Due to the nature of outrage-driven algorithms, ‘post-first, research later’ has become an effective way to gain attention and followers. Unfortunately, it is a poor way to grasp the truth.
The latest example is the supposed ‘bombshell story’ that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. were secretly dropped in the middle of the election campaign by the Liberal government, based on a Bloomberg News story titled “Canada’s new tariffs on U.S. drop to ‘nearly zero’ with exemptions: Oxford Economics.”
Nowhere in the article does it say the tariffs were dropped in secret. However, that is how some have interpreted the story, in order to advance a narrative that the ‘Elbows up’ campaign was based on a falsehood.
To advance this narrative, some are pointing to the publication of the official order in the Canada Gazette, the official publication of government notices, which was released May 7th. This gap, the tariffs being dropped on many items in mid-April, and the order being published after the election concluded, is being spun as a ‘secret’ plan to drop tariffs while hiding this from Canadian voters.
This narrative is compelling and almost perfectly crafted to go viral.
It also happens to be incorrect.
The tariff changes were widely reported, including by the CBC and the federal government itself.
Here are some links from April 15-17, 2025:
Government of Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/04/canada-announces-new-support-for-canadian-businesses-affected-by-us-tariffs.html
CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tariff-help-canada-1.7510658
Globe & Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-tariff-relief-automakers-manufacturers/
CityNews: https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/04/15/ottawa-announces-help-for-businesses-hurt-by-u-s-tariffs/
Niagara Economic Development: https://niagaracanada.com/canada-announces-new-support-for-canadian-businesses-affected-by-u-s-tariffs/
These are just some outlets that reported on the story in mid-April. Given that the Canadian Press wrote about it and that story was widely syndicated, it received broad attention. As noted by the WSJ, Carney even acknowledged the changes in the widely-watched federal leaders’ debate, saying, “We’ve already moved off from dollar-for-dollar tariffs. The principle in terms of our countertariffs is to have maximum impact in the United States, [and] minimum impact here. We have to think about the impact on Canadian businesses.”
Unfortunately, we live in a world where many believe that if they did not pay attention to a story, it means nobody paid attention to it, and their latent discovery of what took place is taken as evidence of a broad conspiracy, rather than impetus to expand one’s information palette.
The objective truth is that there was no ‘secret’ dropping of tariffs.
Having watched the damage misinformation has done south of the border – empowering a reckless and chaotic U.S. President – why would Canada want to go down the same path?
The truth must take precedence, no matter how politically inconvenient it may be.
Spencer Fernando
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