The lead headline in the April 4th edition of the News, read “Yukon tariff plan targets Musk companies.” The reporters covering the story noted that Musk is an unelected advisor to Trump, so they asked Premier Pillai, “Why target his companies?”
Premier Pillai replied, “It is pretty clear that Musk has a significant role inside Trump’s administration.”
But is that a good reason for targeting Musk, a contractor whose role has nothing to do with the tariffs Trump has levied on Canadian goods?
Premier Pillai’s anti-Musk initiative begs the question whether he employs contractors who have a significant role inside his administration, and whether he would think it fair for people with a grievance to similarly target his contractors?
Premier Pillai says he wants to show solidarity with our southern provinces. But we are a tiny jurisdiction, barely even inconvenienced by Trumps tariffs. There is nothing Yukon can gain by targeting Musk’s companies, so why do it?
Counter-tariffs, boycotting US goods and targeting certain influential people to bring pressure to bear on President Trump to abandon his tariffs are unlikely to have the hoped-for effect, particularly when we consider that Trump’s trade grievances are largely legitimate regardless whether his tariffs are the best way to resolve them. But the real issue is not Trump nor Musk nor tariffs. It is us.
How have we come to find ourselves in this situation? The simple answer is because for the last ten years we failed to undertake initiatives which would have made us less vulnerable.
Instead of promoting development, encouraging entrepreneurship and business, building infrastructure, removing barriers and developing alternative markets, our government(s) championed, wokism, DEI, division, disruption, bureaucracy and unproductive debt, meanwhile driving up the cost of living and, for our young people, making things like the hope of homeownership unobtainable.
Instead of blaming Trump and Musk, would it not be wiser to make our jurisdictions more business friendly, and do the things that will grow Yukon and Canada, …and yes, make us ‘Great Again?’ …the things we should have been doing all along?
Here in Yukon, instead of targeting Musk, Premier Pillai would do well to consider actions that would boost our economy to minimize the impact of the tariffs. For example, could he move to speed up final approval of the long-delayed Casino project so it can bring us jobs and prosperity NOW, instead of another 5-10 years down the road as we grind through the permitting process.
With regards to Canada, a good start would be to show our present Liberal/Carney government the door. Otherwise, we risk another four years of damage to our economy and our nation. And under Carney that is what we will get while he conveniently blames Trump.
If we do these things, we will have no reason to get our elbows up about Trump’s tariffs, nor Musk’s role in his government.
May cooler and wiser heads prevail.
Rick Tone
Whitehorse
