NEVER FORGET that Trudeau provoked the current trade war with the United States. His diagnosable grandiose narcissism required him to fly by government jet to Mar-a-Lago, without a clue or a plan, simply because he can't stand not being the centre of attention. When President Trump suggested that Canada was being "subsidized" by the US to the tune of 200 Billion a year, Trudeau rolled over like a submissive puppy and started whining about how tariffs would bring an end to Canada as a country. As diplomacy went Trudeau might just as well have dropped to a knee to serenade the President with a rousing rendition of "OUR LAND IS YOUR LAND".
All Trudeau had to say was :
"President Trump, we hear and respect your frustration. Canada is almost 100% behind on our NATO defence spending obligation. The growth of Canadian exports of affordable oil and gas to the US to help YOU keep gasoline prices down has created a trade imbalance. We intend to address it. We will be back to you with a plan that will include massive increases in Canada's military, drug enforcement and border protection spending to simultaneously resolve the border crisis, trade imbalance and NATO spending issues."
Instead, Trudeau demonstrated a devastating level of weakness that directly undermined Canadian sovereignty. Trudeau then followed the cringe worthy Florida performance by childishly referring to American Trump voters as anti-feminist, misogynists for rejecting as President, an obviously incompetent "person with uterus" or however else Trudeau thinks of women.
Rather than being upset with President Trump, Canadians should be embarrassed that for all the blathering and pretentious sanctimony of Trudeau on the international stage, Canada's ongoing violation of the NATO Treaty military spending requirement of 2% of GDP is shameful.
Canada is that horrible neighbour that thinks all of your tools and equipment are his tools and equipment who never returns anything as promised while constantly complaining about how selfish YOU are.
Canada hides under the US Defence Umbrella while letting Canada's once proud military atrophy to the point of non-combat effectiveness. DEI has given Canada a Chief of Defence Staff more concerned about making sure tampons are available in the male and female infantry barracks than she is in the combat effectiveness of our depleted combat regiments.
When President Trump impugns Canadian sovereignty because Canada's defence is so dependent on and heavily subsidized by the US he is right. If China or Russia ever decide to attack Canada its questionable that Canada could even invoke Article 5 of the NATO Treaty given Canada's steadfast deadbeat neighbour approach to defence spending. The US would be perfectly justified from a national defence perspective to move troops into Canada and declare Canada a military protectorate.
2% of Canada's 2023 GDP 0f 2140 Billion dollars is roughly 42.8 Billion which is less than 10% of Canada's total 2024-2025, 449.2 billion dollar budget. Canada spends only slightly more than 1% of GDP on defence. Canada spends multiples of that on DEI hires and corporate welfare for Liberal affiliated "green technology companies" including economically unjustifiable battery plants, bug protein plants and "charities" that employ Trudeau's mother.
President Trump's legitimate concerns with drug trafficking, illegal migration, the trade deficit, and Canada's shameful refusal to shoulder its national burden of the mutual defence of its most valued neighbour have a very simple solution that addresses all four of these irritants in Canada's relationship with the US.
Immediately apologize to President Trump for the fact that Canada has been a lousy, freeloading neighbour and acknowledge that he is right.
Advise President Trump that Canada will immediately begin to simultaneously address these issues.
Declare a NATIONAL BORDER EMERGENCY.
Immediately announce an increase in Canada's Defence Budget to 50 Billion Dollars a year, with an immediate order for US Military compatible surveillance and attack drones, attack helicopters, troop transport helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and all terrain armored fighting vehicles and other necessary equipment to defend 9000 km of Canada US Border and eradicate drug traffickers. These costs could be easily covered in axing 50% of Canada's bureaucrats and DEI hires which have bloated the Canadian Public service under Trudeau while simultaneously cancelling most Trudeau designed national spending programs and federal transfer payments to so called "have not" provinces in the face of yet another Trudeau induced "national emergency" designed to either delay or win an upcoming election.
Immediately recall Parliament to call an election.
Lower all Canadian business and income tax rates to match US rates dollar for dollar to ensure that investment in Canada doesn't completely dry up in the short term or long term. Of course, "axing" the carbon tax will be a necessary part of this plan given that President Trump has removed the US from the Paris ("Green New Scam")accords. The anti-competitive Canadian carbon levies must go if Canadian companies aren't going to simply move to the US to avoid excessive taxation.
