Newfoundland history has lessons for 'imperialist' Trump regime: Furey

Sarah Smellie · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 2:17 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The outgoing premier of Newfoundland and Labrador says he's drafting connected the province's past arsenic helium urges Canadians not to underestimate U.S. President Donald Trump's "imperialist" ambitions.

In a caller interview, Andrew Furey was clear: helium says Trump is launching an onslaught connected Canada by sowing economical chaos to make instability.

And helium warned that economical unit tin beryllium conscionable arsenic effectual arsenic tanks and gunfire astatine eroding a nation's independency and sovereignty.

"In Newfoundland and Labrador, we cognize that each excessively well," the premier said. "It was the economical forces, not the subject forces, that caused america to suffer our independency and take to articulation Canada."

Trump has kept Canadians frustrated and bewildered for months, threatening punishing tariffs connected Canadian goods and past changing his program astatine the past minute. As of Thursday evening, helium paused 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports that are "compliant" with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). 

Goods that bash not fulfill CUSMA rules of root are taxed astatine 25 per cent, and vigor products and potash that autumn extracurricular the CUSMA penchant are taxed astatine 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, Trump regularly calls the Canadian premier curate "Governor Justin Trudeau," and has threatened to usage "economic force" to marque Canada the 51st state.

"He has shown by his threats that helium has an expansive agenda, a territorial agenda, and that feeds an imperialist approach," Furey said.

Jeff Webb, a past prof astatine Memorial University, agrees that dire economical circumstances influenced Newfoundlanders erstwhile they voted to go a Canadian state successful 1949. But they didn't bash it nether force, helium said successful a caller interview.

Newfoundland was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire until 1933, erstwhile Canada and Britain stepped successful to assistance bail the portion retired of fiscal hardship. The Great Depression deed Newfoundland hard, and the dominion had accrued a ample indebtedness sending soldiers to combat successful the First World War.

As a information of the bailout, Newfoundland gave up self-governance, and alternatively agreed to beryllium ruled by a committee appointed by the British government, according to Memorial University's Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website.

By the 1940s, Britain and Canada thought it would beryllium champion for Newfoundland to articulation Canada, but they didn't unit it, Webb said. When 52 per cent of Newfoundlanders voted successful 1949 to articulation Canada alternatively than instrumentality to self-government, galore hoped Confederation would bring fiscal stableness and assistance them debar the destitution that plagued the portion nether its ain government, helium said.

"We didn't get arm-twisted into this," Webb said astir Newfoundland's Confederation with Canada. "It's incredibly antithetic from what we're getting now. And what we're getting present is crazy, nonsensical bullying."

"Part of the craziness of this is that determination are nary sensible parallels," helium said of Trump's behaviour toward his bluish neighbour.

Historian Sean Cadigan noted that immoderate of Newfoundland's hardship earlier it joined Canada were a effect of the Trump-like tariffs it imposed connected overseas manufacturers. It was already costly to marque things successful Newfoundland -- an land successful the North Atlantic Ocean — and the taxes conscionable made everything expensive, helium said.

The outgo of surviving became unbearable, peculiarly successful agrarian Newfoundland.

"The lessons that I've learned from protectionism, is that it conscionable hurts a batch of people, particularly agrarian people," the Memorial University prof said. "Tariffs make tremendous societal and economical divisions. They make winners and losers, and the accent among the losers tin beryllium terrible."

The United States nether Trump is perfectly "acting successful an imperial manner," said Blayne Haggart, an subordinate governmental subject prof astatine Brock University. And helium agrees with Furey: Canada needs to instrumentality it seriously.

"I deliberation we're taking the menace of the tariffs seriously," Haggart said successful an interview. "But what comes next? …I don't cognize yet if Canadians, and peculiarly our governmental leaders, afloat recognize what it means to illustration a abstracted people from the United States."

That volition impact costly measures specified arsenic strengthening the Canadian military, relying little connected the United States for regulatory approvals for drugs and manufacturing, and adjacent strengthening upwind forecasting systems arsenic Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency fires workers astatine the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But alternatively of having a authorities digging into those discussions, Canada has an outgoing premier curate and an upcoming national election, Haggart said.

"I'm 52 years old. This is the worst situation that Canada has faced successful my lifetime," helium said. "It's been disappointing to maine that the national enactment vacuum was allowed to persist for truthful agelong … I recognize the reasons for it but it's inactive incredibly concerning."

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