Explaining Egg Prices to a Gangster
Thoughts on the Canada-Trump Trade Negotiations
Does anyone really think that we will be able to negotiate a trade deal with Donald Trump within the next 20 days that will bring peace to our two nations?
I don't.
Here is an overview of concerns that I believe Prime Minister Carney should consider when meeting with Trump.
Mr. Carney came into Parliament with an enormous amount of goodwill because Canadians desperately wanted a wartime prime minister.
The playbook for resistance was laid down when Trump first threatened our nation. In response, Prime Minister Trudeau stood up and threatened to retaliate dollar for dollar. It sent a message around the world that Canada would not bend.
That was the first time we saw President TACO.
And then, as per the usual Trump script, he came back again with massive tariffs, but Carney took a different approach. He didn't retaliate.
We thought: maybe this is one cool-headed card player. He's waiting to get to the negotiating table.
And when, last week, Donald Trump unilaterally suspended the trade negotiations unless we agreed to drop the long-planned Digital Services Tax, we took comfort in the PM's words that he conducts his negotiations at the table.
But then, on the eve of Canada Day, Mr. Carney blinked.
Perhaps he has a plan. Trade negotiations should never be done by social media broadsides or by headlines. They do better without backseat drivers.
But these are "negotiations" being played out in public, and Carney’ decision to give up a key negotiating position has rattled many Canadians. This is a moment where Canadians must lay down some very clear red lines for our government, because Donald Trump doesn't negotiate trade in the hopes of establishing long-term stability.
Hell, he doesn't even negotiate in the interests of the American people. He has shown time and time again that he treats trade as a theatre for ridicule and humiliation.
And now it's Canada's turn.
The PM may have given up the digital services tax, hoping to get Trump back to the table, but now Trump is rubbing it in and saying he is coming for more.
Just check out the statement from White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt:
"It's very simple. Prime Minister Carney and Canada caved to President [Donald] Trump and the United States of America.”
These people are not our friends.
Trump has been clear from the beginning that he is using tariff threats to destabilize our nation and force us to give up our sovereignty.
We are dealing with gangster politics. And anyone who has ever watched a gangster movie knows what happens when you agree to pay protection. They always come back for more.
A Tax on the Digital Giants
Let's talk about the Digital Services Tax.
The Digital oligarchs have been ripping Canadians off for years. Does anyone think that Amazon, which fired workers in Quebec and shut down warehouses to break the union, a company that has undercut Canadian taxpaying Canadian businesses at every turn, is a good corporate citizen?
Or Facebook, which has cut off our news media from the platform while drowning us in bots, rage, hate and identity fraudsters. They have never come close to paying a fair level of tax that any Canadian business would be expected to pay.
Or what about Google? They pulled money from Canada's Pride because they are now anti-diversity, equity and inclusion. They have redrawn Google Maps to promote Trump's whackjob expansionist claims in the Gulf of Mexico.
Is this a company Canada can trust?
The Digital Services Tax was supposed to be implemented years ago. But Canada held off in the belief that we could get a deal with the Americans for fair taxation. When that didn’t happen we moved ahead as we had always said we would do.
The Europeans have a tax. The Brits have a tax. And now Canada has given up its right to establish an independent tax policy to appease Donald Trump.
I get that the Prime Minister decided to unilaterally drop Canada's incoming Digital Services Tax as a show of good faith. And in negotiations, sometimes we have to lose something to protect or gain something else. But the MAGA right and their Maple MAGA minions are already talking about what is next on the table.
The Price of Eggs
Donald Trump is coming for dairy, eggs and poultry - the backbone of our domestic agricultural market that has served Canada well for decades. The White House is bragging that having taken down the digital tax they can take on our farmers next.
Trump is a liar. And there is nothing he lies about more than Canadian dairy farmers.
And we need our Prime Minister to speak the truth. We need to hear him defend the supply management system that ensures the viability of the family farm in Canada.
Carney could explain that Canada's dairy, poultry and egg industries do not compete with American farmers. We are not trying to flood their market. We maintain fair domestic access at good prices.
Wisconsin Dairy farmers can trade into Canada. They just can't flood the market. And they have never even tried to meet their quota.
Let's talk about the price of eggs.
Donald Trump ran a rage campaign about the price of eggs. He blamed Joe Biden. He vowed to get the price of eggs to drop as soon as he came in. But American prices jumped 15.2% in January and another 10.4% in February. Things got so bad that Donald Trump went internationally to beg for eggs.
First, he hit up Denmark (yup, the same country he threatened to invade). Then he turned to Finland and Lithuania – countries he has abandoned while kissing up to Putin. They have turned him down, and the media are calling it a pathetic case of "door-to-door begging."
Canadians are scratching their heads about the rage over eggs. We have never had a problem with the price of eggs. They are as cheap as they have always been. So what is causing this huge discrepancy between the US and Canada?
The first and obvious issue is the rise in avian bird flu.
The pandemic is causing havoc with chicken operations across the United States. But much less so in Canada. This is because egg production in the United States is controlled by five massive corporations.
In this corporate business model, egg farms are considered "profitable" when they have over a million birds. But with the rise of avian flu, these massive operations are dangerously susceptible.
A single outbreak at a giant agri-farm could result in the culling of the entire flock or a complete shutting down of the operation.
Canada's egg industry is spread out over 1,000 family farms, with the average flock size at around 23,000. If one farm gets hit with avian flu, the load can be picked up by other operations, ensuring stability.
In the supply management system there is no dumping from mercenary corporate attempts to control the market. We don't see suddent price drops or price hikes. Consumers are guaranteed stable prices and good supply.
But Pete Hookstra the MAGA Ambassador and Donald Trump are now bragging that they are coming after our supply management system.
And what worries me is that Canada's right wing ideologues have hated this system for years.
Heck, I bet a lot of the Prime Minister's banker friends are also telling him to crush a system that favours farmers over massive corporate interest.
That's a red line Mark. Don't cross it.
You Can’t Reason with a Gangster
Canada needs to be realistic in what we are facing. If you give in to a gangster they will keep coming back for more. And Mr. Carney is going into the gangster's den. The solid handshake and good faith will not get us through.
I am hoping that his decision to cave on the digital tax was either a one off blunder or part of the longer term strategy that none of us can see yet.
But I have my doubts.
We are dealing with a nation where people can be kidnapped off the streets. Where citizenship can be erased and people deported to foreign prison camps. A nation that says that our border can be moved simply because they have the power.
That's not going to happen.
Canadians are ready to defend our country and our values. We need our leaders to hold the line. No concessions. No giving in.
As much as it will hurt, we will come out stronger at the end of the day by being willing to go back at Trump with a dollar for dollar response if negotiations fail. Trump does not hold all the cards. The American economy has been severely rattled by his erratic actions. Canada would take a beating in such a showdown but the Americans are already feeling the pain of Canadian resistance.
On the other hand, Trump will become unbeatable if we let him him pick us apart industry by industry.
I wish the Prime Minister well. I hope the best for these trade negotiations. But Canada needs to look very clear eyed at the threat this regime poses to our nation and our values.
I agree that caving to the Digital Services Tax was a mistake. It made Carney look weak - and let's be honest, he was. All he had to do to be more compliant was to roll over, show his belly, and beg for it to be scratched. Trump may allow every other country to have a tax on digital services - just not Canada (and probably not Greenland). The difference, as I've patiently explained to people on both sides of the border, is that Trump wants to take over Canada. He doesn't want to take over the UK. So yes, he will use tariffs to try to make us become the 51st state. He said he would. And if nothing else, we know no matter what insane thing comes out of his mouth, he will do it. The repetition of his dream of North America just being America should give everyone pause. He hasn't given up, and he won't. Not on Truth Social, not in speeches, and not at the negotiation table. Carney should probably begin to show his teeth more. And maybe enlist Zelinskyy to give him some pointers. It won't matter if it's eggs, dairy, or digital services in the end. He's coming for us.
Mr Carney would do well to look at history. Neville Chamberlain will tell him appeasement is a prelude to war. Stop appeasing the fascist dictator.