charlevoix.
• Now that he’s imposed steel and aluminium tariffs, Donald Trump is now musing about more lumber and timber measures and replacing NAFTA with bilateral deals.
• CBC and the Financial Post each got insight into the negotiations with Kinder Morgan, and the decision by the government to take over the pipeline.
• The Trans Mountain pipeline has survived another court challenge, as the Federal Court of Appeal considered newspaper reports of new evidence to be hearsay.
• The government announced more compensation to provinces dealing with irregular border crossers, to help deal with housing issues.
• Mélanie Joly is consulting on legislation to make Indigenous languages a “fundamental right” and to create an office to promote them.
• The Auditor General is, rightly, frustrated that the civil service doesn’t take responsibility and adopt his recommendations.
• Farmers, with a little prodding from the Conservatives, are unhappy with Lawrence MacAulay’s claims that they support carbon pricing.
• Andrew Scheer and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe are skipping Regina’s Pride parade, because of course they are.
• The Canadian Press’ Baloney Meter™ tests the claim that the Liberals have broken their promise to overhaul the environmental review process.
• Colby Cosh delves into the Supreme Court of Canada ruling that courts can’t review decisions by religious bodies, in that manner that only he can do.
• Susan Delacourt’s evaluation of the Ontario election is that there is little new or novel about it, except for the power of Facebook groups like Ontario Proud.
• Chantal Hébert looks back at what could be one of the most pivotal weeks in Trudeau’s time in office and is struck by his tone in responding to the US tariffs.
• My weekend column examines Trudeau invoking the ghost of Peter Lougheed by checking in with Senator McCoy, who knew Lougheed better than anyone.

Odds and ends:

Justin Trudeau has appointed Dr. Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia to the Senate to represent Newfoundland and Labrador.

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