‘Shake up little Justin, shake up’

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Donald Trump issued a warning to Mexico and Canada that trade tariffs of 25 per cent would be imposed on all goods crossing their borders into the US, when he returns to the White House in a few weeks time. Trump has threatened both neighbours that unless they take immediate steps to quell the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs like Fentanyl crossing into the US, he will enforce these crippling tariffs. This has really caused a whole lot of shaking, agitation and confusion in political offices and corporate boardrooms across Canada, where current daily trade back and forth on the US border amounts to about $2.5 billion, with so many joint commercial ventures between both countries.

This threat reminds me of a speech given by then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau at the Washington Press Club when visiting with President Richard Nixon in 1969. Canada’s PM famously quipped that: ”Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt”. His superb oratory was greeted favourably by all those attending, and have to draw a comparison with his eldest son, Justin Trudeau, the current Canadian PM whose speeches are usually a sad and sorry collection of “Ums”, “ Ers” and “Ahs” as he mumbles, stumbles and fumbles to make a point. It’s also worth noting that both Presidents Nixon and Trump are Republicans, whose party symbol is an elephant.

Back then in 1969, while working as a young navigating deck officer on freighters travelling around the globe, I would often go ashore with shipmates to sample the night-life in various ports. Some of those trips ashore got a little rowdy and boisterous depending on the amount of alcohol consumed, and next day some crew-members were teased of having developed the ‘DT’s’, or delirium tremens, if they were confused, agitated and shaky after the previous night of imbibing too many local brews. Today’s similar reactions in Canadian corridors of power is caused by a different type of “D.T.’s”, namely Donald Trump.

His group of cronies, including Elon Musk – the world’s richest man and Trump’s best buddy, for now at least – are determined to Make America Great Again, at any cost. Listen closely, and you’ll hear that Donald and Elon have changed the 1957 lyrics of Tennessee’s Everly Brothers: Wake Up Little Susie, Wake Up , and now harmonise together with: ‘Shake Up Little Justin, Shake Up’.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada