Following a virtual Cabinet meeting Friday morning, prime minister Mark Carney summoned the media to the temporary press theatre in Ottawa, and announced that he is going to capitulate to Trump once again, dropping most of the retaliatory tariffs as a “goodwill gesture” for a trade deal that is never going to happen. He insisted that he was given assurances by Trump himself that this was going to jump-start those negotiations, for real this time. And when pressed about this being “elbows down,” Carney responded with a bunch of other nonsensical hockey analogies, becaused that’s the level of political discourse in this country.

Carney is dropping most retaliatory tariffs, because of course he is.Going to re-post my column from last weekend:

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T16:17:13.949Z

Carney just spinning, spinning, spinning about why this totally isn't a capitulation—really!—even though we're getting nothing for this."We have the best deal and we need to preserve that." "We're matching what they're doing," only it's not actually matching the counter-tariffs that remain.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T16:37:27.080Z

And we can totally believe him because he means it this time! For realsies!

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T16:40:32.869Z

Just like surrendering on the Digital Sales Tax would kickstart negotiations, right? That capitulation got us something, right?

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T16:45:34.098Z

It’s getting incredibly difficult not to feel like we’re being played here. Previous capitulations have earned us nothing, because they’re not going to, and there is no trade deal to be had. Trump is just going to keep extorting us, and forcing us to repeal more of our domestic laws he and his tech bro friends don’t like, and eventually we’ll become a vassal state unless we keep punching back. There is no goodwill to be had in making this gesture because there is no goodwill from Trump, period. But while Carney keeps insisting that he’s doing this in concert with building Canadian capacity, he’s not proving it with his actions. Austerity is going to do the opposite, and that’s what we’re getting. The only people who are applauding this (other than the Carney stans, for whom he can do no wrong) are the big business lobbyists in this country, who think we should bend the knee to get a deal, never mind that there is no deal to be had, and bending the knee is going to only turn us into a vassal state.

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3lwyzxe6p3s2m

I'd have more confidence in Carney's US strategy if his domestic policies were at all up to the task of safeguarding Canadian independence. Taken together, they're bad news.A government that's cutting state capacity in a crisis isn't serious about nation building. We need more government, not less.

— Blayne Haggart (@bhaggart.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T17:39:50.048Z

Right on cue, the business lobbyists are praising Carney's capitulation strategy. #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T17:59:11.201Z

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T16:38:30.903Z

Pierre Poilievre did hold his own press conference later in the afternoon, and while he did (correctly) point out that this was another capitulation, he also seems to still believe that Trump is a rational actor and would respond rationally to a negotiation, and says that everyone else is getting a better deal than we are, which is utter nonsense. And, because this is Poilievre, he made yet another pitch for his usual bullshit of obliterating environmental laws and so on, because of course he did.

Ukraine Dispatch

Trump says he might sanction Russia in another two weeks, which gives them two more weeks of unrestrained attacks, and more chance to play Trump. Meanwhile, here are attacks Ukraine has been making on Russian energy facilities.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney is headed to Berlin on Tuesday to deepen ties with Germany.
• The federal government still won’t say if they will be pursing new pharmacare talks with provinces that have not yet secured deals (some of whom are finally willing).
• Cultural groups are concerned about the threats to the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act, and if those will be Carney’s next capitulations.
• The new director of CSIS, Daniel Rogers, is alarmed by internal surveys about the culture of the organisation.
• Here is a fact-check on self-defence and use of reasonable force in defending your home from invasion under Canadian law.
• Vass Bednar points out how Canada essentially privatised its labour data by not keeping pace with technology, and why that hurts us in the long run.
• Justin Ling points to the ways that Canada needs to take action in order to protect ourselves from Trump and his fascist project.
• Paul Wells gives his take on Carney’s performance, the shifting positions, and the impossible situation we find ourselves in.

Odds and ends:

Starting to say this when I read the news every morning.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-08-22T13:34:05.567Z

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