Michael Higgins: Can we ditch the political theatre for the real show?

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to the media on Saturday, Aug. 22, about the decision to walk away from trade talks with the U.S. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK / Postmedia

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Walking away from trade talks with the United States was the easy part. Prime Minister Mark Carney now needs to sell Canadians a kiss-and-make-up strategy.

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Because sooner or later we are going to have to sit down and hammer out a trade agreement or get very hurt in the divorce proceedings.

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As expected, U.S. President Donald Trump is already threatening retaliation for Carney’s decision to collapse the U.S.-Canada trade talks at the weekend.

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“On January First, 2027, Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50%. Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS. Canada will be treated like a State no longer!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

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“On Trade, and in other ways, also, they are among the worst Nations in the World to deal with. They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!”

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It comes as no surprise that the president is threatening more tariffs and even less of a shock that he feels the need to belittle Canada.

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Even his facts are wrong.

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“They do 95% of their business with the U.S.,” said Trump.

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Well, not quite. The U.S. is certainly our largest market, accounting for about 70 per cent of exports. That fact alone should have been an encouragement to diversify our markets and build the infrastructure that was so necessary — like pipelines — but unfortunately our previous prime minister was too shortsighted to see that.

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Carney is keen on expanding to different markets and building the infrastructure. Diversity will make us stronger and more resilient, he said at a press conference Monday, and he’s right. But that is going to take time so breaking up with the U.S. now really isn’t a viable option.

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Walking away from trade talks and telling Canadians that we are all in this together is marvellous political theatre that will unite the country in hatred towards the U.S. and will boost the prime minister’s ratings.

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But it won’t help us economically. It will do nothing for business and will result in perhaps hundreds of thousands of job losses.

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“Elbows up” was always an emotional ploy (and a very successful one) but it is not a strategy that puts food on the table or pays the rent. Carney has manipulated the zeitgeist so that we can all feel proud that we have stood up to the bully. Well, hurrah, except that doesn’t actually get us anywhere.

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Patriotism is not a bad word. Love of one’s country is felt in the bones and the soul. There are those in this country who have disparaged our history, disgraced the reputations of fine and venerable men and women and who believe we should be ashamed of being so-called colonizers.

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But Canada has nothing to be ashamed of and plenty to feel proud about.

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Nevertheless, Canadians should be very wary when patriotism is being spouted from the mouths of politicians. An appeal to emotion is usually a form of deflection to avoid scrutiny of the facts.