A B.C. political analyst says Canada will be "in for a rough ride" following the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. President.
Trump's inauguration speech did not specifically mention his northern neighbour, but promised to "overhaul" his country's trade system to "protect American workers and families" with trade barriers.
"Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," Trump said, one of several references he made to tariffs.
University of B.C. lecturer Stewart Prest said the absence of Canada in Trump's speech means Canada is "clearly not one of the top-of-mind priorities" for him. But that does not change the stakes.
"It implies that Canada must remain resolved and unified to the extent that we are able in our responses, but also controlled and careful not to do over-do or under-react at any particular juncture."
Prest said that the fact that Trump did not specifically impose tariffs on day one gives a "certain amount of hope or at least a sense of relief" that the United States seems to be focused on reviewing trading relationships more broadly.
"So there is ample space for negotiations and back-and-forth there, so that is something that we can remain positive about. It suggests that we are in something akin to a permanent state of renegotiating our trade relationships. So we can manage that, but it requires that steady leadership."
Trump implicitly referenced a mid-19th century dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom over the Oregon Territory, a piece that now includes large sections of mainland British Columbia, when he referenced the idea of Manifest Destiny.
Manifest Destiny envisioned a future in which the United States stretched across the entire North American continent. One of its most prominent proponents was former U.S. president James K. Polk, who successfully campaigned on the promise to claim all of the Oregon Territory under the slogan of 54-40 or Fight.
Trump had previously talked about making Canada the 51st state and Trump said the United States will "once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons."
What Trump might have meant by those comments with reference to Canada remains to be seen.
Prest said the unpredictable dynamics of a Trump presidency as evident by such statements "drive home the need for really clear and sustained leadership in the country, which unfortunately, is something we desperately lack given both the challenges with Liberal Party as that party looks for a successor...but also within Parliament more broadly.
"Unfortunately, Canada doesn't really have "any individual who is able to unambiguously speak for Canada, convene the relevant actors within the country, both at the federal level and among the provinces, and to really chart out a steady course for the country amid the unpredictable whirlwind to the south of us that unfolds."
