Canada finds itself at a disadvantage when combating U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs due to ten years of stagnant economic progress during the Liberal administration's tenure.
The Liberal leader, Mark Carney, accurately points out that while Canada has control over our own actions against tariffs, we cannot dictate what President Trump decides to do.
However, Carney also acknowledges that our economy was struggling even before Trump’s tariffs took effect; he mentioned this during the Liberal leadership contest.
He particularly highlighted uncontrolled immigration and—quoting his own words—"government expenditure that increased more than 9% annually, year after year, at a pace double that of our economic growth."
The administration led by the Liberal Party, which he heads, boasts the poorest track record for economic growth measured by real GDP per capita—the commonly used indicator of a country's wealth—since Prime Minister R.B. Bennett's tenure during the Great Depression.
This outcome was expected due to the Liberal Party under ex-PM Justin Trudeau constraining our economy with growth-stifling laws like their relentless assault on Canada’s energy industry.
Despite this, Carney commits to maintaining these policies—such as the Liberals' Bill C-69, often referred to as the "pipelines off" bill—which obstructs the transportation of our extensive oil and natural gas reserves to coastal areas and subsequently to international markets hungry for energy.
Rather, we have to offload them at significant markdowns to the U.S., resulting in an annual loss to the Canadian economy of tens of billions of dollars.
In their final economic update prior to announcing the election, the Liberals exceeded their projected deficit target of $40.1 billion for the 2023-24 fiscal year by 54%, with the actual deficit amounting to $61.9 billion.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
In her resignation letter to Trudeau, former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pointed out the impending Trump tariffs when she mentioned that the Liberals' expenditure on "expensive political stunts" indicated their failure to maintain "our financial readiness...so we could have resources available for an approaching trade war."
The reality is that the war has arrived, and for the Liberals to say it's positive that Canada was not affected as severely as other nations is ridiculous. This is because a federal government facing significant budget deficits amid a struggling economy puts us at a disadvantage in this tariff conflict.
For the Liberals, after bringing us into this predicament, to assert they are our best option for getting out of it is absurd.