The burgeoning U.S.-Canada trade war has become the central question in Canadian politics. Whichever way this situation plays out, the relationship between the two countries is irreparably changed. This will have far reaching consequences for the economy, politics and the class struggle.
‘Team Canada’
In virtual unanimity, all of the major political parties, as well as trade union and business leaders, have united in what they call “team Canada” to stand up to Trump. There is unanimous agreement in imposing counter tariffs against American goods as well as encouraging people to “buy Canadian”.
Across the spectrum we are preached to about how we must be united against the external threat. For example, former Prime Ministers Stephen Harper, Joe Clarke, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin penned an open letter encouraging Canadians to show national pride. Trudeau has established the Council on Canada-U.S. Relations, including various politicians, labour leaders, and capitalists with the express purpose of rallying the population to support the government against Trump.
National pride has shot up from 58 per cent to 67 per cent with the sharpest increase in Quebec with a 13 point increase. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of this as well, such as Canadian fans booing the U.S. national anthem at hockey games.
Politically, Ontario premier Doug Ford, who was initially the most firm against Trump, has soared in the polls, to popularity levels not seen in a century. The Federal Liberals have also been miraculously resurrected. From a situation where they were facing decimation at the hands of Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, polls now show that with Mark Carney at the helm, they are neck and neck.
The communist approach
There are two sides to this rise in Canadian nationalism. On the one hand, workers in Canada do have genuine fears. In particular, many people fear losing their jobs or the healthcare system. This sentiment is entirely progressive.
However, on the other hand, the Canadian ruling class is using this sentiment and channeling it into a defense of the interests of Canadian capitalists. This is a reactionary deception that communists work to expose.
The fact of the matter is that these Canadian capitalist leaders do not have our interests at heart—and in the most fundamental ways, have interests opposed to those of Canadian workers.
The main enemy of the Canadian working class is not Donald Trump, but the Canadian capitalist class and its representatives. Of course Donald Trump is an enemy, but we cannot rely on Canadian business leaders and bourgeois politicians. They are only looking out for their narrow interests and will throw the working class to the wolves the first chance they get.
This was stated openly by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a launch of his new book where he remarked, “If I was still prime minister, I would be prepared to impoverish the country and not be annexed, if that was the option we’re facing,” … “I would accept any level of damage to preserve the independence of the country.”
Harper is able to state things openly as he does not have to deal with the adverse political effects of being so honest. But all of the far sighted representatives adhere to this common view. The fact that these comments were met with enthusiastic applause from his invitation-only audience shows that this view is widely accepted in bourgeois circles.
Trudeau, for his part, is continuing to pretend he cares about working class people, stating that he will “stand up for Canadian workers.” But his record says otherwise.
Just in 2024, the Liberals took away the right to strike from the rail workers, the port workers of Vancouver and Montreal, as well as the Postal workers. In unprecedented fashion these people who care so much about Canadian workers did this without any debate or vote in the parliament. On top of it all—the railways are primarily owned by American capitalists!
Therefore, we should not rely on the Liberals or any of the parties of the Canadian ruling class to protect Canadian workers.
The height of Canadian nationalist hypocrisy was most clearly demonstrated by Ontario premier Doug Ford who has started wearing a MAGA-style cap with the words “Canada is not for sale.” For a politician who was caught red handed selling Ontario Greenbelt to his rich developer friends, apparently he didn’t notice how ironic that was.
Similarly, Quebec premier François Legault, who makes a lot of noise about “defending Quebec” sided with an American company against a union of Quebecois workers when the company (ABI) locked them out for 18 months.
No, these people are not on our side.
One key concern many working-class Canadians have with Trump threatening to annex Canada is our healthcare system. No one wants a private healthcare system like they have down south where vultures like UnitedHealth make massive profits, denying claims to suffering people.
But again, why would we rely on any of these capitalist politicians to protect our healthcare? When we look at the facts, these oh-so-patriotic Canadians are the very people who have been systematically underfunding, dismantling and privatizing our healthcare system. Doug Ford himself privatized surgeries in Ontario and Alberta premier Danielle Smith has been caught red-handed dismissing the CEO of Alberta Health Services for exposing her corrupt privatization of surgeries.
