Most of Canada’s politicians understood the assignment here. Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau certainly did, delivering a speech that reminded Americans of our affection for their country — and our determination to stand up for ourselves in spite of it. BC Premier David Eby was even more forceful in his own remarks as he promised the immediate removal from the province’s liquor stores of products from red states. “We understand who is attacking us,” he said. “We understand where this is coming from. We want to send a message particularly to those governors, to those congresspeople.”

. . .

The pro-appeasement forces within Canada’s conservative community have done the bare minimum to indicate their displeasure with Trump’s tariffs, but they don’t seem like they’ve actually changed their mind. Last weekend, for example, the editorial board at the Toronto Sun — which just happens to be owned by a Trump-friendly U.S. hedge fund — blamed Justin Trudeau for Donald Trump’s decision to launch what the Wall Street Journal has described as the “dumbest trade war.”

And when it was finally launched, leaders like Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith completely missed the moment. After a few harsh words for Trump, Poilievre immediately pivoted to his pre-existing political script, blaming Justin Trudeau for everything from rising home prices to longer lines at food banks. He even suggested that the best way to mitigate the damage done by Trump’s tariffs was — you guessed it — tax cuts. “The obvious place to start is to get rid of the Liberal carbon tax,” he said. Of course it is, Pierre.

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