Great post Fred! I love Wab Kinew & how he handles himself as one of our Premiers, we need a couple more just like him; one in Alberta, for instance, would be awesome :)
Great post Fred! I saw that interview and liked the clarity of Wab Kinew’s responses. What struck me was the look on the interviewer’s face as he reframed the question. He was either unsure if he had heard Mr. Kinew correctly or was giving Mr.Kinew a chance to backpedal. If all premiers answered as clearly I think Jameson Greer would faint. I love Wab Kinew! He makes a statement with a smile on his face and completely disarms the interviewer.
Another good one Fred, Canada is loving reading your columns. I liked your line, "People are used to politicians sounding like they're buffering". But in the past week or so, Canada has changed the rhetoric and it making it clear that the days of bending over are over. Kinew: "drop the tariffs and we'll buy your booze". Ford: "drop the tariffs and not only will we buy your booze, but we'll start going to Florida and Vegas again". Carney: "You know what's an irritant? 50% tariff on steel. 50% tariff on aluminum. 25% tariff on automobiles, and all those tariffs on forest products. Those are violations of our trade deal."
Our Canadian tone has changed and Carney knows that going to beg the orange emperor to be his friend is the worst negotiating tool he could ever pull out of the chest.
My prediction: when Canada does not cave in to the American unreasonable demands, ie. payment and concessions up front to continue discussions, put booze back on the shelves first, drop our dairy protections first, etc., etc., Trump will pull out the "TRASH CUSMA" card, expecting a cave in.
PP will run around like "the sky is falling" and there will be a lot of hair pulling and nail biting, but Mr. Carney will not cave in, he will hold strong, and there may be a period of no trade agreement, but in the end we will get a fair trade deal that works better for Canada than the one that the Americans want to impose on us. Remember, you saw it here first. ;-)
Meanwhile as Laura Babcock reminded us, Doug Ford was on CNN saying “It is unfortunate that Canadians are boycotting and boycotting spending tens of billions of dollars in the U.S."
Fucking trump lickspittle. He will sell out Ontario. Time for him to go!!! Time for ontarians to get the full benefit from their tax money. No shady deals with rich buddies, no payoffs, no back room secret deals. Repeal the foi act and force politicians to be fully transparent. Not hide behind locked doors and bs
C'mon folks, that's not how Ford put things to CNN and CBS. He said it sarcastically as in "it's too bad that we have to boycott you" and it's costing you millions. The message he sent to the US was "take off the illegal tariffs and you might get our tourism and alcohol business back"
Way to go, Premier Kinew. This is how leaders lead. This is also how leaders respond to bullies, and goodness knows that Trump is, among other egregious things, a bully at his core.
The "attempted "assassination", it's all a farce like the first one the orange ball claimed. I did a lot of researching after the first one. I knew I had seen that little white patch on his ear before! I found it on a post regarding Melania 18 YEARS ago! Funny how he pops back up off the floor with that patch already attached! Was there a healthcare worker waiting on the floor, in case his ear got grazed? So sick! That's MY rant for today haha
Good analysis on this-Some people might call Kinew's bluntness, his willingness to “go there” concerning Epstien’s files to be political naivte. Or grandstanding. Or just incredibly Machiavellian ( there, I said it, you feds still have the cover room to brush it off as provincial ramblings. Or it might suit Ottawa's needs to have Kinew drop that burning poop bag on the US doorstoop, and just step back, with the bus that Kinew might be thrown under parked and idling around the corner.)
But no matter which wheels are spinning within what other wheels, you've hit the nail on the head when you talk about the morning after “walk back of shame” not being something that's our factory setting now.
It's true, when it comes to big decision making, we're nowhere near as self doubting as we were a year and a half ago.
I have to wonder, is it because the banker in the equation, (you know, the loans/projects officer who usually spikes things as being too risky ) now works on OUR behalf? Maybe people are getting to a certain comfort level with Carney, thinking “ well, the man wouldn't spend 30 years crafting a rep as a guy who knows money, only to blow it in two years on crazy Canuckistan schemes. Maybe we really can do this “Build Canada Strong “ thing…🤔
I really appreciate reading your take on current events. Perhaps it's feeding my cognitive bias, although I try very hard to have a bias towards what the objective evidence tells me. What you post accords with what the evidence tells me.
Great post Fred! I love Wab Kinew & how he handles himself as one of our Premiers, we need a couple more just like him; one in Alberta, for instance, would be awesome :)
Ontario too. 😉
It’s amazing Patsy how far a little clarity goes.
No theatrics, no blame game... just “here’s the position.”
Feels like we forgot that was an option.
Couldn’t agree more!
Great post Fred! I saw that interview and liked the clarity of Wab Kinew’s responses. What struck me was the look on the interviewer’s face as he reframed the question. He was either unsure if he had heard Mr. Kinew correctly or was giving Mr.Kinew a chance to backpedal. If all premiers answered as clearly I think Jameson Greer would faint. I love Wab Kinew! He makes a statement with a smile on his face and completely disarms the interviewer.
That smile did half the work Joanna.
Says something direct… then just sits there like, “yep, I said it.”
No drama, no cleanup crew required.
Another good one Fred, Canada is loving reading your columns. I liked your line, "People are used to politicians sounding like they're buffering". But in the past week or so, Canada has changed the rhetoric and it making it clear that the days of bending over are over. Kinew: "drop the tariffs and we'll buy your booze". Ford: "drop the tariffs and not only will we buy your booze, but we'll start going to Florida and Vegas again". Carney: "You know what's an irritant? 50% tariff on steel. 50% tariff on aluminum. 25% tariff on automobiles, and all those tariffs on forest products. Those are violations of our trade deal."
