This is hilarious.

Trying to smooth over the fact that Canada is in an economic slump is precious. Unless you have a pushy public sector job or get government handouts, you’re feeling that recession. If there wasn’t government bailout programs, wineries, book publishers, and a slew of other industries would have collapsed a long time ago.

Look at the state of Canadian journalism.

Bailouts from the feds are the only reason the profession hasn’t collapsed. If we extracted government funding, none of the major legacy players would be in business. This is not a minor oversight.

Television and film production also rely on government subsidies. You can always know if a show was made in a Canada because it will branded in the end credits.

But there are other signs, and plenty of them. Donald Trump is firing up the old annexation threat again. Tariffs hit Canada hard, and it shows. I can’t go window shopping on my walks anymore because staff in the store run out and try to bring me inside. That has never happened before.

And these are well-to-do areas.

But that the feds formally asked to renew USMCA/CUSMA for another 16 years now tells you everything you need to know. You can try to spin the rot all you want, but the fact is that we are in a more precarious state than the state implies.

Desperation is never a good look and the Grits are looking really bad.