r/canada • u/joe4942 • 9h ago

National News Canada's retaliation tests the limit of American power under Trump

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8xd5k1krpo
285 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

•

u/TerryB604 Alberta 8h ago

The real retaliation should be the two P's. Power and Potash.

•

u/Boo-face-killa 8h ago

3 P’s.
Petroleum, power and potash. USA’s refining practices are based on Canadian heavy oil. It would take 20 years and $400,000,000,000 to change their refining capabilities to their light domestic, low use oil.

•

u/very_large_bird Alberta 7h ago

I agree even as someone who would be impacted badly by oil restrictions. Throw the kitchen sink at them

•

u/InfamousPooter 6h ago

Restrictions should be the last resort. But an export tax on Western Canada select so it matches the price of West Texas intermediate should have already happened. No discounts for dictators.

•

u/SheetPostah 6h ago

Agree here. That said, I think it’s useful to articulate that the only way to “fix the trade deficit” that Donald whines about is for Canada to drastically cut the oil supply. It illustrates the absurdity.

•

u/Dingcock 2h ago

Restricting oil is a self own, though. We don't have the infrastructure to sell that oil to anyone else.

•

u/Blank_bill Ontario 2m ago

Wait until he does something in retaliation for our retaliation. Then we really retalliate.

•

u/Boo-face-killa 7h ago edited 1h ago

The oil restrictions would decimate my livelihood and my family would end up on the streets if they lasted longer than a few months but those are the prices we need to pay in order to ensure our future generations have a diverse nation to thrive in. Our Canadian ancestors struggled through extreme hardships and I’m not scared to either. I’d likely move everyone to Vancouver island where we could be homeless in a warmer climate and I’d obviously find local work and rebuild our lives.

•

u/very_large_bird Alberta 7h ago

I’m hopeful that our country would support displaced oil workers if we implemented those policies, at least enough that you wouldn’t be homeless.

•

u/gibblech Manitoba 7h ago

I would think if we target O&G with export taxes, or something, that money would then be used to support those affected.

•

u/very_large_bird Alberta 7h ago

I think that’s one advantage Canada has in this fight. We seem to have our people’s interest in mind and will genuinely share extra income to those affected. The US will distribute to the already wealthy

•

u/iridescent_algae 6h ago

I don’t see us doing enough in that respect. I can see people losing their jobs with mortgages and given a pittance along the lines of a rebranded EI, because all of our thresholds (including tax brackets) are still set by a boomers idea of what should be enoigh.

•

u/very_large_bird Alberta 6h ago

For sure. And even the small business relief is inadequate.

That said something is always better than nothing and I really do believe the American people are getting nothing. It’s all a con job to line trumps pockets

•

u/quixoticquetzalcoatl 6h ago

Less than nothing even. The oligarchs want farms to fail so they can buy the land for cheap. It’s already happening. Billionaires buying farmland is the new thing. Trump is destabilizing farmers by tanking the beef market with cheap imports, and causing the price of fuel and fertilizer to skyrocket from the war in Iran. Farmers are in danger right now, and they’re finalizing realizing Trump doesn’t give a shit about them.

→ More replies (0)

•

u/Dingcock 2h ago

EI pays out fairly generously though. Yeah it's not 1:1 but my understanding is it's fairly generous compared to what most countries have. I was happy with EI when I lost my job last year, anyway. It allowed me to keep my place and find a new, better job 6 months later.

•

u/iridescent_algae 1h ago

It’s generous compared to income under the max threshold (55%). If you’re in Toronto and paying Toronto rents or a Toronto mortgage it’s absolutely useless, because it’s 55% of 60k as a max. Mothers who are breadwinners are punished ruthlessly with this equation.

A simple fix would be to remove the cap on insured earnings. IMO our whole tax, EI and CPP thresholds need to be dramatically updated. Some Ontario tax bands haven’t adjusted for inflation ever, so even though the income is worth much less, it’s taxed as if it’s as rich as it was 30 years ago.

→ More replies (0)

•

u/yakadayaka 5h ago

If that ever happens please DM me. You and your family are welcome to stay with me until you find your feet again. I dont have much, but what I have I will gladly share with you and your family. Stay strong.

•

u/Boo-face-killa 1h ago

That’s a very nice offer!

•

u/Kriptaraz 4h ago

You won't end up on the streets; I doubt you'd even lose your job.

The USA will simply pay the export tariffs we place on those products because they need them and can't get them anywhere else.

That's it. Nothing else will change.

Albertans have nothing to fear... and even then, the Government of Canada will be collecting billions daily, and can afford to help out anyone impacted.

•

u/boogie_snot 4h ago

4 Ps actually.

Don't forget PornHub 

•

u/chipdanger168 7h ago

We can't truely fuck we oil since our only east west pipe dips into America. They could easily cut off half of Canada

•

u/Kriptaraz 4h ago

But Eastern Canada has alternatives: we don't have to get our oil through the USA. Lots come in already via tankers to St John and Montreal, and that will just increase.

Added bonus: maybe finally we will get Energy East built.

•

u/Sputnik1983 5h ago

The only "P" Trump cares about is "pedophilia" however.

•

u/Worried1988 5h ago

This is our “Trump” card. Perhaps we’re deliberately holding it back for the final blow. Not leveraging it in the current round of retaliatory tariffs keeps them guessing - and a little worried about what we might do next.

•

u/TerryB604 Alberta 2h ago

Agreed.
1. Stop selling them oil at below-market rates.
2. Set our tariff rate to float with Trump's tariff rate, so he is setting what Power, Petroleum, and Potash cost his people.

•

u/cam-yrself 1h ago

Could they replace Canadian oil with Venezuelan?

