blackbird

Yes, Canada must walk and chew gum at the same time. We must trade with countries that we don't agree with on a lot of things and even though they try to meddle in our politics, etc. We have had trouble with India as well. But we must trade and increase our trade with other countries like China, India, southeast Asia and other countries. At the same time, we must be more forceful in dealing with national security and foreign interference. We should be able to do those things at the same time as we trade. Our prosperity depends on it.

Because the federal and provincial (Ontario) gives billions of dollars MORE to the auto industry than any other industries across Canada. They act as if that is the only industry that matters. WE are being screwed big time. They also committed billions of dollars to planned EV plants in Canada. Why so much money to these industries and not the rest of industries across Canada? These auto industry workers make huge incomes and their executives salaries and bonuses are up around 12 million dollars per year. That is outrageous. Yet the liberal governments and provincial governments have been delaying approvals for mines for years. They have hampered the oil industry with all their regulations and taxes and tanker ban. Obviously they are favouring the auto industry in central Canada at the expense of the rest of the country. Nobody buys only Canadian for the sake of supporting jobs in Canada. That claim is pure fiction. They buy because of the price or necessity. As far as trade with China, we have been trading with China for decades. They are our second largest trading partner even though it is only a few percent of our international trade. Almost all of our trade has been with the U.S. but the U.S. is turning its back on us under Trump. We have no choice. We must trade with China and other countries in Asia and the rest of the world in order to survive and protect our living standards. We cannot survive under the U.S. attacks on Canada. So Canada must diversity and we cannot depend on the U.S. anymore. Premier Ford is out to lunch and doesn't understand how trade and the country works.

"WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if America's northern neighbor went ahead with its China trade deal. Trump said in a social media post that if Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.” While Trump has waged a trade war over the past year, Canada this month negotiated a deal to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in return for lower import taxes on Canadian farm products. Trump initially had said that agreement was what Carney “should be doing and it’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal.” Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment." MSN news. ( It won't let me copy and paste the URL for some reason)

MAJOR NEWS REPORT Trump is threatening to put 100% tariffs on Canada if Canada goes through with the trade deal with China. Under Trump Canada's actual sovereignty is threatened. Trump is intent on making Canada a slave of the U.S. Everything is changed.

Premier Ford is defending an industry that has required Canadian taxpayers, federal and provincial, to pay billions of dollars into it. At the same time their executives are making up to around 12 million dollars a year with bonuses. Why are Canadians taxpayers forced to pay billions of dollars to an industry that is paying its executives 240 times what the average worker gets paid? This is corruption at its worst. If taxpayers are forced to pay billions of dollars into the auto industry, why are not other industries across Canada receiving these kinds of subsidies from the government? I don't see billions of dollars being put into the failing forestry industry in B.C. Why is that? Because all the votes for liberals and the Ford government are in central Canada, Ontario and Quebec. These politicians in central Canada are ripping off the rest of Canadians. Yet you are telling us that Canadians should spend their money on Canadian made vehicles instead of less expensive foreign made vehicles. Many Canadians do not make anywhere near $89.000 per year that auto workers make. It is hypocrisy to tell people that they should support richer people instead of be frugal with the limited amount of money they have. " Automotive Industry Statistics for Canadians Canada’s automotive manufacturers assemble around 1.4 million vehicles in a year. The automotive industry contributes around $19 to Canada’s GDP and has a revenue of over $140 billion. The average salary in the industry is $89,400. Only 12% of cars manufactured in Canada are sold in Canada. In 2024, there were 26.8 million registered vehicles on the road. In 2025, around 1.9 million motor vehicles were sold in Canada. Both the Canadian Government and automotive manufacturers are investing billions in electric vehicle production. China and the US are the biggest automotive manufacturers in the world. unquote Automotive Industry Statistics in Canada | Made in CA

Be honest, you and everyone else buy when they can at the lowest price. Nobody deliberately goes out to buy something more expensive when the same thing is available for a lower price. Many Canadians do not have an unlimited supply of money and must be careful how they spend to make ends meet. That's how freedom works. Not telling somebody to spend more money to support some jobs in Canada. That is ludicrous and nobody if they're being honest, does that. Manufacturing in general is not profitable in Canada because Mexico and Asia can manufacture things at a much lower cost than in Canada. Telling people to go spend their money on more expensive things because they are made in Canada is not a believable option. That would just make everyone poorer. Most people only have a limited amount of money to spend. If some industry wants people to throw their money their way so they can have a job, that just proves their job is not profitable and they should find another occupation. It is annoying when it comes from people who are earning a huge hourly wage, big pensions, and their executives are earning 12 million or more a year with bonuses. Yet they expect people who earn half of what they earn to give their money to these highly paid union workers.

