View From the Legislature

Economic challenges are not new in Canada. Whether the high inflation rates of recent months or the financial crisis of 2008 (as only two examples), economic challenges occur not infrequently. But the tariff threat from the United States feels unique. Part of the reason is that for the past several decades, one of the strengths of the Canadian economy has been the free trade agreements that have existed with the United States originally and which grew to include Mexico. It was a mutually beneficial relationship for all three countries.

The threats by the United States President to break those agreements creates significant uncertainty with no clear sense of how long that uncertainty may last. It also highlights for Canadians that the warnings that have sounded over the past several years should have been responded to. It has often been stated that governments should diversify the trading partners that Canada has and that there should be a more aggressive plan to both harvest our natural resources and have a means to get them to market that are beyond the United States.

The failure to built national infrastructure like pipelines or to reduce the trade barriers that exist between provinces has put Canada’s economy in a more vulnerable position as it faces U.S. tariffs than it otherwise needed to be. And while there now seems to be a newfound energy to develop infrastructure and ports to help reduce our reliance on the U.S. as a market, none of those plans will happen quickly.

What is important is that governments, both provincial and federal, not only express the desire to see these things happen, but to actually move them forward with determination. And they need to occur whether tariffs happen or not and regardless if they are short or long term. Canada simply needs to be less dependent on one market.

The need to act with determination also means resisting simply stating that action will be taken. Good intentions do not change economic realities. Manitobans have seen that over the past several months. Despite promises by the NDP government to reign in the deficit, the deficit has far exceeded the modest targets for reduction that Premier Wab Kinew set. As well, statistics for this past month showed that Manitoba had the highest inflation rate in the country. In particular, we led the country in the increase in the cost of food.

Many Manitobans may remember a year ago when Premier Kinew promised to crack down on grocers and reduce food inflation. He made that statement without any plan on how to do it and in fact, didn’t do anything. And month after month our food inflation rate outpaced other provinces as families found it harder and harder to make ends meet.

Today, Canada faces an economic threat like never before. And it requires leaders to not simply commit to a course of action without any intention of ever following through. The need to make our economy more diverse, more competitive and more productive is clear to all political parties. But leadership will require a focused determination to move quickly and decisively. If that happens, future generations may look back on these times not simply as filled with challenges, but as a time that laid the foundation for a stronger and more independent nation.