Is Canada the US's Principal Trading Partner

 Mexico became the US's largest trading partner last year, surpassing Canada and China for the first time. This embarrassing figure is just the latest evidence of Canada's economic downturn since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau entered office in 2015. The value of US-Mexico trade in 2023 was US$798 billion (C$1.1 trillion), surpassing America's other two main trading partners. The trend will continue as offshore factories in China and elsewhere relocate to Mexico to take advantage of the North American free trade agreement's tariff-free benefits. "This is not cyclical, this is new," said Andrew Hupert, a trade specialist who relocated from China to Mexico, to Al-Jazeera.

Mexico is thriving due to geopolitical trends and a trade-friendly administration. According to government estimates, Mexico received US$13 billion in investments in the first six months of 2023, the majority of which went to the auto industry. "The pandemic left us a very important lesson that took us from globalization to regionalization of production," said Claudia Esteves, director general of the Mexican Association of Private Industrial Parks. "It's practically killing globalization. She noted that the conflict in Ukraine has also influenced some European interests, which have decided to shift production from Poland and other European nations. According to Esteves, Mexico has experienced a "historic" increase in demand for industrial parks.

In contrast, Canada is saddled with an anti-business administration and a prime minister who has pushed away resource-based megaprojects that have historically developed and supported the country's living standards.

Aside from not boosting the economy, Trudeau has slowed growth and discouraged investment by raising taxes to pay for excessive government spending.One of his most serious failures was impeding Canada's liquefied natural gas industry and key pipeline projects. The projects that were approved have had their costs increase due to heavy red tape and litigation, serving as a reminder to other investors that Canada is no longer open for business. The Coastal GasLink Pipeline, which connects gas fields to an LNG export terminal in northern British Columbia, has taken years to build and is now likely to cost $14.5 billion, rather than the $6.2 billion originally estimated. Similarly, the Trans Mountain Pipeline project, which Ottawa saved in 2018, has seen its costs rise by a factor of six, to $34 billion, up from an estimated $5.4 billion in 2013.Canadians require a federal government that can stimulate the economy, generate jobs, and build on the country's resource, automotive, technology, and mining assets. This is what governments should do, and it is what the other "two amigos" of North America are doing. Instead, the Trudeau administration's economic apathy, overspending, and virtue-signaling have mostly boosted the export of jobs and capital to other nations.

President Joe Biden's debate catastrophe exposed a disgusting propensity to purposefully mislead the public about a geopolitical issue - the world's most powerful person's declining mental competence. The Biden family, White House personnel, Democratic members of Congress, leading Democratic Party spokespeople, and the progressive mainstream media have all contributed to this dangerous disinformation effort. Biden's declining cognition has been an open secret to anybody who has seen or heard him, including everyone who has witnessed his terrifying gaffes and stumbles on videos, many of which were mistakenly labeled as cheapfakes by his supporters. The internet is a swamp. Some videos may have been fabricated. However, many were clearly not, including those on television networks.

Whether they were genuine or not, many people did not notice them

Several months ago, I chatted with a couple of liberal acquaintances who are experts in mental health and do not believe the president has a cognitive impairment. To decide they were manifestly wrong is not to question their professional expertise or to say ideology harmed their objectivity. Rather, they had not witnessed his incoherence and confusion because the newspapers and television they watched did not cover it — which reflects poorly on the dependability of our sources of information and results in a less educated voter.The fact that there is plenty of blame to go around does not justify anyone involved, beginning with the president, who cannot be so far gone that he is losing his ability to perform effectively. His wife, Jill, is in the best position to watch it happen, but she has ignored the awful fact of her husband's rapid neurological disability, most likely due to mistaken loyalty and a desire for continued control.

Members of the White House staff and cabinet were undoubtedly subjected to countless unsettling lapses in focus, nonsensical babble, and moments of confusion. Democratic senators, congressmen, and party officials – inexcusably — prioritize party over nation. Now that their candidate's devastating slide is being discussed across the country and around the world by allies and rivals alike, they are fiercely reconsidering their partisan interests — and possibly even their patriotic responsibility. Every government strives to put a good spin on a situation. However, it is preferable to confront the inevitable as soon as possible: it will be revealed at some point, and concealment always exacerbates the situation, especially when, as in this case, a delay works against the national interest. What is most concerning for the health of American democracy is that for years, a complicit media protected credulous viewers from information about the president's illness. However, the cover-up has now been revealed for good. Few nonpartisans still feel Biden can meet the obligations of office over the next four years. Fully 72% of Americans believe he lacks the mental capacity to serve as president. Democrats are panicking because, according to a Wall Street Journal poll, 80% of respondents believe the president is too old to run.

The disgraceful cover-up has devolved into a question ascribed to Groucho Marx

"Who ya gonna believe, me or your own lying eyes?" Transparent dishonesty incites public scorn and undermines the credibility of the media and political elite. People want their leaders to represent the finest that their country has to offer. Hiding a president's senility weakens national honor and the faith of its people. People's suspicion of the media was evident in studies performed prior to the presidential debate. A Washington Post-Schar School poll in six key states revealed that 70% of respondents "don't trust the media to report on politics accurately and fairly." Things may be slightly better in Canada, but they are still not ideal. According to Statistics Canada, only 37% of Canadians have strong trust in our media's accuracy and lack of prejudice. These figures are associated with deteriorating faith in other institutions, including the government.

Biden's dishonest supporters have compromised democracy, jeopardized America's national security, and harmed its worldwide position. Why were they acting so irresponsibly? Some people's careers or political fortunes were directly linked to Biden's administration. Many more believed that, despite his fragility, he was still best positioned to defeat Donald Trump, whom they see as a threat to American democracy. Of course, if they truly think it, their dogged defense of a failed leader becomes much more untenable.Now that the lid is off the jar, Biden's staunchest media supporters are trying to throw him under the bus. New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn complimented staff for their "steadfast, fact-based reporting" of Biden's age, rather than noting another transgression of Adolph Ochs' masthead vow to impartiality: "All the news that's fit to print." Canadian Liberals should be concerned about a domestic parallel. They, too, pretend to believe in a leader who has plainly lost the public's trust. Again, party calculations should give way to national interests, especially because sunny methods are well past their prime.