Roundup: Preparing the counter-tariffs

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The reverberations from Trump’s annexation comments continued yesterday, as Liberals held a caucus meeting in the wake of Trudeau’s announcement, and we seem to be back to the old issue of whether to take him seriously but not literally, or literally but not seriously. Cabinet ministers seem to be taking it seriously, and are letting it be known that we may be looking to do more than just the cutesy, targeted counter-tariffs from the last Trump presidency, and are starting to prepare some bigger guns. Former American ambassadors to Canada are warning not to overreact, but people in this country seem to keep forgetting (or ignoring) that lesson that we should have learned and internalised four years ago.

Update: this seems closer to where I'd suggest we set the tone for countering the bluster from the South. Good on Minister Wilkinson.www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/202…

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2025-01-08T22:31:34.170Z

Where I'm coming from on this is that many are used to 'trade wars' where the other side is proposing some tariff on apples or something, so they're going to their usual targeted boutique response toolkit.Me, I think this is an entirely different category of threat, and timid cutesy won't work.

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2025-01-08T23:15:11.012Z

While there is talk about “manifest destiny” re-emerging, it is important to remember that expansionist policies are part of the fascist project, not

Territorial expansion is not a distraction from the fascist project. It is *part of* the fascist project. There are many examples of territorial expansion and internal "cleansing" going hand in hand. The fact that the figurehead has pudding for brains does not make this any less part of the project.

— Kate Heartfield (@kateheartfield.com) 2025-01-08T20:32:50.865Z

"Fascism sees in the imperialistic spirit — i.e., in thetendency of nations to expand — a manifestation oftheir vitality." – The Doctrine of Fascism, Benito Mussolini, 1932

— Kate Heartfield (@kateheartfield.com) 2025-01-08T20:37:23.137Z

Think of the time being wasted by diplomats and experts in Europe and Latin America, as they start planning how to counter American attacks on Panama or Greenland. Time that could be spent thinking about a unified response to Russia and China.

— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum.bsky.social) 2025-01-08T13:53:03.796Z

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian guided bomb attack killed thirteen people and injured at least 63 in Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine launched a long-range attack on a Russian oil depot that serves an air base for nuclear bombers. The UN estimates that 12,300 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the invasion three years ago.

Good reads:

  • Jean-Yves Duclos believes it will be easy to convince Trump not to scuttle the ICE Pact with the US and Finland to build new icebreakers.
  • Canadian fire crews and water bombers are helping fight the wildfires in the Los Angeles area (because that’s how these things work).
  • The Logic looks at how Pickering, Ontario, has become the centre of a far-right conspiracy theory psychodrama as one of its city councillors thrives in that space.
  • Dominic LeBlanc took himself out of the running for leader, but several MPs want to change his mind. Joly, Wilkinson and MacKinnon are all still considering a run.
  • Members of the Liberal caucus are trying to push their party to tighten up membership/”supporter” rules in the upcoming leadership.
  • My column points to issues in the substance of Trudeau’s announcement of his resignation, the listlessness of the party, and the government still in place.

Odds and ends:

I was on DogShirtTV to talk about the current political situation in Canada:

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