sbv

Really interesting op-ed given that Trump was complaining US banks aren't allowed in Canada:

President Donald Trump’s chief economist, Stephen Miran, a Harvard-trained PhD and hedge fund strategist nominated to chair the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, wrote in November “A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System.”

...

He points to the 2018-19 tariffs the first Trump administration imposed on China (and the Biden administration retained) as proof his theory has merit and that it “should inform analysis of future trade conflicts.” In that case the Chinese currency fell, the U.S. dollar strengthened, and the trade deficit remained. But the important thing is that inflation was manageable, China got the message, and new revenue was raised for the U.S. Treasury, according to Mr. Miran.

We will need to come to terms with the fact that the U.S. will assess its relationship with us based on a criteria matrix that includes, as Mr. Miran suggests, if Canada “opens its markets to U.S. firms in the same way America opens its markets to foreign firms operating stateside.”

This has implications for Canadian agricultural supply management, the telecom sector, restrictions on investments, service barriers to online streaming and barriers to digital trade such as the digital service tax.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-how-are-we-so-befuddled-at-us-tariffs-when-its-all-been-so-obvious/

Now that we're talking trade, it works be a good time to address Canada's internal trade barriers:

“Let’s sit down and come up with a list, because everyone wants to protect something – no matter if it’s the dairy cow in Newfoundland, or the wine in B.C., or ourselves – everyone’s guilty,” he added.

Consumers are confronted by these roadblocks every day. A craft brewery in Quebec can’t sell its beer directly to a nearby restaurant in Ottawa. An engineer in New Brunswick has to get licensed in neighbouring Nova Scotia before practising there. A truck driver in British Columbia can only drive certain truck configurations at night but must do so during the day in Alberta – leaving a narrower time frame to make an interprovincial trek.

Taken together, these barriers are constraining Canada’s economic potential. Research shows that tearing them down would give the economy a sizable boost – perhaps enough to offset the hit from steep U.S. tariffs.

Original https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-trump-threats-are-inspiring-canada-to-tackle-trade-war-from-within/

I feel like some cancon would have been a better choice for this sentiment.

What is your Canadian choice for this meme?

Not directly Canadian news, but given Saturday's events, it's relevant:

Mexico has been preparing possible retaliatory tariffs on imports from the U.S., ranging from 5% to 20%, on pork, cheese, fresh produce, manufactured steel and aluminum, according to sources familiar with the matter. The auto industry would initially be exempt, they said.

I'm waiting for Trudeau's twice delayed press conference. According to Legault, Canada is putting 25% tariffs on some US imports.

Is that legit? Did Legault just scoop Trudeau? I guess we'll find out soonish.

As someone who supports the carbon rebate and thinks it's a good policy, I have to admit that Carney is right. Trudeau screwed up the implementation, and now a policy that gives most Canadians more money than they pay is a third rail.

Replacing the tax with something more acceptable, and equally effective seems like a good way forward.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-mark-carney-consumer-carbon-tax-liberal-leadership-race/

I got suckered. I saw some posts about how men don't take care of their skin, and how it has more of an effect as we age. So I thought, what's the harm? Let's give it a try!

Welp, after five days of putting a tiny bit of moisturiser on my face, I have a couple of tiny pimples on my nose. I haven't had zits in decades, and here we are. I stopped applying the moisturiser a couple of weeks ago and I'm still getting those zits.

Thanks skincare.

I didn't realize Elon had Canadian grandparents:

Musk’s maternal grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, moved from Canada to South Africa in 1950 because he liked the newly elected apartheid government.

In the 1930s, Haldeman was the Canadian leader of a fringe political movement originating in the US, Technocracy Incorporated, that advocated abolishing democracy in favor of government by elite technicians but which took on overtones of fascism with its uniforms and salutes.

The Canadian government banned Technocracy Incorporated during the second world war as a threat to the country’s security in part for its opposition to fighting Hitler. Haldeman was charged with publishing documents opposing the war and sent to prison for two months.

I don't like associating people with the sins of their ancestors, but Technocracy Incorporated sounds too silly to ignore.

I was one of a group of Just Stop Oil activists given the longest-ever UK sentences for peaceful motorway. Six months into my incarceration, this is what I have learned

Not directly related to climate change, but Just Stop Oil has been in the news a lot.

Mr. Ford won a majority of the Ontario Legislature’s seats for the second time in June, 2022, just 2½ years ago. The next election date under provincial legislation is currently fixed for June, 2026.

...

Ms. Stiles, citing the Premier’s own recent warning that Mr. Trump’s tariffs could cost Ontario half a million jobs, said Mr. Ford was putting party before province.

“He can either be the Premier or run for Premier,” the NDP Leader said in a statement. “He needs to decide what’s more important: his job or 500,000 jobs.”

From: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-voters-to-head-to-the-polls-feb-27-source/

Remember when only fifty people suffered from the mystery condition? Shockingly, ignoring it has not made it go away.

She is one of nearly 400 New Brunswick residents who suffer from what the province calls a “neurological syndrome of unknown cause” – a mystery brain disease that seems to mostly affect people living in the Acadian Peninsula and Moncton areas. Her fiancé, Sarah Nesbitt, is also afflicted.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nb-mystery-brain-disease-patients-welcome-new-investigation-as-good/

As much as I agree with these two contrarians, I believe Trudeau was within his rights to prorogue. The proroguation is clearly just to run the Liberal leadership race, but sadly the PM is allowed to do that.

[David MacKinnon and Aris Lavranos] argued Trudeau’s decision effectively denies Parliament, without reasonable justification, the ability to carry out its constitutional functions as a legislature.

In particular, the application said, prorogation prevents Parliament from dealing “quickly and decisively” with especially pressing issues, including the effects of Trump’s threatened tariffs.

They suggest the true intention of prorogation was to stymie efforts of opposition parties to bring a motion of non-confidence in the Liberal government.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-judge-agrees-to-expedite-legal-challenge-of-trudeaus-move-to-prorogue/