A grafitto calling for a boycott of American wine is seen at a liquor store in Montreal in February, 2025.ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP/Getty Images
When they go low…
Re “All’s fair in love and trade war, and Canada must play dirty, too” (Report on Business, Aug. 19): “Elbows up has become pants down.” Give the Prime Minister a break.
The most powerful weapons he has are denied to him by intransigent premiers. Alberta will not stand for a ban on shipments of oil to the United States (it would also be a gift to Western separatists). Saskatchewan will not cut off potash exports. Quebec objects strongly to concessions on supply management, and that government would make hay if there were any.
It is claimed the Prime Minister should “have faith that the Canadian people are united in this endeavour.” Yet it looks quite clear that they are not.
When it comes to elbows up, Mark Carney seems to have both hands tied behind his back.
James Duthie Nanaimo, B.C.
How to spar with Donald Trump? Rather than the usual rational approach, it is argued we should adopt a more erratic stance.
But a sucker-punch contest with Mr. Trump seems inadvisable and unwinnable. Consider the revealing words from an insider: Jared Kushner, his son-in-law. “No one can go as low as the president. You shouldn’t even try.”
For Canada, the more fitting strategy might be rope-a-dope: Remain calm and collected, at times immovable, and allow the opponent to flail about. Time is in our corner.
James Schaefer Peterborough, Ont.
No alcohol
Re “Carney asks premiers to restock U.S. alcohol, end procurement bans as tariff talks continue” (Aug. 20): Restocking U.S. alcohol on Canadian shelves will not change my purchasing behaviour. Every time I see a bottle of U.S. bourbon, wine or beer, I will think of the thousands of Canadian forest workers who lost their jobs over the past year.
I will not drink U.S. alcohol, buy U.S. products nor visit the country while Donald Trump is President.
John Shepherd Richmond, B.C.
The disappearance of U.S. alcohol from the shelves of most liquor stores is something most Canadians seem to consider a significant and visible sign of anger and resistance. It certainly appears to rankle Donald Trump. However, this should be put into perspective.
Before the boycott’s general implementation last year, alcohol products were valued at roughly US$744-million of Canada’s US$440-billion in American imports. These figures pale when compared with the tens of billions of dollars in damage that Trump tariffs have already inflicted on the Canadian economy.
Canadians would be well advised to put some water in their wine, whatever its origin, and accept Mark Carney’s wise realpolitik. There appears to be little choice but to swallow hard and accept what’s on offer – as long as that may last.
Alan Scrivener Cornwall, Ont.
As my granny used to say: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
Let’s hope she got that right.
Lorraine Hernandez Ottawa
Bad timing
Re “Danielle Smith acknowledges foreign influence campaigns are targeting Alberta referendum” (Aug. 19): This is how Canada and Alberta would be universally regarded as weakened. That is the purpose of foreign influence.
On the same front page is the headline “PQ will not hold a referendum until Trump leaves office, leader says.” These findings should be proof to all Canadians that foreign influencers stand as a barometer for why a referendum should be avoided. Timing is essential.
Canada itself is now in a more positive position to reinforce Canadian sovereignty.
Robert Marcucci Toronto
The Charter, right?
Re “No one ever said there was a constitutional right to bike lanes – just a right to fundamental justice” (Aug. 19): A valuable and instructive lesson on how the courts should properly approach cases involving alleged breaches of Charter rights and freedoms.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but governmental action does not evade Charter scrutiny just because the particular law, program or benefit the government wishes to undo was not a constitutional entitlement in the first place. The proper question to ask should be not whether there is a constitutional right to bicycle lanes, but whether, having decided to act, the government did so in a manner that can withstand Charter scrutiny.
The absence of an independent entitlement under the Constitution does not serve as an answer to a fundamentally different question: whether government may take it away in a manner that breaches a guaranteed right under the Charter.
Aly Alibhai Toronto
Stopgap
Re “In Australia, Canada’s submarine procurement gets a ‘good onya’” (Aug. 12): It is noted that Canada’s diesel-electric submarines can remain submerged for up to a month, while Australia has chosen nuclear-powered submarines with months-long submerged endurance.
Canada’s current fleet is aging and has faced significant readiness challenges. To maintain submarine capability without a gap, Canada’s current diesel-electric choice is the right one for the 2030s. Even with modern hydrogen fuel cells, however, the limits of endurance under Arctic ice remain real.
Submarines are potent weapons and will be for decades. Canada should position its industrial base now, including its emerging small modular reactor expertise, so that if required, the next generation of submarines in roughly 30 years could be nuclear-powered.
Julian Kenney Fellow, Royal Institution of Naval Architects Mississauga
High seas
Re “The mission: making seafarers ‘feel welcome in a strange place’ ” (Aug. 17): The Mission to the Seafarers, begun in 1856 as an outreach of the Church of England, operates in more than 200 ports in 50 countries. Several of these ports are in Canada, including on the Great Lakes.
These outreach centres provide assistance, transportation and counselling to tens of thousand of seafarers. It is a global and ecumenical ministry.
We too often forget that there are at least 1.9 million working seafarers, often navigating treacherous situations at work and in their personal lives.
Keith McKee Reverend London, Ont.
Sneak peek
Re “Think of the children” (Letters, Aug. 19): A letter-writer imagines Donald Trump reading his obituary in advance. I think he may be on to something.
How would it read? What would his supporters say? It might be the thing that gets them thinking about his legacy and what he has accomplished for them.
Journalism is mostly history’s first draft and I would like to see the preview.
E.L. McDonald London, Ont.
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