Following the election of a legitimate national government not bent on the wreckage of the Canadian economy for the benefit of China, pass amendments to the Criminal Code. Make it a criminal offence for Canadians to illegally cross the US-Canada Border at anywhere other than a controlled border crossing with specific exceptions delineated for specific border towns operating under customary day traffic back and forth between those communities. The punishment should not be less than 5 years in prison.
Amend the Criminal Code to make drug smuggling at trafficking weight other than at controlled border crossing punishable with life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Immediately deport all Canadian visa holders, and non-citizen Canadian landed immigrants charged with a criminal offence.
Declare all persons crossing a border anywhere other than a designated border check point other than the above delineated border town crossers a potential terrorist threat.
Apprehend and detain all non-US or non-Canadian citizens apprehended illegally crossing the border at any place other than a designated border crossing for transportation to the Guantanamo Bay illegal alien transhipment facility for immediate deportation to their country of origin.
Establish a joint Canada-USA Border Enforcement military and police task force with the power and jurisdiction to apprehend all illegal border crossers with lethal force if necessary. Empower this task force to seek out and destroy all illegal drug labs in Canada. Parliament should invoke the notwithstanding clause, if necessary, to prevent judicial interference with these seizures, demolitions and apprehensions.
Establish a National Security Task Force to implement the execution of this plan within 90 days of the required Federal Election. Lt. Col. (Ret.) David Redman former Director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (who has invaluable relevant experience managing the post 9-11 border crisis for Alberta) would volunteer to chair the National Security Task Force.
This would allow President Trump to declare victory and rightly take credit for a five year 250 billion dollar Canadian military and border security spend.
With regard to the proposed military spending and tax reductions, remember that Trudeau, Carney and Freeland remain in lockstep with a planned multi trillion-dollar economic bailout plan that will dwarf the proposed tax cuts and military spending increases suggested in this column. The Liberal planned Liberal spending frenzy is clearly just another Liberal COVID-type "we destroyed the economy with lockdowns that we fixed by bankrupting Canada" scenario that seems only designed to weaken Canada to the benefit of Communist China.
An 8 Trilllion dollar national debt will be Trudeau's legacy on Trudeau's way to collect his "August 1st Medal" from China.
If the modest suggestions in this column were implemented all of President Trump's legitimate grievances would be resolved and Canada could return to a peaceful and prosperous period of accelerated economic growth.
All childish, Trudeau led, "Team Canada" name calling and jingoism must stop. Pierre Polievre and the Conservative Party of Canada need to establish themselves as the adults in the room and not give in to the silly posturing of Doug Ford who is as deluded as Trudeau in thinking that "Team Canada" can win an Economic War with a country having a GDP of 28 Trillion Dollars. It is literally the Hockey equivalent of putting a Canadian Pee Wee team up against Soviet Red Army.
The Conservative Party's approach needs to completely reject retaliatory tariffs in favour of de-escalation and unilaterally, if necessary, addressing each and every one of President Trump's concerns.
Pierre Polievre and the Conservatives will lose the complete respect of Canadians if their only platform to address this new Trudeau created crisis is to suggest they can counter tariff better than the Liberals. Every conservative needs to recall that Erin O'Toole degraded the respect that Canadians had for the Conservative Party with his feckless "I can lock you down and vaccinated you nicer" approach.
It's time for the adults to take charge. As a final thought, Pierre Polievre will be very well served to continue to address his critics in the same manner that you would address a 4 year old:
"I'm not sure little Justin, why do YOU think that President Trump cares what you say or do?"
JEFFREY R.W. RATH B.A. (Hons.), LL.B (Hons.)
Foothills, Alberta
February 5th, 2025
Jeffrey Rath obtained an Honours Degree in Political Science while studying international relations at the University of Alberta. He holds an Honours Degree in Law from the University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science. He has argued constitutional cases at every level of court in Canada including the Supreme Court of Canada. As a constitutional and administrative lawyer, he is the only Canadian Lawyer to succeed in having every COVID Order in a province declared to be illegal.