So Prime Minister Carney kiboshed the suggestion Canada should retaliate with our oil and gas sales to America because we're mad at Trump over his tariff threats.
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I'm seeing some carping about this from our media.
In The Globe and Mail, Robyn Urbak sniffs
... his statement serves Mr. Carney’s political interests as Canada’s redeemer, but not much else. At the same time, his remarks offer some insight as to why Ottawa is not taking a harder stance against Mr. Trump; why Mr. Carney has ruled out using energy as leverage; why he’s not slapping massive tariffs on critical minerals or potash; and why he didn’t keep the Gordie Howe bridge closed until Mr. Trump told the Moroun family to stuff it. It may be because, in the short term, those actions would hurt Canada’s economy far worse than they would the U.S.’s, which would critically undermine Mr. Carney’s image as Canada’s economic white knight. Concessions to the U.S. clearly aren’t working, but they may be having something of a mitigating effect on Canada’s economy. On the other hand, if we shut off energy exports or tax the hell out of potash, Ottawa won’t be able to sell Canadians on the fiction that our economy is thriving. The pain would be too obvious. Mr. Carney can afford to be seen with his elbows down occasionally, but not as the shepherd of an economy in freefall. But where possible, Ottawa will strive to project both a strong front, and a stable (if sluggish) economy – even if that means “imperfectly” recounting the terms of a new bridge deal. Lies and loose elbows aren’t going to tank Mr. Carney’s reputation. So we should expect the concessions to continue....In The Guardian, Matt Gurney thinks Carney is playing politics:
...The US has some legitimate gripes with us, including trade barriers and Canada’s chronic underinvestment in defence. It’s reasonable to be angry about those things. But the nature of Trump’s actions has made resistance the only plausible Canadian response: caving in to the US president is toxic for Canadian voters. Some provincial resistance is likely due to unpopular regional leaders seeing salvation in battling Trump – and although Carney has made some concessions since becoming prime minister, including scrapping a planned digital tax that angered US tech companies, he dare only go so far.But I think most of Canada gets it.
Trump has often complained that dealing with Canadians is unpleasant and nasty. He should expect us to get nastier still. Whether he knows it or not, he’s left us little choice.
On the Canadian Identity substack, Sarah Bowman at Online4Democracy says Carney is ragging the puck:
I guess in 20 days we'll see if Trump just pulls another TACO or not. He's in enough trouble these days already, what with Iran, the US economy, corruption, the midterms, his Senate nominations, and his ICE Gestapo.
...For the uninitiated, “ragging the puck” is pure, unadulterated Canadiana. It is the hockey art of protecting the puck and skating in deliberate, controlled loops to run down the clock.
To some critics, Canada’s cautious, details-first approach under Prime Minister Mark Carney looks like hesitation. They wonder why we aren’t aggressively charging across the border or firing back with reckless, retaliatory economic threats.
But for a hockey pragmatist and rules-based institutionalist like Carney—who once minded the net as a varsity goaltender—ragging the puck isn’t an illegal delay tactic. It is an active, highly disciplined game of keep-away. When your opponent refuses to offer a deal that serves the best interests of both nations, you don’t blindly rush into their zone and turn the puck over. You protect what is yours, absorb the pressure, and force them to expend their energy chasing you until they are ready to play by the rules....
Other comments:
And in the rest of that thread, no one thought Carney was wrong.View on Threads
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I guess in 20 days we'll see if Trump just pulls another TACO or not. He's in enough trouble these days already, what with Iran, the US economy, corruption, the midterms, his Senate nominations, and his ICE Gestapo.
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Wildfires Update
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Is anyone surprised to hear this decision?
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B.C. firefighters face critical days as dry fuels and winds increase fire risks
— Unofficial TorontoStar (All News) (@torontostar-rss.bsky.social) July 31, 2026 at 2:08 AM
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— Unofficial CBC News Mirror (@cbcnews-mirror.bsky.social) July 31, 2026 at 2:05 AM
The future of architecture? LA house is coated in asphalt tiles to make it resistant to wildfires. #architecture #wildfires #dezeen www.dezeen.com/2026/07/30/m...
— dee_le_brun (@deelebrun.bsky.social) July 31, 2026 at 1:33 AM
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Commonwealth Games Update
Sheriauna Haase Gold and Chloe Dunbar Silver in Women’s T47 100 metres
Julia Tunks Silver in Women’s discus
George Quarcoo and guide Oluwasegun Makinde Bronze in Men’s T12 100 metres
Xavier Lusignan Bronze in Men's 110 kg weightlifting
Etta Love Bronze in Women's 86+ kg weightlifting
Overall, Canadian athletes won eight weightlifting medals (two gold, two silver and four bronze):
And speaking of sports, don't miss this article about the goings-on at the Tour de France:
I rode the Tour de France cauliflower:
— Defector (@defector.com) July 30, 2026 at 4:11 PM
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4 comments:
If tarriffs are paid by the US consumer and are hurting the US economy , tariifs would hurt the Canadian consumer and hurt the Canadian economy.
"including trade barriers and Canada’s chronic underinvestment in defence." nonsense!
1) I like dairy supply-managemnt (for example) as I don't like poison in my milk.
2) our military is quite adequate for our situation and the ridiculous 2% (or 5%) goal is all about making war-merchants rich while upping the risk factor for the ret of us.
oth, Hidden drone and missile factories, might be worth a few loonies investment to protect our border.
Pundits writing this crap simply provide cover for trump and his ilk.
"When we sign a contract, we can’t just break it willy-nilly whenever we get mad. That’s what Trump does."
When rules are broken while under duress from the other side's rule breaking, there is little or no reputational harm incurred, so I do not buy this reasoning.
Preventing self-harm is valid and might justify the Carny-cave-ins on the GH Bridge and Digital-contant levies, etc, etc. However, as we've all witnessed lately, giving a bully consesions often invites more bullying.
content and concessions .... yikes!
alas, my spell-check doesn't seem to work in the blogger-comment section.
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