Will Economic Truth trump Tariffs

Jim Stanford is economist and director of the Centre for Future Work in Vancouver, and author of the recent report “Who’s Subsidizing Whom? Myth and Reality about the Canada-U.S. Trade Balance.”

Trump claims that the bilateral U.S. deficit in merchandise trade with Canada amounts to the United States “subsidizing” Canada. This claim has no economic merit whatsoever. Trump literally makes up numbers and ignores fundamental precepts of economic theory. In reality, the United States benefits from the bilateral relationship at least as much as Canada does.

1. Canada is the largest market in the world for U.S. exports. We purchased $440 billion of U.S.-made goods and services in 2023.

2. The Canada-U.S. trade relationship is among the most balanced of all major U.S. trading partners. The United States sells 92 cents of exports to Canada for every dollar it imports from Canada — compared with less than 80 cents in its overall global trade.

3. The bilateral deficit with Canada ranks 10th among U.S. trading partners, accounting for only five per cent of the total U.S. trade deficit.

4. Trump’s claim the bilateral deficit is $200 billion is an utter fabrication. The bilateral deficit was US$40 billion in 2023, according to U.S. data, down 29 per cent from 2022. It fell another nine per cent during the first nine months of 2024.

5. Compared with a two-way trade flow of almost US$1 trillion per year, this imbalance is puny.

6. The United States enjoys a strong surplus in services trade with Canada, which offsets much of the deficit on merchandise trade and is only partially reflected in official trade statistics. Trump never mentions this.

7. The United States also enjoys a net surplus on investment income flowing out of Canada (C$13 billion in 2023). This further offsets the impact of the trade deficit on the overall U.S. balance of payments.

8. Most Canadian exports to the United States are unfinished inputs that U.S. businesses use in their own production — more so than with other trading partners. Tariffs would thus increase costs of these inputs (including raw materials, supplies, parts and semi-finished goods), reducing the competitiveness of U.S. firms (including in export markets).

9. Canadian energy (including oil, gas, coal and electricity) made up 60 per cent of the total bilateral merchandise trade deficit over the last decade. Having access to a secure and lower-cost energy source is a major benefit for U.S. businesses and consumers. (Stanford, 2025)

The economic facts and history between Canada and the United States may not be a sufficient argument for Donald Trump. David Frum comments that the 37th President of the United States has had interests in and misunderstanding of tariffs for a long time.

David Frum, author and staff writer for The Atlantic, explains on CBC the House why, of all the policies Trump has flirted with over the years, the incoming president is so wedded to the idea of tariffs and how Canada should prepare itself for a possible trade war.

Knowledge of the facts of the nature of trade between Canada and the United States may not be the way to convince President Elect Trump to abandon tariffs.

References

The House with Catherine Cullen. (n.d.). CBC. Retrieved January 18, 2025, from https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/ 

Stanford, J. (2025, January 13). Who’s Subsidizing Whom? Centre for Future Work. Retrieved January 18, 2025, from https://centreforfuturework.ca/2025/01/12/whos-subsidizing-whom/ 

Peace Wrecked by Noisy Recreation

What do Pickleball and Curling in HRM have in common?

The noise generated in some facilities required for these sports has negatively affected the life of neighbours. An article by Glenn MacDonald on the Chronicle Herald page of the Saltwire.com website explains how noise complaints have forced closure of  some Halifax pickleball courts. 

Noise and Neighbours

The sound of loud, plastic balls being hit by solid paddles proved to be too much for residents of a four-storey, multi-unit building just 10 metres away. The two tennis courts, which were converted to three dedicated pickleball courts and one that serves both tennis and pickleball in 2019, are also very close to other surrounding apartment complexes and single-family homes. (MacDonald, 2025)

In March of 2023, CBC Information Morning aired a piece by Erin MacInnis about a Halifax couple seeking a reprieve from noise generated by their neighbour, the Halifax Curling Club. The CBC Website describes the Program Segment. 

