Martha Hall Findlay, director of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary and former member of parliament, discusses the latest developments in the tariff war between Canada and the U.S. with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Michael Higgins: What’s your assessment of Canada’s decision to walk away from the negotiating table? Martha Hall Findlay: I would never have expected that the details would be disclosed by our government. But, from everything I gather, it was absolutely the right thing to walk away, and – let’s be honest – not totally surprising. We’ve seen this behaviour in a number of other countries, trying to negotiate with Donald Trump’s White House, and things fail at the last minute. MH: How worrisome is this element of threatening Canadian sovereignty? MHF: I think that’s one of the reasons why the decision was made to walk away. Some of the things were … that Canada alter its own negotiations with other trading partners, for example. Well, no. It’s up to us to decide what we’re going to do in terms of other trading partners, and in fact, it ties directly to our efforts to diversify our economy. So it is a question of sovereignty, but at the same time, you can’t change geography. We’re neighbours, and the U.S. is really big. We talk about diversification. It shouldn’t be an either or. It should be: We should maximise our relationship economically with the Americans because that’s really good for Canadian businesses and Canadian consumers. But at the same time, we should look to growing our economic engagements with other countries. MH: The federal government today announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation tariffs on $27.6 billion dollars worth of U.S. imports. How well positioned is Canada for this fight? MHF: Retaliatory tariffs hurt Canadians. I think that has to be fully understood. A number of people are not necessarily supportive of the concept of retaliatory tariffs, but politically, they’re very important. People want the prime minister and the Canadian government to fight back. That’s a natural emotion. But in the announcement, there also was clear recognition that this is going to cost Canadian consumers and Canadian businesses, and so there are measures to financially support small businesses, to support people who might lose their jobs. Unfortunately, this costs a Canadian company. That money doesn’t come from nowhere. And so the government will have to borrow more to be able to pay for this, but my attitude is also: We did this in COVID. COVID was a global challenge, but certainly a national challenge for businesses and for Canadians. And the government stepped up to help. And I think this is an opportunity, a requirement, for the government to do it. I do think the tariffs are relatively strategic…. It’s pretty clear there’s a fair bit of thought that’s gone into where they go. I’m not a huge fan of them, to be honest, but it looks like there’s been some serious thought gone into doing it and making Canadian businesses and consumers whole. MH: To what degree does Alberta need to be on the same page as the Carney government here and the other premiers in this growing response? MHF: A united Canada approach is absolutely important. I would also say when our premier in Alberta talks about oil and gas and hesitancy about using those as leverage, we also export a great deal of electricity in Canada. B.C. exports electricity. Ontario and Quebec export electricity. Although Premier (Doug) Ford said we can put electricity on the table, I think it’s easier said than done. And right now, I don’t think that’s necessary. The reason I say that is: Our best allies in this trade fight are Americans. Americans are not happy with Donald Trump’s tariffs. We’re seeing protests in Michigan, in Wisconsin, in Ohio – states that rely significantly on trade with Canada. But you’re also seeing Americans are spending much more. We have probably more leverage in working with the American businesses and the American consumer groups that are already paying more for things because of Donald Trump’s tariffs. Trump will listen ultimately to American voters, and so that’s our opportunity, I believe. MH: How long can we, as a nation, endure this? Is it feasible to wait this out until Donald Trump is no longer in office? MHF: I’m not sure we even have to wait that long. The alternative is, even if we had been able to reach a deal on the weekend, it would have been worth what, exactly? The prime minister said the signature would have been in pencil. However, if we had signed on to something that was going to be long-term bad for us, that would have probably held because it would have been less good for us. And so, not having that certainty is clearly a problem. But what I think is going to be telling is what happens in the midterms in the United States. So my comment about Americans are our biggest allies in this – they’re not supporting the tariffs. That could end up being very clear in the midterms. That’s only a couple of months away.
