The Inauguration of President Trump and What it Means for Canada

The Inauguration of President Trump and What it Means for Canada by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Donald Trump is now officially the 47th president of the United States of America, firmly securing his place in the history books as a two-term American leader. Trump’s inauguration speech made scant mention of the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, only stating that he will establish an “external revenue service” that will “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.” However, the issue did come up later, when Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office. “We’re thinking in terms of 25 per cent (tariffs) on Mexico and Canada because they’re allowing vast numbers of people … and fentanyl to come in,” he said. “I think we’ll do it Feb. 1.” Trump’s words and actions must be taken very seriously now that he is the President of the United States. On the first day of his presidency, he signed many executive orders, which might have a considerable influence on how politics will be done in the near future in Canada. For this Canada needs a real leader able to deal with a very different political scenario on the North American continent. Looking at the executive orders that Trump signed on the very first day of his presidency, we must realize that the economic challenges are only a part of much bigger challenges to come for Canada. Here are a few things president Trump has already set in motion, that affect environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies: ENVIRONMENT: Trump will once again withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate deal, the White House said, removing the world's biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade. He declared a national energy emergency, intended to provide him with the authority to reduce environmental restrictions on energy infrastructure and projects and ease permitting for new transmission and pipeline infrastructure as part of a sweeping plan to maximize oil and gas production. He also suspended new federal offshore wind leasing pending an environmental and economic review, saying wind mills are ugly, expensive and harm wildlife. "We're not going to do the wind thing," he said. SOCIAL: Trump ordered that the government would use the term "sex" rather than "gender", while mandating that identification documents issued by the government, including passports and visas, be based on what it described as "an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female." He said that the United States will recognize only two sexes, male and female, that are unchangeable, as he moved to quickly end a range of policies aimed at promoting racial equity and protecting rights for LGBTQ+ people. Trump repealed 78 executive orders signed by Joe Biden, including at least a dozen measures supporting racial equity and combating discrimination against gay and transgender people. GOVERNANCE: President Donald Trump is pulling the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, raising concerns about the U.N. agency's ability to fight diseases and respond to emergencies around the globe without its biggest funder. Trump also said he will revoke nearly of the administration of Biden, adding he will also implement an immediate freeze on new regulations and hiring. The government hiring freeze is being paired with a return-to-office order which would see many government teleworkers forced to commute to work five days a week. The intent is, that the new restrictions on hiring, flexible work, and the pressures around cost-cutting will drive exasperated federal workers out of government. Considered objectively, the current trend in United States politics is on a head on collision course with that of today’s Canadian politics. As such, a lot of adjustments will have to be made in order to preserve, as much as possible, Canada’s own ideas and political identity. On the environmental front, for example, Trump’s decision means that Canada will have to match America’s new rules to compete for investment. That means saying goodbye to the carbon tax, emissions caps, EV mandates and strict environmental regulations. Canada could keep them, of course, but it would suffer serious economic consequences with little benefit. Canada currently produces less than 1.5 per cent of global CO2 emissions, and if our neighbour starts pumping out more, all the taxes Canadians pay won’t make any difference to the fight against global climate change. Another impact will come from the death of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) concept in hiring for work and elsewhere. Even prior to Trump’s return to office, American companies were ignoring DEI in droves: Amazon, Meta, Walmart, McDonald’s, Boeing, Ford and John Deere all scrapped their programs in the last six months. On Monday, Trump revoked all “radical and wasteful” federal DEI programs by executive order. This will affect Canadian companies in several ways. American parent companies may feel pressured to dump DEI policies in their Canadian subsidiaries, so as not to run afoul of the new American ethos, and remain competitive. Trump could also turn these policies into a bargaining chip in his trade and tariff negotiations. Therefore, while Canadians might breathe a short-lived sigh of relief that tariffs won’t hit for another 10 days, Trump’s “golden age” has far greater implications for Canadian business, consumers, taxpayers and society with more surprises to come. If Canada does not want to end up in a dark age, Canada had better pay attention! Were are our political leaders? We need another William Lyon Mackenzie King and his Minister C.D. Howe to lead Canada in these turbulent times. Do you see such leaders on the horizon today????