As winter sports begin to wrap up for the season, a Halifax couple is looking forward to an annual reprieve from their noisy neighbour. Nancy Shea and her husband Richard live next door to the Halifax Curling Club, they're currently in the process of suing the club over constant noise and other emissions. The CBC's Erin MacInnis brings us the story.

Aired: March 17, 2023 (Information Morning - NS With Portia Clark | Live Radio, n.d.)

The Ponder Patterns article Noise over noise  concludes that achieving measurable reduction of noise levels by using mitigation technology or removal of noise sources from neighbourhoods will improve the quality of life for beleaguered residents and address a long standing issue in municipal government.

References

MacDonald, G. (2025, January 15). Noise complaints force closure of Halifax pickleball courts. Saltwire. Retrieved January 18, 2025, from https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/halifax/noise-complaints-force-closure-of-halifax-pickleball-courts

It is more than money Mr. Trump!

It is more than money Mr. Trump! Consider two events. On Dec 6, 1917,explosives-laden SS Mont-Blanc and SS Imo collided in Halifax Harbour; the north end of the city was flattened and over 2000 people died.

The Halifax Explosion

The Governor of Massachusetts dispatched a train of supplies and medical personnel and medical personnel from New York made their way to my city.

On Sept 11, 2001, two planes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center in your city. The FAA closed air space over the US and over 250 passenger airliners bound to the US were welcomed to airports in Canada and tens of thousands of people destined to the US were housed and fed by Canadians. We continue to be there for our neighbours who historically and socially are our “cousins”.

9/11: One Day in America

Stop the Genocide

If the IDF is killing Palestinians because they are Palestinians, that action is evidence for a charge of genocide against the State of Israel. If the IDF is ignoring their responsibility to exercise discrimination and proportionality in their attacks in Gaza then there is evidence for violation of International Humanitarian Law and charges of war crimes against those responsible for conducting the war. In recent months, the assessment of some human rights organizations and moral leaders has been leaning to accusations of genocide and war crimes at the hands of the armed forces of Israel.

(

Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP via Getty Images)

Muhammad Abu Salmiya, Director of Al-Shifa Hospital, in an article with supporting references in the Lancet concludes that more than 85% of Gaza’s population have been displaced, at least 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, and 70,000 civilians have been injured.

Since the attacks by Hamas against Israel on Oct 7, 2023,1 the Israeli retaliatory strikes, bombings, and strict sieges have almost never stopped. So far, more than 85% of Gaza's population have been displaced,2 and as of April 13, 2024, at least 33 000 Palestinians have been killed (more than a third of them are children)3 and 70 000 civilians have been injured.4 Approximately 7000 Palestinians are reportedly missing—most are likely dead.3,4 This massacre has taken place in just 180 days and is still ongoing.3 Gaza has now been described as a graveyard of children by the UN.4 According to WHO and Médecins Sans Frontières, hospitals in southern Gaza are at “breaking point” while all the hospitals in northern Gaza have been destroyed and are out of service.5 There is very limited access to ambulances, electricity, and clean drinking water, and injured patients are being transferred to medical institutes by donkey carts.6 The UN announced that the number of health-care workers killed by Israeli strikes is the highest in any single conflict in the organisation's history.7 Josep Borrell, a High Representative for the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has described the destruction in Gaza as being proportionally greater than that which Germany experienced in World War 2.8

A key aspect of this war is the deliberate targeting of civilians by the Israeli military—for example, in just one investigation by Amnesty International, US-made munitions were found to be used by the Israeli military in two deadly, unlawful air strikes on homes containing civilians in Gaza.9 These air strikes were either direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks and Amnesty International is calling for them to be investigated as war crimes.9

(References cited above are detailed in web article) (Abu Salmiya, n.d.)

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, reports that Amnesty International’s research has found sufficient basis to conclude that Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.

The report, ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, documents how, during its military offensive launched in the wake of the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has unleashed hell and destruction on Palestinians in Gaza brazenly, continuously and with total impunity.

