Reginald Smythe-Jones

Mark Carney wants Canadians to believe that courting Saudi Arabia represents some grand strategic pivot away from the United States. The numbers expose the performance. Saudi Arabia purchased roughly $1.3 billion in Canadian goods in 2025. Canada exported about $779 billion worldwide. That makes Saudi Arabia approximately 0.17 per cent of Canadian exports. It is a rounding error being marketed as an economic transformation. Meanwhile, the real Canadian economy is voting with its money. A new KPMG survey found that 57 percent of Canadian manufacturers have paused, reduced or cancelled capital investments. 42 percent have moved production to the United States or are considering doing so. Nearly one-third have already shifted at least some production south, and 61 percent say their businesses cannot survive without access to the American market. That is the real Carney record: photo opportunities with Saudi royalty while Canadian factories, investment and future production quietly head for the border. Ottawa keeps talking about “diversification,” but markets do not follow Liberal press releases. Capital goes where taxes are competitive, regulations are predictable, projects can be approved, energy is affordable and customers are close. The latest trade figures make the point painfully clear. Canadian exports rose for the fourth consecutive month in May, driven by a 1.5 percent increase in exports to the United States. American-bound exports reached their highest level since February 2025 and still represented almost 70 percent of everything Canada shipped abroad. Exports to non-U.S. markets continued to shrink. Canada should absolutely pursue new customers. But Saudi Arabia cannot replace an integrated continental market of more than 330 million people sitting directly beside us. You do not reduce dependence on the United States by weakening Canadian competitiveness and watching manufacturers relocate there. You build Canadian strength first, then expand outward from a position of confidence. Carney and the Liberals are doing the opposite. They are allowing Canada’s productive base to erode while selling diplomatic tourism as economic strategy. They are chasing Saudi sovereign wealth while Canadian capital sits idle, scales back or leaves. That is not diversification. It is economic decline wearing a tailored suit and carrying a diplomatic passport. 🤡🌎

Rabson: Conservatives want to attack PM Carney and the Liberals for not being able to manage the economy. They wanted everyone to start using the "recession" word. Cochrane: You have to ignore all the global news to believe that so many of the problems are purely domestic in their creation.

This is the biggest issue Conservatives face right now. For many Canadian voters this is how they’ll behave: 1. Carney gets good deals with America? They’ll call him a genius negotiator. 2. He gets a bad deal or no deal? They’ll blame Trump. No wins.