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Today’s letters: Better information would help Canadians battle tariffs

MAK Gojar

Re: PM lifts the lid on tariff-fight toolbox, Sept. 6. Read MoreWednesday, Sept. 10: We need to know more about how our money is flowing south of the border, a reader says. You can write to us too, at letters@ottawacitizen.com   

Wednesday, Sept. 10: We need to know more about how our money is flowing south of the border, a reader says. You can write to us too, at letters@ottawacitizen.com

carney gets a hard hat at a shipyard
Prime Minister Mark Carney greets workers at the Newdock shipyard in St. John’s while announcing more government subsidies to fight tariffs. Photo by KEITH GOSSE /POSTMEDIA

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Two ways to help us in the tariff war

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Re: PM lifts the lid on tariff-fight toolbox, Sept. 6.

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Under the lid of the tariff-fight toolbox lie stories that need more exposure if Canadians are to do their full part in the tariff and trade fight started by the United States. Here are two of them that point to serious consequences for Canadians if we do, or do not, up our game.

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First, Canadians need to be regularly informed about how many billions we spend every year on products and services purchased from U.S. companies doing business in Canada, including Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, Dell, Facebook, FedEx, Gap, Home Depot, Holiday Inn, Kellogg, KFC, McDonalds, Microsoft, Post, Staples, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart.

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There are more than 1,000 U.S. corporations operating in Canada, so the amount of money flowing south is not just slow financial bleeding; it is a hemorrhaging that costs Canada businesses, capital investment opportunities, jobs, tax revenues, foreign investors and foreign markets, and weakens Canada’s control over its sovereignty, natural resources, identity, security and quality of life.

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A monthly report by Statistics Canada on estimates of money flowing south could galvanize Canadians into more pro-Canadian spending habits.

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Second, Canadians vacationing in the U.S. annually spend more than $25 billion, which is money earned in Canada that ends up in U.S. corporate bank accounts. It is no wonder U.S. media outlets are rife with stories about how U.S. businesses miss Canadians and want them back ASAP.

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Read More

  1. Today’s letters: Lots of reasons why return-to-office makes no sense

  2. Today’s letters: Canada’s military is in very poor condition

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Many Canadians have served notice that they are now putting Canada first when it comes to vacation destinations, an action that visibly complements the tariff-fight efforts of ourpoliticians, and which could have huge payoffs for Canada.

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These kinds of stories could be packaged by StatsCan into materials that open new lines of thinking and Canada Strong action across the country.

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Barry Wellar, Ottawa (professor emeritus, University of Ottawa)

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ByWard Market needs a ‘safe zone’

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Re: Here’s how Sutcliffe defended improvements in the ByWard Market, Aug. 25.

 

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