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So Prime Minister Carney kiboshed the suggestion Canada should retaliate with our oil and gas sales to America because we’re mad at Trump over his tariff threats.
I’m seeing some carping about this from our media.
In The Globe and Mail, Robyn Urbak sniffs
… his statement serves Mr. Carney’s political interests as Canada’s redeemer, but not much else.
At the same time, his remarks offer some insight as to why Ottawa is not taking a harder stance against Mr. Trump; why Mr. Carney has ruled out using energy as leverage; why he’s not slapping massive tariffs on critical minerals or potash; and why he didn’t keep the Gordie Howe bridge closed until Mr. Trump told the Moroun family to stuff it. It may be because, in the short term, those actions would hurt Canada’s economy far worse than they would the U.S.’s, which would critically undermine Mr. Carney’s image as Canada’s economic white knight. Concessions to the U.S. clearly aren’t working, but they may be having something of a mitigating effect on Canada’s economy.
On the other hand, if we shut off energy exports or tax the hell out of potash, Ottawa won’t be able to sell Canadians on the fiction that our economy is thriving. The pain would be too obvious. Mr. Carney can afford to be seen with his elbows down occasionally, but not as the shepherd of an economy in freefall.
But where possible, Ottawa will strive to project both a strong front, and a stable (if sluggish) economy – even if that means “imperfectly” recounting the terms of a new bridge deal. Lies and loose elbows aren’t going to tank Mr. Carney’s reputation. So we should expect the concessions to continue….
In The Guardian, Matt Gurney thinks Carney is playing politics:
…The US has some legitimate gripes with us, including trade barriers and Canada’s chronic underinvestment in defence. It’s reasonable to be angry about those things. But the nature of Trump’s actions has made resistance the only plausible Canadian response: caving in to the US president is toxic for Canadian voters. Some provincial resistance is likely due to unpopular regional leaders seeing salvation in battling Trump – and although Carney has made some concessions since becoming prime minister, including scrapping a planned digital tax that angered US tech companies, he dare only go so far.
Trump has often complained that dealing with Canadians is unpleasant and nasty. He should expect us to get nastier still. Whether he knows it or not, he’s left us little choice.
But I think most of Canada gets it.
…For the uninitiated, “ragging the puck” is pure, unadulterated Canadiana. It is the hockey art of protecting the puck and skating in deliberate, controlled loops to run down the clock.
To some critics, Canada’s cautious, details-first approach under Prime Minister Mark Carney looks like hesitation. They wonder why we aren’t aggressively charging across the border or firing back with reckless, retaliatory economic threats.
But for a hockey pragmatist and rules-based institutionalist like Carney—who once minded the net as a varsity goaltender—ragging the puck isn’t an illegal delay tactic. It is an active, highly disciplined game of keep-away. When your opponent refuses to offer a deal that serves the best interests of both nations, you don’t blindly rush into their zone and turn the puck over. You protect what is yours, absorb the pressure, and force them to expend their energy chasing you until they are ready to play by the rules….
Other comments:
And in the rest of that thread, no one thought Carney was wrong.
I guess in 20 days we’ll see if Trump just pulls another TACO or not. He’s in enough trouble these days already, what with Iran, the US economy, corruption, the midterms, his Senate nominations, and his ICE Gestapo.
And speaking of sports, don’t miss this article about the goings-on at the Tour de France:
I rode the Tour de France cauliflower:
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— Defector (@defector.com) July 30, 2026 at 4:11 PM
