Canada may need to let Trump be 'senior partner' in U.S. relations: GOP critic
By: Sean Boynton - Global News
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Canada may need to let Trump be 'senior partner' in U.S. relations: GOP critic
Ottawa may have to let U.S. president-elect Donald Trump act as the "senior partner" in the Canada-U.S. relationship, even if that makes Canadians "bristle," a prominent Republican critic of the incoming president says.
Jeff Timmer, a longtime Republican official and strategist in Michigan who helped lead efforts aimed at defeating Trump in the past two U.S. elections, says the Canadian government will need to treat Trump as "the guy in charge" to ensure Canada's interests are safeguarded during what's expected to be a protectionist U.S. administration.
"I think Donald Trump is an easy guy to read and an easy guy to play poker with," he told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block. "You have to treat him in a way that he likes to be treated.
"I know that it's not fair to put this on the Canadians, but Donald Trump likes to see the United States as the senior partner in the partnership between the two nations. … It might cause Canadians to bristle, but it might help achieve their ends."
Canada is expected to face outsized pressures on cross-border trade, immigration and defence spending under a Trump presidency. The federal government says Canada is ready to handle any impacts to those and other files, having prepared for months for the possibility of Trump's return to the White House.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday expressed confidence that her government's alignment with the U.S. on Chinese tariffs puts Canada on "firm foundation" in upcoming trade negotiations.
1:03 Amid incoming Trump presidency, China tariffs put Canada on 'firm' ground: Freeland
She said past trade disputes under the first Trump administration showed neither country benefits from tariffs on cross-border goods, which could ensure Canada is exempted from Trump's promised blanket tariffs on foreign imports in his next term.
Timmer said there's "no question that Trump is going to continue to hold NATO's allies feet to the fire" on meeting their commitment of spending at least two per cent of GDP on defence.
That will likely be a weak spot for Canada, which has said it won't reach the target until 2032, despite fresh doubts on the government's plan to get there.
But Timmer said Canada needs to address immigration concerns before Trump even takes office in January, given global challenges that are driving increased migration to North America.
"I think every country in North America — Canada, the United States and Mexico — all need to be very concerned with an influx of immigrants from their southern borders," he said.
During this year's election, Timmer served as campaign manager and chief operations officer of The Lincoln Project, a group of former Republican strategists bent on ensuring Trump's defeat. It was among several Republican groups that united with former GOP lawmakers and members of Trump's first administration who supported U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Timmer said although Trump's win itself wasn't surprising, the size of his victory was "a shock to the system." Trump won the popular vote for the first time in three presidential elections he ran in, and exit polls suggest he ate into nearly every traditional Democratic bloc, particularly Black and Hispanic men, while improving his support among younger and non-college-educated voters.
Asked why he thought Trump won so handily, Timmer pointed to a phrase attributed to James Carville, a strategist in Bill Clinton's successful first presidential campaign, in 1992: "It's the economy, stupid."
"I think the economy gave older, more well-to-do white voters the cover that they needed to kind of mask their xenophobia and sexism, because they still do play a role, especially with older white voters," Timmer said.
"But there are folks who aren't doing well, even though the economy overall is. And those are the younger Latino men, younger Black men and younger white voters who are coming out of college (or) leaving high school and starting their careers, and are finding the the economic circumstances more difficult than previous generations have faced."
Timmer said a second Trump administration in general will likely operate similarly to his first, with "a lot of chaos, a lot of misdirection, a lot of stumbles, a lot of overplaying his hand."
How far Trump will go in executing his vision — including a planned mass deportation, deregulations across industries, and an overhauling of government structures — depends on how much Republicans will control Congress, he added.
Republicans claimed control of the U.S. Senate in the election, but results in the U.S. House — where Republicans have a narrow majority — will take more time to determine as counting of ballots continues in close races.
"There's still a chance that the Democrats could take control, which would have a big effect on what Trump is able to do and what the Republicans are able to do," Timmer said.
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And I would not be the least bit surprised to see Justin Trudeau kowtow to Donald Trump. His father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the best Prime Minister Canada has ever had, detested Richard Nixon and was not afraid to show it, but his son is incapable of walking in his shoes, because Pierre Elliott Trudeau would have had the guts to tell Trump to shove his "superiority" up his ass.
Canada's economy is intimately tied to America's. So Trump's stupid economics will necessarily hit Canada, too. He doesn't have to be malevolent to be harmful.
Yes, I can see the economies of both Canada and Mexico taking a hit because of Trump, but what's worse is that the people of America, especially those who are struggling financially to keep their heads above water, are going to drown because of his promises about the tariffs he intends to impose.
A majority of Americans want Trump.
Canada and Mexico are innocent bystanders.
Yes they are, and the men and women of Mexico had the balls and the intelligence to choose a woman to be their President.
I'm still trying to internalize the obvious fact that Americans WANT a fascist dictatorship, even if they don't understand what that really means.
It makes me ill.
Even though I may be observing what could be a disaster for the American people from afar, I'm truly worried about the safety, security and lives of my son and his American family in Wisconsin. I realize that he has a very successful career and position earning high respect that would be difficult if not impossible to achieve in Canada, so I have to "bite the bullet" and just accept the situation.
Our son and his family live in America. They all have the possibility of moving to Europe If things really get nasty.
I wish it were that simple for my son - Of course his having dual citizenship makes it easy, but he's too involved in his position that I doubt he could replace in Canada.
It won't be.
But I'm sure you know the line... "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same"
They'll be fine. But I have kids too, so I understand the worry.
As you're biting that bullet, I hope you remain proud of your son and thankful that he's doing so well.
At the end of the day, a senile old man is being replaced by an obnoxious old man in a job that has precious little influence over your son's daily life anyway.
Jack_Tx, you are "Speaking words of wisdom, let it be."
How could Kipling have predicted what it's like in America these days and have provided such sound advice about it?
Same for my son.
He has been careful to maintain the grandchildren's status.
I think Kipling's words were timeless advice. I've come across very few instances in my life where they were not reassuringly appropriate.
I used to like watching Bob and Doug McKenzie on SNL.
Eh?
An iconic and unique Canadian word to end any sentence or question. LOL