Annoying Mr. Trump: Now is not the time for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to do it

faroukfarouk · Nov 9, 2016

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is shortly heading to Havana, Cuba to meet the Castro government.

Whatever the merits of the idea, its timing is odd.

President-elect Trump has recently been talking about overhauling NAFTA, of keen interest to the US's closest trading partner.

Canada's relations with the US would be described as a whole lot more significant than its links with Cuba.

Justin Trudeau's father Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was one of Fidel Castro's closest Western interlocutors, to the fury of many members of the Washington, DC establishment.

Perhaps Justin Trudeau's photo opportunity plans in Cuba are to be described less as 'à gauche' (left-wing) than as 'gauche' (clumsy).

volconvo dot com

redleghunter · Nov 9, 2016

faroukfarouk said:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is shortly heading to Havana, Cuba to meet the Castro government.

Whatever the merits of the idea, its timing is odd.

President-elect Trump has recently been talking about overhauling NAFTA, of keen interest to the US's closest trading partner.

Canada's relations with the US would be described as a whole lot more significant than its links with Cuba.

Justin Trudeau's father Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was one of Fidel Castro's closest Western interlocutors, to the fury of many members of the Washington, DC establishment.

Perhaps Justin Trudeau's photo opportunity plans in Cuba are to be described less as 'à gauche' (left-wing) than as 'gauche' (clumsy).

volconvo dot com

I thought some here claimed Trump was going to annex Canada.

Maybe he is fleeing the country for safe harbor.

faroukfarouk · Nov 9, 2016

redleghunter said:
I thought some here claimed Trump was going to annex Canada.

Maybe he is fleeing the country for safe harbor.

During the Vietnam War, Canada vied with Sweden to give asylum to US protesters and hippies.

With all due respect to protesters', ageing hippies', and Castro nostagics' rights, Canada's relations with the US matter a whole lot more than those with Cuba.

This is why I wonder why the younger Mr. Trudeau has chosen now - of all times - to go for photo opportunities in Havana.

(Maybe liberal commentary has produced such myopia that Mr Trudeau, along with a lot of folk up here, didn't see the American tsunami coming.)

wing2000 · Nov 9, 2016

I'm fairly certain the Cuban trip was planned well in advance. And I don't really see why this trip would annoy President-Elect Trump. He doesn't take office for a couple months...and in any case, I expect Trump will be pushing for more opportunities for Trump properties in Cuba....

faroukfarouk · Nov 9, 2016

wing2000 said:
I'm fairly certain the Cuban trip was planned well in advance. And I don't really see why this trip would annoy President-Elect Trump. He doesn't take office for a couple months...and in any case, I expect Trump will be pushing for more opportunities for Trump properties in Cuba....

The point is also that the recent British Columbia 15% tax on property investment for foreigners is already under litigation for offending NAFTA principles. Mr Trudeau won't have a leg to stand on if he tries to dissuade the mooting of similar measures - this time by a Trump transition team and White House on Canadian goods.

Mr Trudeau should instead get his priorities right, winning hearts and minds among the short northward concentration span of the Trump transition team.

redleghunter · Nov 9, 2016

wing2000 said:
I'm fairly certain the Cuban trip was planned well in advance. And I don't really see why this trip would annoy President-Elect Trump. He doesn't take office for a couple months...and in any case, I expect Trump will be pushing for more opportunities for Trump properties in Cuba....

Or maybe he was running low on his supply of Partagas.

Job8 · Nov 9, 2016

faroukfarouk said:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is shortly heading to Havana, Cuba to meet the Castro government.

Justin -- just like Hillary -- was totally unfit for office, but got elected in spite of himself. His decision to visit Cuba is a clear example of his ineptitude, as are many other decisions he has made. It is unbelievable that Canadian voters could put this moron in office, but there it is.

faroukfarouk · Nov 9, 2016

Some in the Trump transition probably think of Canada as some sort of sanitized version of Mexico.

If then Mr Trudeau chooses to do photo opportunities with Latin American Marxist revolutionaries instead of being seen to be giving priority to trade issues with the US, then this might serve to reinforce the latent assumptions about Canada on the part of the Trump transition.

faroukfarouk · Nov 9, 2016

Job8 said:
Justin -- just like Hillary -- was totally unfit for office, but got elected in spite of himself. His decision to visit Cuba is a clear example of his ineptitude, as are many other decisions he has made. It is unbelievable that Canadian voters could put this moron in office, but there it is.