“Amnesty International’s report demonstrates that Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of human rights and dignity, demonstrating its intent to physically destroy them,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now. (Callamard, n.d.)

On 14 November 2024 the UN Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices* said in a new report that Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide, with mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally imposed on Palestinians.

The report documents how Israel’s extensive bombing campaign in Gaza has decimated essential services and unleashed an environmental catastrophe that will have lasting health impacts. By early 2024, over 25,000 tons of explosives—equivalent to two nuclear bombs—had been dropped on Gaza, causing massive destruction and the collapse of water and sanitation systems, agricultural devastation, and toxic pollution.

“By destroying vital water, sanitation and food systems, and contaminating the environment, Israel has created a lethal mix of crises that will inflict severe harm on generations to come,” the Committee said. (UN Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices, n.d.)

The report raises serious concerns about Israel’s use of AI-enhanced targeting systems in directing its military operations, and the impact it has had on civilians, particularly evident in the overwhelming number of women and children among the casualties.

“The Israeli military’s use of AI-assisted targeting, with minimal human oversight, combined with heavy bombs, underscores Israel’s disregard of its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths,” the Committee said. (UN Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices, n.d.)

The concerns of human rights organizations about the possibility of genocide and war crimes being committed by Israel follow similar concern that Giada Zampano from AP Rome reports that Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff’s jubilee year. 

References

Abu Salmiya, M. (n.d.). Stop the Gaza genocide immediately. thelancet. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00135-1/fulltext 

Callamard, A. (n.d.). ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza. Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. https://amnesty.ca/gazagenocide/ 

UN Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices. (n.d.). UN Special Committee finds Israel’s warfare methods in Gaza consistent with genocide, including use of starvation as weapon of war. OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/un-special-committee-finds-israels-warfare-methods-gaza-consistent-genocide 

Tenants in Transition

A walk through many neighbourhoods of Halifax Regional Municipality will show construction of housing underway in new multi unit buildings that have capacity for hundreds of people to live. The target residents for this new construction are not likely to be those most in need of adequate shelter. Fixed term leases have become more common and rent increases have not been capped at levels needed to ensure tenants can expect to be able to continue to finance housing which should be a right for all in Canada.

Transition to Adequate Housing

ACORN Canada news and events presents an article by Brendyn Creamer written for The Coast that reports the NSNDP promises to scrap fixed-term leases and lower rent cap if elected.

In a press release on Oct 31, party leader Claudia Chender said if the NDP form the next government, they would ban fixed-term leases. This practice allows landlords to boot tenants after their lease is up and increase the rent of units, effectively bypassing the 5% annual rent cap enacted by premier Tim Houston’s government.

Chender also said she would cut the cap in half, meaning yearly increases to rent would not be more than 2.5% of what tenants are already paying. She says she would do this immediately.

The release notes that rent increased 18% last year on average, and that the typical one-bedroom apartment costs $2,000 per month in Nova Scotia. They also said the vacancy rate is 1%. The CMHC’s 2023 rental market report shows that the vacancy rate in Halifax last year was 1%, and noted that the average two-bedroom apartment rent is $1,628—up from 11% the previous year, although other sources claim that it has only become worse in 2024. (ACORN Canada, n.d.)

Social Housing & Human Rights, a coalition of organizations and individuals advocating for more federal investment in social housing in Canada, reports that more than 2.68 million Canadians are in core housing need – unable to find a home that meets the acceptable housing standards of adequacy, suitability and affordability.

Adequate

Housing is considered adequate if it is not in need of major repairs.

Suitable

Housing is considered suitable if there are enough bedrooms for the size and make-up of the resident household.

Affordable

Housing is considered affordable if it costs less than 30% of before-tax household income.

Some groups are harder hit than others. Women-led single parent households, racialized and newcomer families, people with disabilities, and First Nations, Metis, and Inuit households are over-represented in core housing need. (Social Housing and Human Rights, n.d.)

