Tariff view from Mexico | Ottawa Sun

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TARIFF VIEW FROM MEXICO

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As I sit in my home in Mexico, I continue to follow the events of the tariff wars on social media. The one thing that has really struck me is the lack of basic knowledge on how Canada-U.S. trade works.

I saw much criticism of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who was called a traitor for not siding with Justin Trudeau. It was painfully evident that Canadians have zero clue about how the Canadian government works. Smith did what a premier should do: look after her province. It is sad that she was condemned, yet Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who did the same thing, was thought to show leadership by threatening to pull American liquor from the shelves.

I believe U.S. President Donald Trump played Canada to see how it would react. Canada went ballistic, while Mexico played it cool and quiet.

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Now Trump knows Canada is an easy target. Diplomacy is not Canada’s strong suit right now. Maybe Smith should be doing the negotiations for Canada.

STEVE SHREWSBURY
IXTLAHUACÁN DES LOS MEMRILLOS, MEXICO

WILL HE KEEP THIS PROMISE?

Justin Trudeau has routinely broken promises to Canadians over his long nine-plus years in office. A broken promise to U.S. President Donald Trump will have dire consequences. Because of Trudeau‘s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring policy, the Canadian military is 16,500 members short. The RCMP are also having recruiting problems and can barely keep up with attrition.

Narcotic investigations fall squarely under the RCMP, and, with liaison officers around the world, we’re well-placed to gain intelligence on the drug precursors needed to manufacture fentanyl. Therefore there is zero need to reward some friend of the government by making them the “border czar.”

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The big problem for Trudeau is quickly finding thousands of bodies to fulfil his promise to Trump about border security.

LARRY COMEAU
(Retired Mountie with years of experience in drug enforcement and as a RCMP foreign liaison officer)
OTTAWA

HAVE OUR OWN PROBLEMS

I find it very difficult to complain about another country’s leadership when we haven’t fixed our own leadership issues.

DAN PANKE
OTTAWA

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