I appreciate that such terms are for some people an indulgence, but I seek to think of matters practically.

Being Canadian Prime Minister is more How to win friends and influence people, than it is Contramural bladder relief.

Whoever happens to be Canadian Prime Minister - whether someone as hard as nails or someone touchy feely - needs to be seen to be engaging positively with the US regarding the trade relationship: Canada is among the United States' biggest trading partners.

Singing with Latin American Marxist revolutionaries? what practical good does it do?

wing2000 · Nov 9, 2016

faroukfarouk said:
Some in the Trump transition probably think of Canada as some sort of sanitized version of Mexico.

If then Mr Trudeau chooses to do photo opportunities with Latin American Marxist revolutionaries instead of being seen to be giving priority to trade issues with the US, then this might serve to reinforce the latent assumptions about Canada on the part of the Trump transition.

...are you suggesting Canadian foreign policy should be driven by presumed ignorance within the Trump foreign policy team?

Canadian businesses have been profiting for some time in Cuba. I think Trump will see no reason to keep American business out of the game...

faroukfarouk · Nov 9, 2016

wing2000 said:
...are you suggesting Canadian foreign policy should be driven by presumed ignorance within the Trump foreign policy team?

Canadian businesses have been profiting for some time in Cuba. I think Trump will see no reason to keep American business out of the game...

Ignorance, no, not at all; instead, Canada needs to emphasize to the Trump transition an understanding of the main mutual interests in the huge trading relationship.

It was Jeb Bush (where is he, by the way?) who tried unsuccessfully to drum up support for his candidacy by talk of increasing sanctions against Cuba (Mr Trump won Florida anyway).

At least as far back as Prohibition, Canadian trade with Cuba has all been intermingled with relations with the US. The Canadian government turned a blind eye to Ontario distillers' shipments designated to "Cuba" on ocean-unseaworthy boats across the Niagara river when Prohibition was in force in both Ontario and the US.

Stated differently, it's long been about, who do you want to annoy?

Job8 · Nov 9, 2016

faroukfarouk said:
Stated differently, it's long been about, who do you want to annoy?

It seems that the Canadian Establishment elite have been trying to annoy America for a long, long, time, instead of putting the interests of Canada ahead of their own arrogance and stupidity.

Had Justin Trudeau been smart, his first order of business should have been to go to Washington personally, and congratulate Trump personally (regardless of his left-liberal ideology).

Trump has already made it clear that (1) NAFTA has to go and (2) borders have to be tightened. Had the Liberals in Ottawa any commonsense, they would have already put together a proposal for Trump which would address these issues to the mutual advantage of both countries. And this proposal could have been presented personally by Justin. That would certainly have impressed Trump and given him a favorable outlook for further discussion. There is no question that if Trump builds a wall on the Mexican border, he will tighten up the US-Canada border as well. Has anyone planned for this?

Instead the Liberals are trying to curry favor with Communist Cuba, which really has nothing to offer anyone other than hatred for America.

Vylo · Nov 9, 2016

redleghunter said:
I thought some here claimed Trump was going to annex Canada.

Maybe he is fleeing the country for safe harbor.

Just annex Canada and mexico. It would make the borders easy to defend

faroukfarouk · Nov 9, 2016

Job8 said:
It seems that the Canadian Establishment elite have been trying to annoy America for a long, long, time, instead of putting the interests of Canada ahead of their own arrogance and stupidity.

Had Justin Trudeau been smart, his first order of business should have been to go to Washington personally, and congratulate Trump personally (regardless of his left-liberal ideology).

Trump has already made it clear that (1) NAFTA has to go and (2) borders have to be tightened. Had the Liberals in Ottawa any commonsense, they would have already put together a proposal for Trump which would address these issues to the mutual advantage of both countries. And this proposal could have been presented personally by Justin. That would certainly have impressed Trump and given him a favorable outlook for further discussion. There is no question that if Trump builds a wall on the Mexican border, he will tighten up the US-Canada border as well. Has anyone planned for this?

Instead the Liberals are trying to curry favor with Communist Cuba, which really has nothing to offer anyone other than hatred for America.

I don't disagree with some of what you say.

However, with regard to the longest undefended border in the world, I wonder if it would be a wall to keep Canadians out of the US, or a wall to keep disgruntled American critics of Mr Trump out of Canada...

Annoying Mr. Trump: Now is not the time for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to do it

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