October is the perfect time of year to drive up the Gatineau River and soak up the riches of the Canadian autumn. The gorgeous oranges and reds are enough to make this Canadian homesick.
And nostalgic.
For if you hang a left at Chemin Mill in Wakefield and continue past the spa, you stumble upon Maclaren Cemetery, the tiny burial ground that contains Lester B. Pearson, that giant of Canadian politics.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has clearly shifted away from the assertive U.S. trade stance seen on the campaign trail seven months ago to a more cautious, conciliatory approach.
As trade tensions continue, Carney has declined to impose retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s protectionist measures. Instead, he and his government have pursued low-key ongoing negotiations, focused primarily on key Canadian sectors such as aluminium, steel and autos.
Human rights and civil society groups are urging Ottawa to maintain tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), saying that allowing them into the Canadian market could pose national security risks.
Pro-democracy group Saskatchewan Stands with Hong Kong issued a press release on Oct. 16, calling on the federal government to maintain its tariffs on Chinese EVs “in light of serious national security concerns.” The call comes after China’s ambassador to Canada last weekend suggested that dropping the tariffs could prompt Beijing to lift its levies on Canadian canola–a proposal Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew have urged Ottawa to consider.
Beijing’s biggest fish bazaar is a briny-smelling maze of stalls stocked with massive crabs from Russia, purple lobster from Australia and yellow croaker fish from China’s southeastern coast.
What’s increasingly hard to find at Jingshen Seafood Market, however, are products from Canada: the casualties of a punishing trade war between Ottawa and Beijing.
This lost business is becoming harder for Canada to write off as the United States under Donald Trump grows increasingly protectionist and unpredictable.
China – Too Big to Bail
h/t Mauser
It’s worth remembering that Canada wasn’t exactly pleased when, under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, it found itself offering huge subsidies to automakers just to keep jobs on this side of the border. There was a real fear that generous subsidies included in Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act would create a giant sucking sound, pulling Canadian jobs to the United States.
I will go to my grave still hollering crankily that there is no such thing as “Canada’s team,” an idea that surfaces every time there’s one Canadian team left in the NHL playoffs.
And the reason it’s not a thing for anyone but the most casual bandwagon-jumper is exactly what’s ripping the trade version of Team Canada apart at the seams at the moment.
Mark Carney has been claiming that we have the best trade deal in the world with the United States. Try telling that to the workers at the Stellantis plant in Brampton now facing permanent layoffs as production of the Jeep Compass moves from Ontario to Illinois.
It was just last week that Donald Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, told a Toronto business audience said that auto assembly jobs would move to the United States and Canada would need to be second.
OTTAWA — A new national poll finds that most Canadians see securing a new trade deal with the U.S. as crucial for domestic jobs and economic growth.
The poll, conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), shows that cross-border relations is a top-of-mind concern for Canadians, as the national economy falters under the weight of tariffs.
We have to accept that this is a very lopsided negotiation.
Reject or accept?
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday his government is not considering hitting American goods with more retaliatory tariffs, even as the trade war rages on, because there are signs that the bilateral talks on relief are headed in the right direction.
Carney is facing pressure from some premiers, like Ontario’s Doug Ford, and organized labour to take on U.S. President Donald Trump as he ramps up his tariffs on critical sectors — levies that have drawn jobs and investment away from Canada.
You have to shame Grok in order to get anything close to a realistic portrait of Carney, or any other figure on the Liberal Left it seems.
Pierre Poilievre put out a series of holiday-themed posts on social media over the Thanksgiving weekend — photos of the family, praise for the work being done by food banks.
One post, however, departed from all the warm fuzziness. It was an endorsement of a petition from one of his MPs calling for an end to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government. ”Sign here. End DEI. Restore the merit principle,” the Conservative leader said.
Sign here. End DEI. Restore the merit principle. https://t.co/IDanYGgIpv
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) October 13, 2025
The biggest surprise about Stellantis’s decision to move production of its Jeep Compass model to Illinois from Brampton and put 3,000 Canadian jobs in limbo is not that it happened but the level of shock among Canadian leaders that it did.
From Ottawa to Queen’s Park to the mayor’s chambers in Brampton, the gasps of apparent disbelief, hurt and betrayal were breathtakingly naive.
Melanie Joly on Stellantis "And the company has commitments under different types of agreements with the government, including the fact that we provided support for the retooling of the very Brampton facility that right now is sitting idle." ♂️ pic.twitter.com/jRLUBX9mYo
— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) October 15, 2025
High-level trade talks between Canadian and U.S. officials are trudging on this week in Washington, D.C., where Canada is looking to strike deals on specific economic sectors currently bedeviling trade relations between the two countries.
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of Canada-U.S. Trade, Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia and other officials are specifically focused in the short term on securing deals for the steel, aluminum and energy sectors.
Canada’s automotive heartland is reeling a day after Stellantis delivered a blow to hopes it will restart its assembly plant in Brampton.
”I am very concerned, very concerned for the future of the auto industry in Ontario,” said Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Stellantis announced a $13-billion U.S. manufacturing expansion, and is moving production of its popular Jeep Compass from Brampton to Illinois.
The Government of Canada is threatening to sue automaker Stellantis NV over its move to shift production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois from Brampton, Ont.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly issued the warning in a letter to Antonio Filosa, chief executive officer of Stellantis, which on Tuesday unveiled a US$13-billion plan to boost auto production in the United States by 50 per cent over four years.
There goes Team Canada.
The rock-solid group of premiers fighting as one in a trade war are being chipped apart, their united front undone not just by the threats of U.S. President Donald Trump but by the promises of the Chinese ambassador Wang Di.
Now Canada, caught in a trade war with two capricious superpower partners, is negotiating against itself. This country might as well put up a sign inviting bigger players to come to fleece us.
