I have written in this space before that Canada is a first rate country with a fourth rate business class. Their way of making money is to establish branch plants for the big US multinationals and to pull stuff from the ground to sell as raw material. They rarely process that raw material into a value added product, being content to sell the raw material to another establishment, usually in the US, and buy back the finished product at a markup.
The actions of the US administration and the actions of the Carney government are putting big monkey wrenches into that approach to making money. The US is no longer reliable and even if Donald Trump were to drop dead tomorrow, it will not be reliable ever again. At the same time, Mark Carney is traveling around the world making trade and investment deals with anybody who is interested and judging by the number of deals he has announced it would appear that many are interested in what Canada has to offer.
So now our business class is going to have to step up. The government is creating the conditions for them to make money a different way than in the past. They just need to have the business acumen and courage to take advantage of them.
I am not holding my breath that they will. The old approach is too ingrained in our business class for them to change. However, they could surprise me.
We will have to wait and see.
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