Brian Crossman is a partner in Estevan-based Independent Well Servicing. The opinions expressed in this column are the opinions of the author and not necessarily the opinions of Independent Well Servicing.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Regina on Jan. 10, 2019. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
What a time to be Canadian! (Note sarcasm please) There is an ancient Chinese curse, which loosely translated goes, “May you live in interesting times.” And man, they sure are interesting. South of the border we have a new president who is following through with the things he has been promising. North of the border, our prime minister mucked it up so badly he resigned at one of the most critical points in our country’s history. Let’s not review the entire list, as we say on the farm and the oilpatch, “we’re burning daylight.” So, we will look at what affects us as Canadians directly.
Donald J Trump loves to stir shit up. Its kind of branding thing for him. So, when he starts spouting rhetoric about Canada becoming the 51st state, and Justin being the governor, it’s mostly noise. But all that is exactly that, noise. But the message punching through all that noise is that he wants what is best for ‘Merica. Or at least his version of it. We can hate on him all we want, but it wasn’t our choice to make. The American voter chose him and his policies. We can get online and whine all we want, but it was never our decision to make.
So far, the Canadian response is to be petulant, threaten the USA with a repeat of the war of 1812 (yeah, that’ll work) and make fun of Trump’s bully tactics. Counter-tariffs are definitely an option and can be a good negotiation tactic. But as a nation, we are in no position to deal with this, as parliament is currently prorogued. On top of that Trudeau chastised the American voter for not electing a female president. (Says the guy who has fired female liberal MPs from high-ranking positions.)
Thanks Justin, worst timing ever.
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And to top things off, the front-runner in the Liberal party leadership race, Mark Carney has never been elected and is to some extent the reason we are in the economic mess we are in. Danielle Smith up to this point seems to have taken the helm of the good ship Canada, much to the dismay of the mainstream Canadian pundits, various politicians and of course, the Liberal Party of Canada. The accusations are “she’s only looking out for Alberta” which is kind of her job. And with parliament being prorogued and our Prime Minister not doing his job, the Alberta premier has stepped up. We’ll circle back to that in a bit.
So, the question remains, who’s fault is it? It is always human nature to lay blame on the culprit to our problems. The first and most obvious is the new President of the USA. After all, he is the one acting like the proverbial “bull in the China shop,” destroying agreements and relationships with friend and foe alike. Trump has a habit of insulting organizations, countries and people. He is rude and accusatory one minute, and benevolent the next. He is just Donald Trump doing Donald Trump things, why are we surprised?
So again, who can we pin the blame on for this debacle? Most conservative-minded people, myself included lay the responsibility square on Trudeau’s shoulders. After all, he has screwed things up for the past nine years, so he and his cohorts are the obvious choice. For me to repeat the list is both redundant and preaching to the choir. (Unless you are a Liberal, then thanks for reading!) But how is it we are in such a position of weakness with our largest trading partner and our de-facto protector? So again, who is at fault?
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It’s my fault, it’s your fault, and as Canadian citizens collectively, we are all to blame. This goes way back into the past. As voters in this country, we have voted in governments that have been more attentive to various corporate lobbyists, international entities and special interest groups. We have allowed all these and more to dictate the financial well-being and the security of our nation. It’s like, “Hey we want to build a pipeline to the coast, so we can give Canada jobs and revenue.”
“Oh, sorry, we will burden you with unbelievable red tape, and then you’ll sell the project to us.”
“But don’t worry, the Canadian taxpayers will fund it, pay six times the original cost, and then we will sell it for pennies on the dollar.”
“No need to thanks us, we are here to help.”
We have created a system that is reactive, not proactive. As a group of provinces, we sure seem to argue a whole bunch. It makes it hard to be excited about “Team Canada” when we have disruptive trade agreements within our own country. As Walt Kelly once wrote, “We have seen the enemy, and he is us.” (Not Trump or the USA)
My personal favorite is, “If we build a pipeline from western Canada, to feed the refineries in eastern Canada, we can all make some revenue and not have to rely on Line 5 that runs through the USA.” Then Quebec says, “Not so fast mon ami!” “We do not want your filthy crude oil flowing in a safe pipeline through la Belle Province.” “But please, do not forget those lovely transfer payments!” “Merci.” (I would appreciate y’all reading that in your best French accent) Electing a convicted eco-terrorist to a seat in the house sure isn’t a path to prosperity either.
The thing is, we as Canadians have always had the power to fix this. We have the resources, the talent and the work ethic to do this. But all the prime ministers, and their respective governments for the past several decades have been focused on appeasing special interest groups. These groups include environmental groups funded from outside of Canada. (Tides Foundation, Sierra Club etc.) These groups are NOT on the side of Canadians.
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This, in turn, costs taxpayers (you and me), and then prevents projects from happening, and thus drives investment dollars to other jurisdictions. This makes our country poorer, and then other commitments such as NATO, our Canadian military and border security all suffer. This is not an indictment on our military or border security people. They are the very best, they are challenged by a systemic lack of funding for the last several generations. Our neighbors to the south have been our protectors to some extent. Our personal taxes are higher, the investment in Canda dries up, lack of employment, inflation skyrockets and the Loonie is devalued even more.
“The only way out, is through.” I’ve always liked this phrase, and it applies here. It may be too late to combat the Trump tariffs right away, if they are enacted, but we need to proceed and fast-track large scale projects to get our resource-based economy a kick in the ass.
As noted earlier, the Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has already shown initiative by talking directly to Trump. Many Canadians think Premier Smith’s communications are anti-Canada. But when have we actually acted like a proper country? We fight and argue amongst ourselves, there is $103.8 billion of federal equalization payments handed out to all the provinces and territories with the exception of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. Yet these three provinces have little to no say in how Canada is governed. (How is that “teamwork?”) I am disappointed that Scott Moe, the Premier of Saskatchewan didn’t go along, but that is just my opinion.
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Trudeau’s strategy for dealing with Trump includes chastising the Americans for not electing a female president, smart-ass comments and a lot of hiding. I won’t mention his resigning as Prime Minister after the American election. Well, I just did, but that shows his cowardice. If we build the things, we can fix the things. And if we fix the things, we can negotiate in good faith with our neighbors and our trading partners in the rest of the world. What I am saying and a lot of people in Canada are saying is that we should be looking at this as an opportunity. Starting yesterday, we need to approve pipelines, cut red tape, eliminate carbon taxes, emissions caps, lower personal income tax, encourage ALL legitimate business ventures and just stay the hell out of the way.
“Complacency is the enemy of excellence.” And sadly, Canada has been complacent. But like all countries, provinces, businesses and especially people, we can change. For the better this time. Let’s be excellent. Let’s be awesome. Let’s be Canada!
Note- As I was finishing this, Trudeau bought us some more time with Trump. Ideally, he should re-convene parliament and let the people decide who is fit to lead and negotiate. Yeah, right…….
Brian Crossman is a partner with Independent Well Servicing in Estevan. He wonders if anyone has considered asking the Trump administration for a pause on trade tariffs and negotiations until we actually have an election so our new leader has a mandate to deal with this crisis in good faith. (Idea courtesy of his better half, Val) And remember folks, if you can, buy Canadian!
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