History from the podium
Canada's prime minister Mark Carney told an audience at the World Economic Forum that the rules-based international order is dead. That comment is quite something, coming from an international banker. Carney says that the great powers have ushered in a "brutal reality" where they are not subject to any constraints. To survive, middle powers, including Canada, must cooperate in a shifting set of coalitions based on common values and interests.
Free trade, or reciprocity, with the U.S., was the big issue in Canada's federal election campaign in 1891. The Liberal-Reform Party led by Wilfrid Laurier was for it, and the Conservatives, led by their aging leader Sir John A. Macdonald, were opposed. Macdonald gave a famous speech saying no to what he said would result in Canada's being absorbed by the U.S. He won the election.
Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has placed a twenty-five per cent tariff on all Canadian goods. As promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada will respond by placing an equal tariff on select imports from the U.S. Here is Trudeau's speech making that announcement.
