EDITORIAL – Has ‘elbows up’ turned out to be just election talk?

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

‘ELBOWS UP’ was a nice turn of phrase that reflected the general view of Canadians during the federal election but Prime Minister Mark Carney is lowering his elbows to seek favour with Donald Trump, and it doesn’t feel good.

He has decided to remove the tariffs from a host of American products ranging from ketchup to toothpaste, paper towels and kitchen appliances. His rationale is that they are covered by CUSMA, and that Trump hasn’t put tariffs on similar Canadian products.

Well, OK, but why did we put the tariffs on in the first place if they were going to be removed before serious trade talks even begin? Wasn’t it because we decided “elbows up” — if Trump is going to treat us like crap we were going to fight back?

The removal of the tariffs — except on non-CUSMA major projects like autos, steel and aluminum — follows the earlier bowing and scraping to Trump over his allegations that we’re not doing enough to stop the alleged flow of fentanyl across the border.

And what did that get us? Nothing. We just did what he asked, and we’re doing it again instead of using it as a bargaining chip.

But Trump thinks Carney’s tariff move is “nice” and says he wants to be good to us. Sure he does. And tomorrow he’ll likely be insulting us again as hard to deal with.

The latest polls already show that Carney’s big lead over Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives has slipped considerably. Could it be that Canadians are feeling just a little betrayed over his big talk about standing up to America?

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.