Preston Manning: On U.S. trade, Canada's foolish leaders are only making things worse

In an established parliamentary democracy like Canada, citizens have a right to expect wisdom and thoughtful action on the part of those elected to high office at both the federal and provincial levels. So when Canadians see the very opposite — foolishness in high places — especially on an issue as crucial as our trading relationship with the United States, surely they have a right to demand that our leaders either smarten up or be replaced.

On the trade front, Ontario’s the initial knee-jerk reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs was to impose a surcharge on electricity exports. This was simply a foolish thing to do, as Ontario supplies only a tiny fraction of the United States’ electricity requirements. Thus the surcharge needlessly provoked Washington and signalled that Cana