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We’re all protectionists now.

LILLEY: Mark Carney embraces protectionism amid fight with Donald Trump Back to video

That’s one takeaway from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s multibillion-dollar investment announcement in Thunder Bay on Thursday. Carney stood in the Alstom rail plant there to announce the government would spend $4.7 billion to help Via Rail acquire 313 new, made-in-Canada rail cars.

The turn to protectionism isn’t new; it’s been a feature of our response to Donald Trump’s tariffs from the start.

On the one hand, we’ve had the prime minister and various premiers denounce the U.S. president’s tariffs as foolish protectionism and call for them to be overturned. On the other hand, we’ve seen the resurrection of our own instinct to shield domestic industries.

Other leaders following suit

While our elected leaders still call for an end to American protectionism,........

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