The Food Professor- Trump’s 51st State Taunt Underscores Canada’s Internal Trade Mess
Canada’s fragmented trade policies often make it easier to do business with the United States than with other provinces. Interprovincial trade barriers have been a longstanding issue, and provinces frequently prioritize the U.S. market, drawn by its ease of access and substantial economic returns.
Quebec got smacked recently when Maine refused to allow power lines from Quebec from crossing through the state. Karma after Quebec has refused to sanction a pipeline to cross their province from western Canada.
Maine choose poorly: they ditched the hydro power for off shore wind.
Governments exist to throttle freedom and confiscate wealth.
The one thing that Trump is achieving is proving just how inefficient governments really are. And that is spreading in countries around the world. Governments everywhere need to be cut back viciously.
“Canada might as well be America’s 51st state is absurd, as Canadians know.”
Don’t be in a rush…let’s think this through!
“President Trump may be wrong most of the time…” No, he is not. “…but his comments sting because they point to Canada’s potential to do better.” No; they sting because Canadians hate President Trump and resent Orange Man Bad pointing out what they are too stupid and lazy to fix.
““President Trump may be wrong most of the time…” No, he is not. “…but his comments sting because they point to Canada’s potential to do better.” No; they sting because Canadians hate President Trump and resent Orange Man Bad pointing out what they are too stupid and lazy to fix.”
Well said. Trump is going to transform Canada as well as the US, like it or not.
This is I wrote on X in response: “President Trump is wrong most of the time? Hardly. More like: very seldom. And that’s why he won the mandate he did. That’s also one of the reasons he’s feared ( and loathed) by those who don’t have their act together. One glaring example: your Prime Minister.”
I like it!
As well, the food supply chains likely need improvement, as food recalls seem to be more frequent. Food from grocery stores also spoils more quickly at home, likely due to high transportation/handling costs. Lots of the best Canadian food is shipped offshore.
My Dad was quite good at making pithy remarks on what he observed going on around him such as “The best bacon gets exported and we’re, (meaning Cdns) get the 2nds.” or “There’s something wrong when the guys buying the cars are making half the wages as the guys building them”. Another that I found quite prescient was, “Y’know one of these days folks, (meaning Nth Americans), are going to turn off the 11 o’clock news, after watching the latest violence around the world, get up in the morning to go to work only find it unfolding on their own doorstep.”
He use to also wear a small badge on his lapel that had in big red letters on a white background the letters … ‘ICSSOMA’ … which stood for ‘ I can’t succeed sitting on my ass!
This was all around 1962.
How right you were Dad !
Your Dad reminds me of my own. Good Men.
Joining the USA would have its pros and cons.
Chances are the state governances here would all be more woke than Cali, and we’d also have the feds on our arses, which are in many ways much worse than our own feds; we have bureaucrats, they have SWAT teams.
On the bright side, most of our cops would turn into what the Americans call “walking lottery tickets”, our natural resources would be fully exploited, lots of our politicians would go to jail, and our gun laws would be scrapped.
On the bright side, the prairie provinces could stop importing bananas from BC.
Banana? Build anything near anywhere never again or Trudeau’s replacement penis? Both have BC connections.
More than a few of the internal trade complaints by Canadian business have their basis in too much regulation and red tape generated by the different governments in our federal system. We heat them quote big numbers, but we don’t get the particulars in an itemized list of the so-called barriers and the costs of each item The really big barriers are the caused by the refusal by Ottawa to require that petroleum and natural gas pipelines and power transmission lines go across the country.
Barriers include regulation, taxes, high energy costs, and unions, combined with no oversight and accountability.
It’s easier to do Managed trade with the US and Mexico, than it is to herd the 10 fat cats around to get them to eliminate internal trade barriers.