Canada PM’s popularity rises amid trade war with US

Toronto: Even as Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on American products amid a trade war with Washington, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s popularity has increased due to the hard line taken by Ottawa.US President Donald Trump speaks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at a working lunch with leaders of G7 and the Middle East, in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 16. (REUTERS)While the tariffs imposed by Administration of US President Donald Trump are expected to cause economic pain in Canada, there may be political gain for the ruling party. A survey from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute or ARI, released on Tuesday, suggested that Carney is benefiting from a Trump bump.ARI said it found that “three-in-five Canadians (62%) now approve of Carney’s performance, up 11 points from August and approaching his previous high-water mark.” That was in April this year, again amid trade turmoil, when his popularity touched 63%.Nearly three-quarter of the respondents or 73% felt that Canada “should refuse difficult concessions even if it means worsening trade relations with the United States.” While three-fourths support Carney’s decision to walk away from negotiations with the US late last month, there is a division when it comes to opinion on whether Canada can counter America. Over a third, 34%, felt that Canada is in a weak negotiating position, three points more than those believing it was strong, while 22% saw them as evenly matched.Carney reached out to Canadians on the matter on Tuesday as his government presented the counter-tariffs. In the latest of his series of Forward Guidance videos posted online on Tuesday, the Canadian Prime Minister said his government “made the right choice” to walk away from a “bad” deal being offered by the Trump administration. “In too many areas, they wanted dependency”, he said.He used the 15-minute plus video to outline the three-pronged approach of his government to face the crisis, matching the CA$ 27.6 billion (US$20.04 billion) US tariffs dollar-for-dollar, to support for the hardest hit sectors, and diversifying trade partners. “We relied too much on one economic partner,” Carney said.