The Panel: Nothing is inevitable but tariffs and Carney

So, funny thing about Zoom: Even if you display a call in Gallery View, it might still record in Speaker View. That’s just one of the big lessons I learned from today’s meeting of The Panel, whose members you can watch filling the screen one at a time as they discuss the week’s big is-it-even-going-to-happen news, the Trump tariffs.

When we convened this morning, it seemed certain that President Donald Trump would bring down tariffs unto the nation this weekend. He had, after all, said he would, and no later than Thursday evening. But, as veteran Trump-watchers, we left room for chaos.

And indeed, for most of Friday, it seemed the tariffs would be levied only on March 1. Our source for this, again, was the horse’s mouth.

At this writing, I see we’re back to Saturday as Tariff Day. Still plenty of time for that to change again! Many times, even! But in the meantime, our panelists discuss whether Canadians have brought this plague upon us through sin; whether there’s an appropriate riposte, and whether Justin Trudeau will pick it; and whether Parliament is the right place to decide these things or anything else. Our panelists, as you’ll recall, are:

• Marci Surkes, who was Justin Trudeau’s policy director from 2019 to 2022 and is now Chief Strategy Officer at Compass Rose;

• Garry Keller, who was chief of staff to John Baird in government and Rona Ambrose in opposition, and is now a Vice President at StrategyCorp;

• and Allison Gifford, who worked with Jack Layton in 2011 and is now VP (Policy and Public Affairs) at Clear Strategy.

I’m going to convene The Panel more frequently as the busiest political year anyone can remember continues. They bring great experience and insight to… to whatever the hell all this is. And with regular practice, I might even eventually master Zoom preferences.

After the Trump talk, we shifted to a discussion of the Liberal leadership campaign, and how well it’s going for the party’s stealth candidate, Mark Carney. Perhaps this well: Marci speculates that Karina Gould might finish second. That sounds to me like a jumbo hint about where Chrystia Freeland might finish.