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Letters: Yes, the trade war is about economics, but it's more about sovereignty

Readers say the tariff battle is about Canadian freedom. They also disparage Pete Hegseth, say our auto industry is crucial, and more

‘National identity now matters as much as economic well-being to a large share of the country’

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Re: Doug Ford’s veto of a U.S. trade deal cannot stand — John Ivison; and Trade war was never about sovereignty — Michael Higgins, both Aug. 31

Letters: Yes, the trade war is about economics, but it's more about sovereignty Back to video

Reading John Ivison’s Sept. 1 column on the trade talks and Michael Higgins’ column on the same immediately afterwards was edifying. They both grasped the immediate economic cost of the ongoing trade war. But one largely missed the deeper national anger over the attacks on our sovereignty. Together they illuminated why the collapse of Canada-U.S. negotiations is not just another trade spat.

Like Ivison, Canadians are not stupid. They get that it is about the economy: jobs, GDP, supply chains, the risk of auto tariffs climbing to 50 per cent if Canada accepts terms that violate the letter and spirit of the 2018 CUSMA, terms Ottawa has long called illegal under the agreement. Accepting them would mean endorsing the principle that a signed free-trade deal is written in pencil, erasable whenever Washington feels like it. That is the economic and legal heart of the resistance.

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But national identity now matters as much as economic well-being to a large share of the country. Call it hubris. Call it misguided. It is real. The “51st state” threats, the “governor” jibes, the casual insults directed at Canadians as being “nasty,” are affecting us. Maybe none of it should matter, and reason should win out over passion, but when a U.S. president can order the renaming of Lake Ontario, the body of water shared with Canada’s most populous province, to “Lake America,” the message is unmistakable: Washington defines the map, the terms, and the identity of Ontarians.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford may be playing........

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