It's Canada first

I get that Trump is a joke, but he's not funny -- I expect my government to know that.

Danielle Smith and the Liberal government are on the same page, according to federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s one-on-one with CBC’s Rob Brown on a new edition of West of Centre; Short: If, if, if.

To be fair, there are a lot of “ifs”.

“If” the Trump tariffs are enacted. “If” the border is not secured to the satisfaction of U.S. officials who couldn’t be counted on to accurately convey the supposed threat they face from Canada. “If” the U.S. Trade Commissioner determines that Canada’s sovereign authority to apply a Goods and Services Tax is “unfair” to U.S. businesses.

Mr. Brown pushed back fairly, in my opinion.

Whether the Finance Minister wants to acknowledge it or not, Albertans have been manipulated for decades into distrusting a Liberal government in Ottawa. He may not like the fact, but it is nonetheless a fact.

While it’s fair for him to point out that few will ever thank his government for buying the Trans Mountain Expansion project, and some, including then-Premier Jason Kenney, reminded Albertans that there was no “victory worth celebrating” because the approval took far too long between his own party with a majority government and a Liberal majority.

I’m kidding; of course he didn’t mention his own government’s lack of action. They were trying to help Christy Clark get re-elected and didn’t want to get in the way.

Leaving that little problem of Albertans generally mistrusting that a Liberal government in Ottawa is looking out for our best interests aside, Mr. LeBlanc was unwilling to consider questions that I’ve been asking.

Specifically, questions about how they’ve decided that some of Donald Trump’s fact-deficient and borderline insane ramblings are worth acting upon while others are not.

I’m not going to thank that American idiot for pushing the provinces and federal government to act on border security when Canadians have been demanding the same to stop the drugs and guns from coming over the border; that was a failure of the provinces and the federal government and it should have been taken seriously when Canadians said it was a problem.

It’s one of few things I can credit Ms. Smith with doing that was actually beneficial for all Albertans.

On the question of the 51st state, LeBlanc says he was at the dinner table in Mar-a-Lago when Mr. Trump made “the joke”. He also admits that it “stopped being funny after the third time” Mr. Trump said it.

And despite Mr. Trump’s assertion that the U.S. will retake control of the Panama Canal, and “buy” Greenland, as well as use “economic pressure” to force Canada to become the 51st state, Mr. LeBlanc refused to acknowledge the possibility that Mr. Trump might be serious.

In response to a question about Mr. Trump saying that the U.S. doesn’t “need anything Canada has”, Mr. LeBlanc said that they need “to make decisions as a government based on real policy or legislative decisions the US government makes not just what politicians say at events.” Yet, they were willing to respond to what a “politician” said on social media two months ago.

Mr. Brown asked, pointedly, “don’t you think Canadians expect you to be thinking about (the 51st state threat)?”

Instead of a thoughtful reply to the question, Mr. LeBlanc offered some canned “our job is to build a distinct country called Canada” in response.

Well, I’m a Canadian, and I’m telling both the Liberal government today, and a potential Liberal or Conservative government of Canada in the future, that I want them seriously considering the threats Donald Trump is making because their job is not just “to build a distinct country called Canada” but to defend Canada with their last breath.

As I would.

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