Andrew Lam  of CBC News reveals that Killam, one of Canada’s largest residential landlords, reports 'largest rental gains' on new leases in the company's history in the most recent update. Rents increased the most on new leases in Halifax, Saint John and Moncton.

Like other landlords, Killam boosts rents to the market rate when new tenants sign a lease, pushing the reported average rent increase above Nova Scotia's five per cent cap. The cap only applies to lease renewals.

Killam's financial results are an example of the overall trends we've been seeing in recent years in rental markets where there's been inadequate housing supply, said Neil Lovitt, a vice-president with Turner Drake, a real estate consulting company.

"That creates an opportunity for for-profit housing providers to raise rents to market prices when they have an opportunity to do so," Lovitt said. "They're … doing what any market participant really can do." (Lam, n.d.)

Andrew Lam of  CBC News reports that Killam Apartment REIT, based in Halifax, is one of Canada’s largest residential landlords, owning, operating, managing and developing a diverse portfolio of apartments, manufactured homes and seasonal properties.

The Killiamreit website presents information about their Affordable Housing.

We’re committed to providing clean, safe, accessible housing for everyone, regardless of age, background or income level. That’s why Killam partners with many non-profit housing and government agencies to offer over 800 subsidized units in our communities. (Killam Apartment REIT, n.d.)

Subsidized units in Nova Scotia may be a good long term solution to our housing needs. The work to date to provide “pallet homes” has begun a transition from living rough and tent communities to more adequate housing.

Pallet Home Community

Michael Tutton of the Canadian Press reports for CBC News on a $630,000 installation in Lower Sackville that includes 19 sleeping units, separate washrooms and a laundry facility. Jim Gunn, a board member of Beacon House Shelter, describes the boxy 70-square-foot Pallet shelters — carrying the name of the U.S. company that makes them — as a temporary solution.

"Our greatest concern is that these should never become and be seen as permanent, but there's no affordable housing," the retired educator said during a recent tour of the property in Lower Sackville, about three weeks after it opened. "These shelters will stay here until we find someplace else people can go." (Tutton, 2024)

Cassidy McMackon, of the Canadian Press, writing for Global News reports that a village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

A Village of Tiny Homes

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia, the community entity of the federal Reaching Home program for Halifax and rural Nova Scotia. The main objective of Reaching Home is to streamline access to housing and supports for people who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, by coordinating local services to achieve community-wide outcomes using real-time data. 

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave. (McMackon, 2024)

The work to address homelessness in Nova Scotia is not complete.

The Right to Adequate Housing

The right to housing is honoured when people can transition from “pallet homes” and a Tiny home village to subsidized accommodation like that just across Cobequid Road in a modern apartment building.

Transition from “pallet homes” and a Tiny home village to adequate accomodation

References

ACORN Canada. (n.d.). The Coast: NSNDP promises to scrap fixed-term leases and lower rent cap if elected. ACORN Canada News and Events. https://acorncanada.org/news/the-coast-nsndp-promises-to-scrap-fixed-term-leases-and-lower-rent-cap-if-elected/ 

Killam Apartment REIT. (n.d.). KIlliam's Approach. Home | killam. Retrieved November 26, 2024, from https://killamreit.com/killams-approach 

Lam, A. (n.d.). Killam reports 'largest rental gains' on new leases in company's history in most recent update. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/killam-reit-2024-q3-financial-results-1.7390918?cmp=rss 

McMackon, C. (2024, October 24). Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb - Halifax | Globalnews.ca. Global News. Retrieved November 26, 2024, from https://globalnews.ca/news/10828781/tiny-home-village-halifax-suburb/ 

Social Housing and Human Rights. (n.d.). Housing is a human right. https://www.moresocialhousing.ca/ 

Tutton, M. (2024, March 18). Tiny shelter community in Halifax suburb up and running, as province seeks new sites. CBC. Retrieved November 26, 2024, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/pallet-shelters-halifax-nova-scotia-installed-1.7147652