In my inbox this morning was this Canada Letter by Ian Austen from the NYTimes.
The headline: Canada Could Use a New Approach to Dealing With Trump This Time
The substance of the piece comes about half-way through:
On it is Mr. Trump’s promise to impose tariffs on everything that enters the U.S., apparently from anywhere in the world, to pay for a wide variety of programs. He has vowed to “demolish” the country’s intelligence agencies, which he has portrayed as part of a politicized “deep state” out to get him.
His agenda also calls for mass deportations of undocumented people — a policy that is likely to prompt a wave of asylum seekers to Canada — along with other measures to restrict immigration, both legal and illegal. And Mr. Trump said that he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to members of the NATO defense alliance that do not meet their unofficial commitment to spend 2 percent of their economic output on their militaries. Canada is prominent among them.
I recommend you read the piece in its entirety! It discusses trade talks (and concessions we’ll be forced to make); the influx of refugees from the US fleeing deportation (we’re not going to be able to reject the majority of these people). It forecasts the end of our supply management system (farmers you’re going to be forced to compete with the international market!). Maybe further oil development including a pipeline to the eastern seaboard (might there be a side pipe to eastern Canada? Probably unlikely – we’ll be selling our oil with high tariffs, though!). We’re also going to have to up our defence spending “hugely” – to reach the 2% the rest of NATO spends.
There’s nothing unexpected in that list, except all of it will make the cost of living in Canada rise further. The costs of refusing to reduce our carbon footprint will also climb as we pay for larger and more frequent natural disasters… What can I say?
Have you heard Poilievre offer policy on any of these issues? No. He’s running on an anti Trudeau platform. So how do you think he’s going to tackle what’s coming at us like a speeding train?
And none of that accounts for escalating war in several hotspots around the world and any unexpected events like another pandemic (always on the horizon, and we’re still completely unprepared to deal with anything like that).
I’m not feeling upbeat today (I wasn’t yesterday, either). So I’m off to teach a class to a group of women wanting to learn how to use their serger sewing machines. I can at least make myself useful and help them get a handle on how to thread the machines and what you can do with them.
Later this afternoon, there’s a party at the Craig Gallery to celebrate my Fibre Art exhibit. That will lift my spirits a bit.
Find someone to do something for today. Be a good friend. It will make you feel better, too!
jmn 
And that’s all that we can do today. Is help around our little world and try to stay connected to those that matter. We must also keep ourselves informed of policies and their impact on ourselves and the world. Having said that, I’ve sworn off the news at all this week and I am refusing to allow any US politics to enter the workplace conversation.