I guess it depends on how you look at it. Your country freely negotiated all the trade agreements, and worked with Canada on North American Air Defence (NORAD), in NATO, and Canadians died fighting alongside you in Afghanistan, Korea, and world wars, and now you turn against us and accuse us of ripping you off.

I see you believe the big lie. What proof do you have? More sane people have negotiated trade deals over the decades and both countries and benefited in the trade and millions of jobs that were created. Now all of sudden you claim you have been subsidizing us. That's not credible. As just one example we have been selling our oil to the U.S. for years below the world market price. So who has been subsidizing who? It looks more like the subsidies have been going south in the oil.

Premier Ford wants Canadians to boycott Chinese EVs, referring to the 3% of cars that will be sold in Canada from China. Executives of the major corporations are among the highest paid people on the planet. A Google search revealed: "In 2023, the top 100 Canadian automaker executives earned an average of $13.2 million. This figure represents a significant disparity, as these executives earned 210 times more than the average Canadian worker. " These executives earn $60,000 by coffee break on one day. Millions of Canadians are struggling to pay their rent or mortgages and put food on the table. These executives earn several hundred times as much money as the average Canadian. Yet Ford wants the 49,000 Canadians who might consider buying a Chinese EV to forget it and instead fork over tens of thousands of dollars more for a vehicle made in Canada even though the number of China made EVs represents only 3% of the cars manufactured in Canada and it saves a vast number of jobs in the canola and other industries. Why doesn't Ford ask these executives to take a major cut in their pay and bonuses and donate that money to reduce the price of Canadian made vehicles? That would make more sense. Also, how much taxpayer money has Ford's Ontario and the federal government donated to the auto industry over the years, money that belongs to the Canadians who now cannot even afford to buy a Canadian made vehicle because of the high costs of living in Canada?

We will see.

Obviously it takes time to find buyers for canola or anything. If buyers could have been found, it would have already been done, but it wasn't. No, 3% is very little, insignificant. quote For the average of the three years, 2020/21-2022/23: The total economic impact on the Canadian economy from the canola sector averaged C$43.7 billion per year. 206,000 full time equivalent jobs are supported by the canola sector, comprising almost 142,000 paid jobs and an additional 65,000 family members (beyond the growers themselves) who support and are supported by canola farming operations. The total wage impact of the sector averaged C$16.3 billion. unquote Canola’s economic impact: growing opportunity for all Canadians

quote Canola industry welcomes significant progress on Chinese tariffs CCC & CCGA release January 16, 2026 – The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) and Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) welcome the announcement made today in Beijing to provide significant tariff relief for Canadian canola seed and meal. Under the agreement reached between Canada and China, tariffs on Canadian canola seed imports are expected to be reduced to 15% as of March 1, 2026, and the current 100% tariffs on canola meal are expected to be removed as of March 1, 2026, until at least the end of the calendar year. unquote Canola industry welcomes significant progress on Chinese tariffs | Canola Council of Canada

Simple. It was the only way Carney could get China to drop the huge tariff of 100% on canola and some other things. You always have to give something to get something in a trade deal. 49,000 EVs is insignificant. It was good deal for Canada.

Canada put 25% tariffs on a lot of things in response to Trump's tariffs. If you want zero tariffs, you will have to convince Trump who thinks tariffs are great. Canada cannot allow no control over the dairy industry because American dairy products would put Canadian dairy farmers out of business. They have a huge supply at a low price. That would not be right. So there is a quota system. I don't think they meet the quota anyway so there is nothing to talk about.