What is clear is that in spite of what they claim, in reality, there is no team Canada. There only is one Canada for the capitalists and one Canada for the workers. And we are not on the same team.
In essence, what we have is a conflict between two different groups of capitalists, each of whom ruthlessly exploits “their” workers at home. Therefore: this trade war is not our war.
Counter tariffs and ‘buy Canadian’
All of the parties argue that we need counter tariffs in order to protect Canadian jobs. This is besides the fact that tariffs have nothing to do with defending jobs. The main purpose of tariffs from the point of view of the Canadian ruling class is to protect their dominance of their market.
And it is often the sectors that are the most protected that are the most ruthless in their dealings with Canadian workers and consumers. For example, American banks, airlines and telecommunications companies are blocked from entering the Canadian market.
But the giant Canadian telecommunications monopolies notoriously gouge consumers with some of the most expensive cell phone contracts in the world. Equally, the giant Canadian banks charge some of the highest fees. Canada’s only national airline, Air Canada, was privatized in the 1980s and is notoriously expensive. They even recently announced they will start charging for carry-on bags.
These industries are not protected for our benefit—this is simply the Canadian government protecting their friends’ monopolies so they can better gouge Canadian consumers.
Counter-tariffs will play a similar role in protecting Canadian capitalists that abuse Canadian workers and consumers. As well, counter tariffs will drive up the price of imported products, a burden that will fall mainly on the workers and poor.
We are being encouraged by all of the main capitalist parties to boycott American products and “buy Canadian”. But this too will not save jobs. Much like counter tariffs, buying only Canadian-made products is something that benefits Canadian capitalists. In practice, this means supporting Galen Weston and Loblaws, instead of the Walton family and Walmart. But all of these companies have gouged prices and made huge profits off of poor families trying to feed themselves.
Buying Canadian means giving infrastructure contracts to the corrupt SNC Lavalin or purchasing planes from Bombardier who have received so many corporate bailouts it is difficult to count.
Do any of these Canadian companies really treat the average Canadian worker better than their U.S. counterparts? When you look plainly at this situation, it is clear that working class people have no horse in this race.
The class struggle
At the time of writing, tariffs have not yet been imposed. But a whopping 56 per cent of businesses polled stated that they would proceed with layoffs if the tariffs are implemented.
This means that hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the chopping block. But we should be crystal clear: it will be Canadian capitalists who will be firing Canadian workers. It will be these oh-so-patriotic Canadian capitalists who will be slashing wages and benefits to protect their profits.
In place of protectionism, communists fight for an independent class policy and militant class action to protect jobs and all of the progressive reforms that Canadian workers have won over the years.
We can only rely on the strength of our own class. If Canadian capitalists close factories due to the trade war, then workers should occupy those factories and demand the factories be nationalized under workers control. This is the only way to protect jobs and keep production running.
If a company demands layoffs or wage cuts in order to “stay competitive”, the books should be opened so the workers can see for themselves what is going on. The Canadian bourgeoisie who like to speak about protecting “Canadian sovereignty” will deny the right of the workers to review the company’s books—proving that for them, the real sovereignty that they care about is their control over production and their ability to make profits off of the backs of the workers.
For a Socialist Federation of the Americas
While we cannot trust the Canadian ruling class, we do have a natural ally in the American working class. Working class solidarity has deep roots throughout the history of the two countries. In fact, the main trade unions in Canada were international unions created by the American trade union movement.
Many of the most dedicated trade union activists at the time were organized in the Industrial Workers of the World who coined the phrase “One Big Union.” The fundamental idea was correct then and remains correct: a greater union of the workers of different countries.
It serves the interests of the working class on both sides of the border to revive this internationalism and reforge the bonds of class solidarity.
When Trump referred to the Canada-U.S. border as an “artificially drawn line,” he ruffled many feathers among the political elite. But in a bizarre way, Trump is pointing at something correct. The nation state is an impediment to the development of the productive forces. A larger economic union would be more efficient, allowing for commodities and labour to flow more freely.
But under capitalism, this would only benefit the capitalists. This is why Trump’s delusions are a reactionary pipedream that will lead nowhere good for working class people.
The only way that we can unleash the latent potential would not be through annexation, but through a voluntary socialist federation of Canada, Quebec, the U.S., Mexico and all the other nations of the Americas.
