Chuck Reasons, Silverdale

May 21, 2025, 1:33 p.m. PT

During the Easter holidays I visited friends and family in British Columbia. This included a walk on the Seawall in English Bay bordering Vancouver's Stanley Park, where I lived in the early 1990s. English Bay was teeming with large tankers, largely from the Far East, waiting to enter the Port of Vancouver.

In contrast, the Port of Seattle has experienced a recent decline in such tankers, due primarily to U.S. tariffs. This is a tale of two cities and a tale of two countries. Canada has a leader who is a well-respected economist with a career in banking whose Liberal party recently won election, largely due to the threat by the U.S. leader to make Canada the 51st state. The U.S. leader, a belligerent and divisive figure, felon, sexual assailant, con man and serial liar, built his career in real estate with his father's money, with multiple shady deals, bankruptcies and literally hundreds of lawsuits. In a matter of a few months in office, his policies (tariffs and otherwise) have alienated not only Canada, the U.S. closest ally and trading partner, but also all democratic allies, while throwing the economy into a tailspin.