TARIFFS. Trump is really hitting Canada in the auto sector, aluminum, steel, forestry lumber.

Still our 2nd largest trading partner. We sell a lot canola to them.

Trump is shafting us. That's why the government is looking for more trade elsewhere.

If Canada wants to trade with other countries and sell our natural resources, it has to get along to a certain degree and be respectful. China is a major trading partner. That doesn't mean we agree with everything they do.

I don't know if that is factual or just BS being spread. There are lots of companies that oppose the low cost vehicles from China and there could be lots of false information being spewed out there. They can inspect the buses from China and remove anything like that. I doubt such a thing even exists. What would be the point?

I don't know what they know. That's not the point. The point is the problems are described in the book "Claws of the Panda", not in EVs. "Claws of the Panda by veteran foreign correspondent Jonathan Manthorpe establishes the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) sophisticated espionage efforts in infiltrating Canada’s political, commercial, media, and academic sectors, as well as the utility of China’s diaspora in doing so (6; 167). To begin, a historical context of Sino-Canadian relations is established by discussing the impact of Canadian missionary efforts in China, arguing missionary kin as crucial in establishing diplomacy between the CCP and Canada. From there, Manthorpe shifts towards thorough case study analysis regarding infiltration allegations of CCP influence into Canada’s economic, information and academic sectors. Manthorpe then analyses examples of CCP transnational espionage and money laundering tactics masquerading as cultural and economic exchanges, which he argues occur via the exploitation of Canada’s immigration and foreign investment legislation. The book concludes by emphasizing the negligence of Canada’s provincial and federal political class in acknowledging subversion, and points to incompatible ideologies that he argues make mutually beneficial unattainable (223). Sino-Canadian diplomacy unattainable." Book Review – Claws of the Panda

You need to do some studying instead of just making up off-the-cuff claims without any idea about it. You obviously don't understand where the real problems are from China. I suggest you read some books on the subject. The problems are widespread but they are not in the EVs or the items you buy in the dollar store. National security is something but it is not in EVs. I would suggest you get the book "Claws of the Panda" - Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation of Canada by Jonathan Manthorpe. That's where the real threats are, influence and intimidation. Material goods like EVs and other things don't represent a threat. The people who claim they do simply don't understand what the real threats are. It takes some study of the right books. Canada is a very weak country because of all the freedoms we have. China has an advantage in that they are very powerful and the CCP has absolute power and control. Our system does not operate like that which in a way is a huge weakness. It's also probably why our public health care system is a failure. Our system lacks the ability to control the health care system from the top down. It is kind of a free-for-all in Canada. I may read this book again if I have time to refresh my mind on the real threats from China.

That may be paranoia. You don't realize there are a million other ways of spying much better. They have ways much more useful to influence politics than EVs. Why would they care about roads? Maps are available to anyone. I don't see why they care about city streets. That's nothing to China. Spying in EVs is a nothing burger.

Canadians buy millions of things made in China already that they could not otherwise afford. Why does everyone have to pay a fortune for an EV made here? Many people can't afford cars made here. They can barely afford rent and food.

I'm sure they can be screened to prevent that. China has a million ways of spying. They don't need EVs to spy. What exactly is so useful about an EV spyimg? Probably more fictional claims. Ford and the auto industry might make that claim too.

Clever way to avoid answering the questions. What you keep saying is irrelevant. I simply did a search and posted a short article answering the question about health care in China. I didn't research what Forbes is and if you disagreed with the post, you are free to post any rebuttal you wish. But you don't refute things on a rational basis. You prefer to throw BS accusations of dishonesty all the time. This is why it is necessary to put you on IGNORE. You are not a serious poster on this forum. If you expect others to take you seriously, you have to change your approach and respect people that you disagree with and stop accusing them of dishonesty. That is not how to have a rational discussion with anyone. It is a total waste of time. I get the feeling that you believe in Trump's insulting approach to the world is the way to act. It is certainly NOT. It is not Christian or Biblical at all. He spent the past year insulting the sovereignty of Greenland and making life miserable for the citizens of Greenland. They don't deserve that kind of treatment. Maybe you think you are superior to everyone else just as Trump seems to believe. That doesn't work on a political forum like this.