Facing a major threat to the Canadian economy that could wipe out thousands of jobs and cripple the economy, the Trudeau government announced “action” on Monday.
In the Fall Economic Statement, Trudeau’s Liberals announced that they would dedicate $1.3 billion to enhance border measures to deal with the Trump tariff threat.
The problem is, they will spend that $1.3 billion over six years.
Trudeau may as well have called Trump up and said, “We’ve thought about your concerns, and we have decided you may as well put a 50% tariff on us, starting now.”
There wasn’t much detail in Trudeau’s announcement on Monday, but the dollar value shows that the government doesn’t take the issue seriously.
The Canadian dollar dropped below (US)70 cents for the first time in nearly five years. We saw a finance minister resign in spectacular form on Monday, a government in crisis and the incoming American administration of President-elect Donald Trump openly mocking Trudeau for losing his finance minister.
So, given that Trump’s tariff threat would decimate the Canadian economy, you might expect a serious response from the Trudeau government. But if you expected that, you would be wrong.
Consider that government revenue is up $35.7 billion compared to last year, government spending is up $25.1 billion and the deficit — driven, in part, by higher debt service charges — is up by $9 billion. Now, consider that the new budget allocation to secure the border in an attempt to avoid the Trump tariffs amounts to roughly $217 million per year.
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Does that seem like an appropriate amount to deal with the concerns of the incoming Trump government?
The answer is a clear no.
The Trudeau government wants you to think otherwise.
“Canada takes pride in our border and law enforcement agencies that protect our communities and support our economy day in and day out,” minister of everything Dominic LeBlanc said on Tuesday.
“We must preserve the integrity of our immigration system, and make sure that it is well-managed and sustainable,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller said.
OK, here is a quick question for Miller: Why have we allowed Canada to become a back-door entry point for the United States.
In the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2024, there were 198,929 people who entered the United States illegally from Canada. That’s an 82% increase from 2022, so it is no wonder the Americans are concerned about an increasing problem with the Canada-U.S. border.
The Trudeau government is claiming it will put more resources into dealing with illegal drugs and human smuggling despite years of calls to deal with these issues and no concrete measures being taken. The saying in politics is that nothing sharpens the mind quite like a hanging.
It’s doubtful that Trudeau thinks he is leaving anytime soon. This is a man confident in his future and that of his party.
The Canadian public may have lost confidence in Justin Trudeau, but Justin Trudeau has not lost confidence in himself.
This is a man always fully confident in his own abilities, even if those around him have doubts.