JUSTCAWS

  Everything is louder during an election, but all Canadian media and politicians want to talk about Trump's Trade policies. What seems absent is more discussion about how we got here. “Liberation Day” seems as good a time as ever with the U.S. and other countries abandoning free trade in the pursuit of protectionist policies. It is worth asking why the electorate has elected leaders like Tariff Trump? Trade barriers like tariffs are used to protect domestic industries by making either trade difficult or raising the cost of imported goods so consumers will buy domestic goods and protect jobs from domestic industries. The case for eliminating these barriers is that free trade allows countries to specialize in products that they can produce cheaper or have a comparative advantage (ie. lower opportunity cost and or better quality product) over other countries.  The cost savings is then passed on to consumers. This part of the free trade deal has been partially kept.  But bu...

Many of us are still confused as to why Americans would elect a political party hell bent on cutting the size of government and turning its back on helping the world. I’ve been taken back by the change, but the voter frustration that has led to it has been building for sometime. If liberals are still wondering why their brand is under siege globally, perhaps a lesson about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can help explain. I’ve learned and taught about Maslow so many times I feel like I met him, even though he died before I was born. His premise was that humans are motivated to satisfy a pyramid of needs and that until our most basic needs are met (food, water and shelter) we won’t concern ourselves with any higher purpose. Once the basics are met then people move onto safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem and finally fulfilment. I believe the same motivation holds true for voters. Nobody will concern themselves about more progressive causes or concern themselves with...

  Wanted to follow up on a column I wrote nearly five years ago during the wake of the George Floyd murder.  It is interesting to look back at the counterproductive movement that followed and the inevitable retreat that is happening now. I appreciated the frustration at the time that society was not doing enough when people saw a live murder take place at the hands of police on their screens. What followed however, was a lack of appreciation for past progress made and the idea that everything done before was lost. Being colour blind was apparently wrong and we needed to wake up to now see everything through the lens of race. Equality of opportunity, an inspirational goal with broad support, was replaced with equality of outcomes, a concept that few believe in. So it is not surprising that the over compensation has now been rejected. You probably heard about a former President who just won an election riding the wave of anti woke sentiment. Corporations whose only allegiance is...

                                             It takes a lot to get Canadians angry, but when an economic war is declared on your country by your number one ally, feelings of betrayal can quickly turn hostile. Case in point the crowd in Ottawa booing the American national anthem at last Saturday’s hockey game. Expect more uncharacteristic actions of hostility by Canadians if this provocation continues or escalates further. Personally, I am not buying that Americans won’t care what Canadians think. Yes, they did vote in Trump, but they didn’t sign up for a trade war with their northern neighbour.  Properly calculating the American public’s response is vitally important in determining how Canada should react. It should also be remembered that this is Trump’s trade war with us, it doesn’t have broad support even among his own party. Of course they will go along with Trump,...

Due to my current occupational hazard, the one topic that I am asked most often is for my view on cryptocurrencies. I haven’t written on this before because it's not a topic easily understood or explained. By this point however, I believe most people have an underlying understanding, or at least have soundbite they can repeat so they sound like they know what they're talking about. Perhaps before getting into what crypto is, it is best to explain what it isn’t. One thing to remember is that crypto currency is virtual, there are no actual physical coins or bills being circulated. When you see an image of Bitcoin (the most popular of the crypto currencies) used in a news story, it is used for visual purposes only - to quote Getrude Stein “there is no there there”. Its value is entirely determined by what investors are willing to pay for it, and the only way to make money is to sell it to someone else at a higher price. If that sounds like any other investment, there are some key ...

  The resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spurred the need for an early election here in Canada. While the country has been pinning for the opportunity to turf Trudeau for some time now, the timing could not be worse. The United States, Canada’s essential trading partner, is looking to leverage its economic strength for whatever concessions it can exact from an economically weakened Canada. Trump’s go to low ball negotiation strategy has opened with making Canada the 51st state. But before America takes Canada anymore for granted, it’s worth showing Americans how an election with a plurality of political party choices is superior to there outdated, either or contests As a fiscal conservative - social progressive, I struggled   with the only two choices presented to Americans. Thankfully, there will be no soul searching in the upcoming Canadian election for this dual citizen. All three of the centre-left party choices in Canada couldn’t manage a lemonade stand, le...

  In an astonishing statement to the New York Times in 2015, Justin Trudeau declared, "There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada,'' and consequently that "makes us the first post-national state."  Or is that the 51st state Justin?   Fully expect the noise surrounding Trump’s Canada as the 51st state joke to only get louder in the opening months of 2025.  So worth looking at what that could possibly mean.  If you believe that any talk of Canada joining the U.S. is just that talk, I beg to differ. A few things would have to line up for it to ever happen, but those things are not as far fetched as you might believe.    Certainly, in peacetime there is not going to be any thought among Canadians of joining the U.S., but a world conflict could definitely change the calculus. Before going down that road however, it's worth looking at what has a better chance of happening and what a closer relationship with the States would look like. ...

One of my favorite columnists, Jeffrey Simpson of the Globe and Mail, would, like many opinion writers, offer his thoughts and predictions in his columns. What I admired the most, was that Simpson's end of year column would keep score of what he got right and wrong in the past year. So in that spirit, I offer my own reflections.  I did take a long shot on Nikki Haley becoming the next President and while that obviously did not happen, it may have come within an earshot however. No, I didn’t predict Trump being assassinated, but I did state often that I believed the 2024 U.S. election was going to be full of surprises. I was one of the few who not only predicted the day after Biden's terrible debate performance that he would be replaced by the Democrats, but stated my belief it was their intention to do so before June 27th. Finally, I did correctly predict the outcome of the U.S. election, so as Meatloaf sang - two out of three ain’t bad.  In terms of Canadian politics I ha...

  Time to take a break from politics and discuss the benign…. Recent discussion among Yankee fans debated if Juan Soto signed a long term deal with the team, where he might end up on their list of greatest Yankees ever. Obviously, with an iconic franchise with such a deep pool of hall of farmers and all stars any discussion of the greatest evers can go on for a while.  Instead of going down that rabbit hole, I decided to think of the Blue Jays best evers. Sadly, it didn’t require that much time. In terms of criteria, I decided to first look at position players that had played a minimum of 500 games for at least 2500 at bats as Blue Jays. So while the Jays have had some quite notable hall of farmers either start their careers, Fred McGriff, or play with them later on in their careers, ie. Paul Molitor - they are not eligible. For offensive reference used https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/stats/all-time-totals I can’t be bothered to rank them, as everyone will have their own weightin...