Here’s my theory: Carney dropped the DST because of supply management on dairy. My evidence is sparse, but:
Last month, the U.S. and Britain announced a trade deal related to a range of products. But Britain’s 2-per-cent DST was not affected.
(From the Globe)
That shows other countries have a DST but that hasn’t been a sticking point in trade negotiations.
Meanwhile, Quebec really likes supply management:
83 per cent of Quebecers want governments to do everything in their power to protect the country’s supply management system.
During the next election, Carney will probably need Quebec’s support to stay in power. By giving up the DST, Carney may be able to keep supply management for dairy, and avoid alienating Quebec voters.
I guess we’ll see during the final negotiations. Do our dairy farmers get to keep their protections?
Perhaps the prime minister could take a moment out of his busy schedule to tell us what the fuck he was thinking if it’s anything other than “we’re absolutely desperate to make a deal and have no choice but to give them whatever they want.”
He doesn’t want to give Trump anything to bully on in public, now that he has made a concession.
I suspect the PM doesn’t want to alienate other voting blocks by saying it out loud. Just like he really didn’t want to piss off older Canadians by saying his policies would lower house prices.
I agree with you, but he’s smart enough to know that an embarrassing sound bite will play forever in CPC ads, along with a scary voice over like “he’s willing to screw over Canadian businesses for dirty yucky Quebec, so why won’t he bend over for Alberta’s Big Beautiful fossil fuel producers?”