Years of talk about economic resilience produced too few results before Trump’s tariff threat became reality

Some Canadian politicians have been caught flat-footed in responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.

Canada’s political leaders have known for nearly two years that Trump’s protectionist trade agenda was coming. He campaigned on tariffs before returning to the White House and made his intentions explicit in his second inaugural address.

“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump said.

Of course, that’s not how tariffs work. Tariffs are taxes on imports, which are paid by importers and can ultimately raise costs for consumers and businesses. But Trump proceeded with his protectionist agenda.

Just months later, on April 2, 2025, on what he termed “Liberation Day,” Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries. While he suspended most of those tariffs until the summer of 2025, countries that failed to reach deals with the administration, including Canada, faced increased tariffs.

The dispute has since escalated dramatically. On Aug. 22, the United States imposed 50 per cent tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of Canadian goods. Canada responded Sept. 8 with tariffs of 15, 25 and 50 per cent on $27.6 billion worth of U.S. imports.

Canada’s politicians have talked a good game in response. Prime Minister Mark Carney has spoken at length about the need to diversify trade, remove internal trade barriers, pursue major economic projects at home and cut red tape to respond to Trumpian protectionism. So, too, have most of Canada’s premiers.

To be fair, governments have taken steps. Ottawa has moved to reduce internal trade barriers and accelerate major projects, provided billions of dollars in support to businesses and workers affected by tariffs and hosted the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto on Sept. 14 and 15. The federal government says the summit generated or highlighted nearly $500 billion in new investment.

But announcing investments, changing regulations and passing legislation are not the same thing as getting major projects built. Too much of Canada’s response still consists of consultations, feasibility studies and projects that remain years away from completion.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt is a good example.

Holt has been one of Trump’s foremost critics among Canada’s provincial leaders and has supported bans on U.S. liquor and a hard-line retaliatory approach to the Trump administration’s tariff agenda.

On Aug. 26, her government launched a five-month public review of New Brunswick’s moratorium on natural gas development, imposed across the province more than a decade ago.

Times have changed. New Brunswick relies heavily on imported natural gas despite sitting on an estimated 77.9 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas. Developing even part of that resource could create jobs, generate royalties, attract investment and increase domestic energy supplies.

“We see a global dynamic shift in relationships and energy,” Holt said. “The only responsible thing to do at this point in time is to revisit the conditions of the moratorium to determine if this is something that can benefit New Brunswickers.”

But Holt has also cautioned that this is just the “start of a conversation” and that “this is not a green light to start getting drills in the ground.”

Whatever one’s position on fracking, Holt’s approach is precisely why so many Canadians think politics is broken. It also helps explain why Canada has been caught flat-footed in responding to changing international trade and economic conditions.

Trump has been clear about his tariff intentions since before returning to office. Exploring whether New Brunswick should develop its natural gas resources could have begun much earlier. Instead, with Canadian businesses and workers now facing mounting pressure from U.S. tariffs, New Brunswick is only beginning a five-month review.

Why wait until a trade crisis to seriously explore that economic opportunity?

Unfortunately, the lack of urgency is hardly confined to New Brunswick.

British Columbia Premier David Eby continues to oppose an Alberta pipeline that would require lifting the North Coast tanker ban. Meanwhile, Alberta and Ontario are advancing the proposed Northern Shield Energy Corridor, including a possible 3,300-kilometre pipeline route from Hardisty, Alta., to Sarnia, Ont.

The proposed pipeline could initially move 500,000 barrels of oil per day and potentially connect to Churchill, Man., but it remains at the feasibility-study stage.

Canada does not lack ideas. It has proposed pipelines, energy corridors, ports, mines and other major infrastructure projects. Governments are removing trade barriers, changing regulations, offering billions in assistance and courting international investors.

Those are real actions. But Canada cannot subsidize its way out of a trade war or build economic independence through announcements alone. It needs pipelines carrying energy, mines producing critical minerals, ports moving Canadian goods to new markets and businesses investing in new productive capacity.

Trump’s tariff agenda was not a surprise. Canada had time to prepare.

It is time for Canada’s politicians to turn years of talk about economic diversification and major projects into tangible results. Until they do, Canadians will have good reason to be frustrated both with the Trump administration’s protectionism and with the slow pace of Canada’s response.

Dr. Jay Goldberg is a political scientist, a fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and a columnist whose work is syndicated in the Toronto Sun and Winnipeg Sun. His policy analysis focuses on fiscal, trade, and energy issues.