Our Canadian tone has changed and Carney knows that going to beg the orange emperor to be his friend is the worst negotiating tool he could ever pull out of the chest.
My prediction: when Canada does not cave in to the American unreasonable demands, ie. payment and concessions up front to continue discussions, put booze back on the shelves first, drop our dairy protections first, etc., etc., Trump will pull out the "TRASH CUSMA" card, expecting a cave in.
PP will run around like "the sky is falling" and there will be a lot of hair pulling and nail biting, but Mr. Carney will not cave in, he will hold strong, and there may be a period of no trade agreement, but in the end we will get a fair trade deal that works better for Canada than the one that the Americans want to impose on us. Remember, you saw it here first. ;-)
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That’s a good read of it Frank.
Once the tone shifts from reactive to firm, the whole negotiation dynamic changes.
The real test will be exactly what you said...
what happens if things escalate and there’s pressure to fold.
That’s where we’ll see if this is a moment… or a turning point.
Great piece with yet another reason why I think Manitoba has the best premier in the western provinces.
Bar’s not exactly sky-high these days Barb…
but he’s clearing it comfortably.
Straight answers still go a long way.
Quite possibly the best premier in Canada.
Wab Kinew is a great leader. He governs for the people.
Meanwhile as Laura Babcock reminded us, Doug Ford was on CNN saying “It is unfortunate that Canadians are boycotting and boycotting spending tens of billions of dollars in the U.S."
Fucking trump lickspittle. He will sell out Ontario. Time for him to go!!! Time for ontarians to get the full benefit from their tax money. No shady deals with rich buddies, no payoffs, no back room secret deals. Repeal the foi act and force politicians to be fully transparent. Not hide behind locked doors and bs
There’s definitely no shortage of strong opinions on this one Brian.
The real question is who’s actually delivering results…
and who’s just talking.
C'mon folks, that's not how Ford put things to CNN and CBS. He said it sarcastically as in "it's too bad that we have to boycott you" and it's costing you millions. The message he sent to the US was "take off the illegal tariffs and you might get our tourism and alcohol business back"
That’s how I heard it too Frank...
more of a pointed message than an apology.
“Fix the tariffs… and the business comes back.”
Pretty clear leverage play when you strip it down.
Hmmmmm, give your head a shake Dougie!!!
Wow. Not surprising but Dung Ford has zero leadership ability. He is a Trump mini-me.
Yeah Lorna, that comment raised some eyebrows.
There’s a bit of a disconnect right now...
on one hand we’re talking about leverage, on the other hand...
concern about the impact of using it.
That tension is probably going to keep showing up.
Kinew and Carney must get along great.
I love your analyses on all of your posts.
Appreciate that, Bob...
glad you’re enjoying the posts.
And yeah… if nothing else, they seem to be reading from a similar playbook right now.
Way to go, Premier Kinew. This is how leaders lead. This is also how leaders respond to bullies, and goodness knows that Trump is, among other egregious things, a bully at his core.
Another person who is standing out Premier Wab Kinew. Keep it up Canada 🍁 🇨🇦 we need more leaders like you and Prime Minister Carney making us proud.
Good!! No conservative desire to capitulate to the USA.
Great to see this mindset occurring. Let’s see it multiply and infect other countries too!
The "attempted "assassination", it's all a farce like the first one the orange ball claimed. I did a lot of researching after the first one. I knew I had seen that little white patch on his ear before! I found it on a post regarding Melania 18 YEARS ago! Funny how he pops back up off the floor with that patch already attached! Was there a healthcare worker waiting on the floor, in case his ear got grazed? So sick! That's MY rant for today haha
I think I will write an article about that story Patsy...
it needs it's own thread.
Magnificent idea Fred! :)
Good analysis on this-Some people might call Kinew's bluntness, his willingness to “go there” concerning Epstien’s files to be political naivte. Or grandstanding. Or just incredibly Machiavellian ( there, I said it, you feds still have the cover room to brush it off as provincial ramblings. Or it might suit Ottawa's needs to have Kinew drop that burning poop bag on the US doorstoop, and just step back, with the bus that Kinew might be thrown under parked and idling around the corner.)
But no matter which wheels are spinning within what other wheels, you've hit the nail on the head when you talk about the morning after “walk back of shame” not being something that's our factory setting now.
It's true, when it comes to big decision making, we're nowhere near as self doubting as we were a year and a half ago.
I have to wonder, is it because the banker in the equation, (you know, the loans/projects officer who usually spikes things as being too risky ) now works on OUR behalf? Maybe people are getting to a certain comfort level with Carney, thinking “ well, the man wouldn't spend 30 years crafting a rep as a guy who knows money, only to blow it in two years on crazy Canuckistan schemes. Maybe we really can do this “Build Canada Strong “ thing…🤔
That’s a sharp read.
What stood out to me too wasn’t just what was said…
it’s that there wasn’t a walk-back the next day.
That’s usually the tell.
And you’re right...
whether Kinew is freelancing or playing a role that gives Ottawa some cover,
it still shifts the tone of the whole conversation.
On Carney… I think there’s a growing sense that decisions are being made...
with a different kind of confidence behind them.
Whether that holds under real pressure is the next test.
I really appreciate reading your take on current events. Perhaps it's feeding my cognitive bias, although I try very hard to have a bias towards what the objective evidence tells me. What you post accords with what the evidence tells me.
Appreciate that, Brad...
and I like how you framed it.
We all bring some bias to the table, the key is staying anchored to what the evidence is actually showing and being willing to adjust if it changes.
That’s the part I try to stick to.
This is the way. Canada Strong
2035 Kinew in Sussex Drive!