Here are some important perspectives as the Left seeks to orient itself amidst Trump’s bravado.
I will keep this updated as new analysis emerges.
Canada, the 51st state? ‘Over our dead bodies,’ say Indigenous leaders
Brandi Morin, ricochet
Feb. 7, 2025
“Canada is Indian land, period. And he has to deal with that. He has to deal with us,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, pointing to a long history of American interest in Canadian water resources.
The piece does a good job highlighting treaty rights, UNDRIP, and the ability of Indigenous communities to disrupt flows of capital.
Tariff threats have unified Canadians around resource extraction — at the expense of Indigenous Rights
Michelle Cyca, The Narwhal
Feb. 12, 2025
“Hastening resource extraction — which makes up roughly 12 per cent of B.C.’s gross domestic product — is core to this political vision and, to that end, B.C. Premier David Eby recently announced 18 mining and energy projects his government intends to ‘fast-track,’” writes Cyca. “But in his comments, Eby suggested Indigenous communities have long slowed down project approvals…”
Cyca give a stark example of how the “Buy Canadian” and “Canada First” approach is already trampling on Indigenous sovereignty.
We Need Workers’ Solidarity, Not “National Unity,” in Response to Trump’s Tariffs
Todd Gordon, Midnight Sun
Feb. 11, 2025
A fantastic piece that situates the tariff war within its broader historical context of capital accumulation and competing class interests.
Gordon outlines broad brush-strokes of a Left alternative to what is happening, but stresses that “such an agenda – as well as our ultimate lodestar: replacing capitalism with a radically democratic order based on human need not profit – can be realized only if we develop a strategy centred on mass struggle, and only if we refuse to limit our collective vista to the defence of Canada.”
Trade wars and class wars
David Bush. Spring magazine
Feb. 5, 2025
Bush clearly articulates how deepening integration between Canada and the United States through successive free trade and industrial agreements have left Canadian and US workers exposed, and also gives helpful insights into the underlying class interests behind Trump’s tariff gamble amidst staggering tax cuts for the rich.
Trump’s Tariffs: How Should the Left Respond?
David Camfield, Mostafa Henaway, David McNally. Victor’s Children podcast
Feb. 15, 2025
For podcast enthusiasts, this is an insightful listen as three activists discuss the tariffs from a Left perspective. I honestly don’t remember the finer points of this chat and look forward to listening to it again.
Which Canadian workers will be hit hardest by a trade war with the United States?
Katherine Scott. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Feb. 17, 2025
Very useful breakdown of specific industries and sectors likely to be hit by tariffs, along with breakdown by gender, race, and immigration status.
Left policy responses
“Trump’s trade war is a perfect time to embrace a ‘no one left behind’ strategy” by Deena Ladd in The Breach. Detailed suggestions on policy-responses to the tariff war (Feb. 26, 2025).
“A dozen radical responses to Trump’s economic warfare that go beyond Canadian counter-tariffs” by Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood and Marc Lee for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Feb. 3, 2025).
Dispelling myth of interprovincial “trade barriers”
“The freakout about Canada’s ‘internal trade barriers’ is a corporate scam” by Stuart Trew, The Breach (Feb. 14, 2025).
“Those big GDP numbers about interprovincial trade barriers are wrong” by Marc Lee, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Feb. 21, 2025).
Left political action
“No One Left Behind: Organizing a worker-first agenda to address the tariff crisis.” Emergency Town Hall Meeting, Wednesday, March 12.
“Unions Must Prepare to Occupy Plants Shut Down in Trade War” by former CUPW National President, Mike Palecek (March 5, 2025).
