Dear Editor,
It is important that Canadians clearly understand the reasons for America’s recent tariffs on Canada’s exports to the U.S.
Many of our federal political leaders have called the tariffs "senseless."
A recent opinion piece in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News online, Painful Truth: Trump’s Juche Ideology, claims that Trump "seems to think America can be totally self-sufficient in all things."
The opinion piece [a Painful Truth column by Black Press Media reporter Matthew Claxton] ridicules Trump’s alleged economic isolation strategy as similar to North Korea’s.
Such simplistic views are misleading, and adopting them is extremely dangerous.
A longer view of America’s rise to prosperity and world dominance, and current decline, points to a severe threat to Canada’s economic well-being.
The fact is, the United States increasingly came to depend on its ability to dominate and economically exploit countries around the world. But the U.S. ability to do this is diminishing.
As their empire shrinks, the U.S. will necessarily rely more on dominating and exploiting those countries which have been closest to them, and the closest is Canada.
The tariffs are a way to pressure Canadian governments to allow more extraction of wealth by the U.S.
Instead of ridiculing Trump, we need to get serious about recognizing and dealing with the dangers to Canada, of a declining American empire putting the squeeze on its former friends.
Canada needs leaders who will boldly lead Canada into an era where we broaden our international ties, and steadfastly defend ourselves against a huge neighbour who is becoming a major threat to us.
This will be difficult, requiring systemic change in our economy, defence policies, international relations, and above all, it will require moving on from a generation of Canadian politicians and political parties who mostly took their cues from Washington, and instead elect people who will work towards a vision of an independent, sovereign Canada.
Steve Ranta, Maple Ridge