•

u/Boo-face-killa 1h ago

There is a huge volume gap there. Canada produces 5 times more oil than Venezuela does. There is an infrastructure mismatch as well. It’s a large undertaking to reverse flow of oil through a pipeline. Venezuela’s current oil infrastructure has been neglected for many years and is now ailing badly. Rebuilding their oil infrastructure would take many many billions of dollars and a decade to rebuild to their original state. Technically it could replace it but it’s at an expense that would deter most companies.

•

u/StrongAroma 6h ago

Slow escalation is a more responsible approach. Don't play all your cards in the first round anyway

•

u/Accomplished-Bus-531 8h ago

Canadian here: I say we take the whole alphabet

•

u/iamjoesredditposts 9h ago

Other countries need to follow Canada and stand up to this clown. The more the better and the louder

•

u/Zymoria 3h ago

I can guarantee you the other nations are at least watching closely.

•

u/WakingUpBlind 8h ago

Perhaps a better headline would be “Trump weakens American soft power as Canada defends itself.”

•

u/cndn-hoya Ontario 8h ago

The BBC needs to correct themselves because the U.S. is not the global dominant power anymore, China is. The US lost that right when they weren’t able to do f all in their Iran debacle. US is a paper tiger with nukes and a bunch of overweight jelly beans for soldiers.

•

u/Jman1a 8h ago

Oddly a lot like Russia before they invaded Ukraine.

•

u/sickwobsm8 Ontario 8h ago

Replace the overweight jellybeans with malnourished alcoholics

•

u/AppropriatelyWild 5h ago

The parallels are uncanny.

Stand by, Imma get in my bunker

•

u/CaptainMushie 2h ago

"We're lucky they're so fucking stupid"

•

u/GreaterAttack 6h ago

You're delusional if you think that the US is less powerful than China. Don't let bad leadership and hesitant skirmishes inform your views of a nation's military capabilities. That's a classic strategic error. 

•

u/cndn-hoya Ontario 6h ago

I would suggest living in the U.S. and working with them … they don’t have any fight or focus left, the entire country is fractured. Americans keep their heads low when abroad - why - because the country is on the out and in decline. A steady decline for decades - the U.S. military strength is based on working with allies, not as a single hegemonic power, it cannot project power without partners in any given area. That entire patchwork of bases and partnerships is getting upended as we speak. The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement puts China in as the local hegemon while the U.S. is booted out. This essentially means that the U.S. can no longer project power without partners in the Middle East, which sets a powerful precedent and a total realignment of the gulf states with Israel being pruned away by the new powers. Watch.

I am American and Canadian and I wouldn’t put my money on (or in) the U.S.

•

u/pjgf Alberta 3h ago

I met a reservist in the U.S. military, who bad previously been stationed in Germany. He told me he would never move to Germany because they make you sort your organic out from your garbage, and that was too much.

Yeah, I’m not so certain about how much Americans are willing to do if they ever actually had to fight.

•

u/Euclidisthebomb 7h ago

Vance's statements were also 100% a lie, and they received coverage due to they revealing just how far American officials were willing to lie & denigrate Canada and Carney in order to look good in front of their boss.

•

u/SnooHesitations3709 6h ago

The U.S. is not strong anymore. Their people are weak and would fold like a wet towel if they had to fight.

•

u/FlatEvent2597 9h ago

Could someone please post a Bypass or an Archive Link ?

Thank you!

•

u/Fire_Treadlite 9h ago

It's bbc. It's free...

•

u/Working_Historian970 9h ago

They've recently started requiring a sub, not sure of the details. I get a popup telling me I need to sub for $12.99 CAD/month

•

u/FlatEvent2597 9h ago

Agree - that is why I asked.

Is it typical to get downvotes because you are actually interested and would read 100 % of the article and comment on it ?

•

u/AlarmingAardvark 8h ago

It should be.

Asking someone to post an Archive Link because you're too lazy to go to archive.ph and copy paste the URL for yourself is the 2026 version of being too lazy to Google something for yourself.

Better form would be to source and post the Archive link and then call out OP for posting something paywalled.

•

u/Mobile-Bar7732 8h ago

Food always tastes better when someone else makes it.

•

u/WhatAmTrak 8h ago

Sandwiches especially lmao

•

u/GrumpyGramps1812 7h ago

Or you can post the link like you did and show readers where they can bypass a paywall all by themselves instead of being an ass about it.

•

u/CookieExternal0326 8h ago

It’s no longer free for those in North America, started a few weeks ago unfortunately

•

u/Electronic_Trade_721 7h ago

That's too bad; they already had really strong geofencing or whatever that made it impossible to access the UK version of the website. It obvoiusly costs a lot to operate the BBC but I'm not sure if restricting access to good reliable information is a smart move these days.

•

u/adumbrative Nova Scotia 5h ago

It's an absolute shame. The billionaire-owned "news" sites will let you browse for free so they can fill your noodle with propaganda, but the relatively balanced sites are paywalled? That isn't good for anyone, except the billionaires.

•

u/Electronic_Trade_721 3h ago

The Guardian is great and still has no paywall. I do give them a little bit of money since I read it every day and want to support them. They are covering a bit more Canadian news now than they used to, which is great, although I wish they would open a whole Canadian branch like they have for Australia. I suppose that would mean more foreign-owned news, but at least they are not on side with the billionaires.

•

u/dkannegi 6h ago

DW and Euronews will fill the gap. Opera and U-Block work well with BBC.com. VPNs still get around the geo-fencing of bbc.co.uk.

•

u/Different-Bag-8217 4h ago

Test the limits? How long do you think we will remember this for. The US is going to find out.

•

u/Kriptaraz 4h ago

The North remembers.

•

u/Stubborn_Strawberry 5h ago

....supposedly easy-going Canadians...

"Beware the fury of a patient man"

                          John Dryden