I approve of Canada's plans to officially recognize a Palestinian state at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in September, joining about three-quartes of the members of the United Nations who have already recognized Palestinian statehood.
As Prime Minister Mark Carney admits, Canada's long-standing commitment to a two-state solution into Middle East makes no sense if there is only one state at play. It also comes on the heels of France and the UK's official recognition of a Palestinian state last month. It's long overdue.
What I don't understand is why Carney would chose now to declare himself, just one day before the official deadline for Canada's trade negotiations with the USA. He must have known that Trump would weaponize the announcement, even if he appeared to merely shrug when Framcr and BritaIn made their announcements. It could have been announced any time in August or even September. AFTER a trade deal has been concluded.
True to form, Trump almost immediately took to Truth Social: "Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them". He has already moved to raise the tariffs on Canadian exports from 25% to 35%. Perhaps predictable, although notably he did not specifically mention the Palestime declaration, cryptically blaming instead Canada's "continued inaction and retaliation". Say, what?
So, "Wow!", indeed. Was this a deliberate ploy by Carney & Co, or was he just not thinking? Trump's reaction was entirely predictable. Surely, Carney could have saved it up for a week or so. It seems unlikely that a US-Canada trade deal will actually be concluded by August 1st, as both parties admit, but it should be finalized soon, and well before the UN meeting. Now, there is yet another obstacle on the road to a reasonable deal.
Wow!
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