Dear Editor of The Review
Goodness knows I am no prophet. But then, who else, back in 2024, saw what was coming? Who saw that our cozy relationship with the United States, going back decades, was about to come to a crashing halt? Who suggested that our closest ally and friend would suddenly turn on us? The answer is nobody. As far as Canada was concerned, our happy existence, where we were allowed to sit comfortably in our own safe, warm puddle to play at social engineering, was reality. It seemed perfectly normal to us that we could, like children, ignore and leave the heavy lifting (like defense) to others. After all, our whole lives had been lived like that, and our parents and grandparents before us. Why would we think differently? Until it actually happened. Until the USA, suddenly and without warning, economically knifed us in the back. Thousands out of work, huge hit to our finances. And it is not over. In fact, here I will make a prophesy: Like the title of that old song, You ain’t seen nothing yet.
President Trump has arranged things, so he has a completely free hand. He needs no permission from any person or group to do what he wants. He has openly stated he will pay no attention to international law and that this hemisphere (which includes Canada) is to be controlled by the USA. He has arranged things so that he has, for all intents and purposes, become the closest thing to an autocrat this continent has ever seen. And, barring some miracle, that total authority to do whatever he wants will continue for the next 10 or so months until the US mid term elections happen and his present cowardly, lap dog congress is, hopefully, replaced. Until then though, he has a free hand. Which brings us to Canada.
I do not envy PM Carney or the Canadian trade negotiating team. How do you negotiate with a 15-year-old, egotistical bully who, regardless of what he says, promises or even signs, could the next day change his mind and, arbitrarily, throw it in a garbage can? And he may. So, for the next 10 months or so, we are completely at the mercy of this maniac. In the upcoming negotiations he could slap a 35 percent tariff on all Canadian goods just because he feels our team did not grovel to him enough. No matter what he does, it is a fair bet it’s going to be way worse than what he has done to us so far. What’s to stop him? He has us over a barrel and he knows it. So yes, we are in very deep do-do here.
Am I correct in my prophecy? I sincerely hope not. I would absolutely love to be wrong. But I really do fear, we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Respectfully
Colin Affleck
Champlain Township
Colin Affleck
L’Orignal
