The establishment media and political class have long worked together to pull the veil over the eyes of the Canadian People.
They’ve tried to convince us that Canada has “stature” in the world and is ‘respected’ internationally.
They’ve talked about “soft-power,” and the strength of our ‘example’ to other countries.
They’ve even claimed that raw military strength and economic leverage no longer really mattered and that by taking a “progressive” position on every possible issue Canada would become a “moral superpower.”
It was all lies.
For some time, Canadians have been realizing how badly the foreign policy elites and political establishment has failed.
In the most recent election, Justin Trudeau even skipped the foreign policy debate, realizing that avoiding the issue altogether was far better for him than the risk of having the elitist consensus demolished on live television.
He managed to narrowly escape in the campaign, barely holding on to power.
And yet, Trudeau is unable to escape the consequences of his weakness, and the weakness of Canada’s foreign policy establishment.
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are still being held hostage by China.
Trudeau’s latest attempt to secure their release was to ask the United States to make the freedom of Kovrig and Spavor a condition of the Trump Administration signing a phase 1 trade deal with China.
Surely, if “soft-power” mattered and Canada was a “moral superpower,” then Trudeau’s request would be taken seriously, right?
Not so much.
China has openly mocked Trudeau, saying his request was “doomed to fail.” An advisor to China’s State Council said: “Frankly speaking, what Trudeau is saying is nonsense.”
China sees Trudeau and his request as a joke.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently Tweeted about the upcoming U.S.-China phase 1 deal, saying this:
“Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchaes [sic] of agricultural product & more. Formal signing being arranged. Also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China, & Hong Kong (progress!).”
Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchaes of agricultural product & more. Formal signing being arranged. Also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China, & Hong Kong (progress!).— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
At this point, it appears Trudeau’s request isn’t on the radar for the United States.
After being caught on tape mocking Trump at the recent NATO meeting, Trudeau likely has little leverage with the Trump Administration at this point in time.
The key problem here is that Justin Trudeau, many of Canada’s corporate elites, and the Canadian political class are in thrall to the conventional “wisdom” of the foreign policy establishment.
That establishment has decided to make weakness into a virtue, allowed our military power to evaporate, and seek endless compromise while selling out our national sovereignty.
As a result, our nation is left adrift in a world that has decisively rejected “soft-power,” leaving us as a weak, naïve, and frankly irrelevant presence to other nations who actually have real power.
The fact is that many countries around the world are run like ruthless criminal syndicates, and until Canada realizes that, and until our foreign policy establishment is replaced by people who actually understand ruthlessness and understand how dangerous the world is, Canada will continue to suffer the consequences.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
