Its getting real now, isn't it.
I mean Canada's attempt to renew CUSMA so we don't lose our minds or our souls doing it, so Trump will get a win without Canada getting a loss. And Mexico, too.Carney has now set up an Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations and included in it some excellent people.
The CBC reports:
...The list includes experts, industry and union leaders and retired high-profile politicians such as former Quebec Premier Jean Charest, former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole and former Conservative cabinet minister Lisa Raitt....
The committee, which will meet for the first time on Monday, will be led by Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade. ..
The members of the committee include:
Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Darryl White, CEO of the Bank of Montreal.
Lisa Raitt, former Conservative cabinet minister.
Tracy Robinson, president and CEO of the Canadian National Railway.
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association.
Ron Bedard, president and CEO of steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal Dofasco.
Ken Seitz, president and CEO of fertilizer giant Nutrien.
Dennis Darby, president and CEO at Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.
Lana Payne, national president of Unifor.
François Poirier, president and CEO of Calgary-based TC Energy.
Émile Cordeau, CEO of Agropur, the largest dairy co-operative in Canada.
Luc Thériault, CEO of Pulp and Wood Products, and president of Domtar Canada.
Magali Picard, president of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec.
Jonathan Price, president and CEO at Teck Resources Ltd., a mining and resource company based in B.C.
Susan Yurkovich, president and CEO of Canfor, a large forest products company based in B.C.
Michael Harvey, executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance.
Tabatha Bull, president and CEO of Canadian Council for Indigenous Business.
Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Valérie Beaudoin, expert in U.S. policy and politics at the University of Quebec.
Erin O’Toole, former federal Conservative leader.
Jean Charest, former Progressive Conservative leader and Liberal premier of Quebec.
P.J. Akeeagok, former premier of Nunavut.
Ralph Goodale, former Liberal finance minister and high commissioner to the U.K.
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You know, for a guy who isn't supposed to be a politician, Carney's choices for this committee strike me as sorta political, as well as sensible and representative and all that. Because this committee will end up cutting Poilievre off at the knees - oh, pshaw, perish the thought, I'm sure that never occurred to Carney at all!
Poilievre was quoted in the CBC article criticizing Carney for not starting negotiations sooner.
"What has Mark Carney done, really, in a year on this?" Poilievre asked Tuesday in Ottawa. "He hasn't held negotiations in five months, the Mexicans are going to be at the table formally with the Americans any day, the only talks that Mark Carney is doing are YouTube videos."But CUSMA isn't going away for another decade, no matter what Trump wants. So as Carney has been saying for a year, Canada doesn't need to rush into anything.
As Carney's press release today reminded everyone:
The CUSMA entered into force on July 1, 2020, for 16 years (until 2036).And by 2036, Trump will be long gone.
The agreement included a commitment to review the Agreement on the 6th anniversary of its coming-into-force, which is July 1, 2026.
At this point, the countries can decide by consensus on any appropriate actions and whether to extend the CUSMA’s term for another 16 years[IE, until 2052.]
Should there be no consensus to extend the CUSMA’s term in 2026, joint reviews would be held annually until the parties agree to an extension or until the agreement expires in 2036.
Sure, some of his sycophants like Stephen Miller may still be hanging around in the next decade, but they are rapidly losing their influence already in the US - if there is one proven social benefit from social media these days, it is that the low-lifes and bottom-feeders who infested previous Republican administrations all the way back to Nixon can no longer hide from public notice - people tweet about them all the time now.Deals with Trump are worthless even if you can strike them. CUSMA was a deal with Trump, and he started re-trading on it the minute he got back into office. The only way to win is not to play. I have some serious problems with Carney on other policies, but I think he has this one right.
— Toronto Will (@torontowill.bsky.social) April 21, 2026 at 8:16 AM
Canada's trade notes on negotiations need to lead with "Don't Panic!"
Some real chowerheads in Canada have been spreading the idea that Mexico is on the cusp of getting some mythical tariff-free side deal with Trump, insisting that Ottawa needs to go cap-in-hand to avoid getting left out. Meanwhile:
— Justin Ling (@justinling.ca) April 21, 2026 at 8:08 AM
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This explains why Canada won't be nit-picking Carney's approach now - because we understand the stakes much better than Poilievre appears to.Once again, if you believed the Conservatives, apparently Trump is rational and has been willing to negotiate but the problem is Carney. This is risible. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) April 21, 2026 at 1:03 PM
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And I credit Carney for the guts he is showing in appointing this committee, with so many conservatives (small-c and big-C) - they won't hesitate to call out Carney and LeBlanc and Joli if they make a mistake.
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The longer Carney can wait on CUSMA, the better off Canada will be:
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4 comments:
I have a couple of worries about this advisory committee . . . sure, they're experienced and respectable and all that. But, first, there's something kind of samey about them--right-ish Liberals and less-right-ish Conservatives, CEOs of this and executive directors of that, all very very establishment, bit of an echo chamber. No scholars who might say something inconvenient, no head of the National Farmers' Union, and good lord of course no trade unionists.
Second is, these people mostly know their area or know politics, but how many of them have Carney's mental flexibility? They all have expertise in the way the world WAS two years ago, and they're all invested in that world. Canada's small-c conservatives all come from the continentalist school of ever-increasing trade entanglement with the US, they've never questioned the branch plant mentality in their lives. Couldn't Carney have gotten someone with a track record of a bit of resistance to the US?
It reminds me of the way, after the Iraq war went bad and after the financial crisis blew up, the media went and talked about it to all the people who were wrong, who had boosted the war or cheered on the financial excesses that led to the crash, while everyone who successfully predicted it was persona non grata.
Very thoughtful PLG. I can only add that I think Carney's goal is beyond CUSMA, or rather that CUSMA is really incidental to the goal of saving Canada from the Trump presidency. Therefore he isn't choosing people who can deal with real trade issues but rather people who can sell a flawed deal or no deal to corporate investors. I fully expect Trump will "end" CUSMA, which actually will stay until 2036, but might tank corporate investment in Canadian business as soon as it is announced.
While I agree with PLG on the general makeup of Carney's advisory board, I do want to point out that it includes union voices. Lana Payne, president of Unifor, represents Canada's largest union, namely the autoworkers, and Magali Picard, president of la Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, represents almost half the unionized workers in Quebec. Both are powerful, no- nonsense women and seasoned negotiators. In addition, Picard is one of the three indigenous voices on the board.
Like PLG, I want to see more resistance to the US, but overall I don't think Carney's done a bad job here. Let's see how the trade negotiations work out.
Well, my mistake, missed those two. In my defence it was a pretty long list.
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