Honey, Anyone?

I don't have a reading update today as I'm still working through my Currently Reading list. I hope I'll be finished a few in the next couple of days, so I can provide my reviews. I'm also expecting a few books in the mail. So today, let's talk about trade wars. 

On Friday night, our Canadian government announced that it was withdrawing from talks with the United States as their efforts to come up with a trade deal (btw, we do have a trade deal.. CUSMA... but that doesn't seem to matter to the US president. As PM Carney said on Saturday, it seems like a deal with the US is signed with pencil so it can just be erased at a whim). According to PM Carney, at the last minute the US started adding new items that Canada could not accept. 

Purportedly, they included the US having first right of refusal on any trade deals Canada might make with other nations. It meant that the US would have first rights to our critical minerals. It meant that we would have to buy US weapons for our military. It said that they don't like our French language laws. (I'm paraphrasing here and this info is just from info I've read in various news articles and online).

At any rate, we are now in a 'new' trade war. I'm personally glad that our government did take this stand, even though I realize that there will be economic impacts on Canadians and Canadian businesses, especially small ones. Of course, there will also be impacts on the US, but that's for them to sort out. Trump is their president after all. But what makes me happy is that it seems the majority are happy with our government's decision and Premiers from every political party (well, maybe except for the premier of Alberta) support the decision and will support the Team Canada approach.

And I think that's what Canadians have to do. We have to continue to support each other, support local businesses, local agriculture. When you do your shopping, check where your products are made. Wherever possible, buy Canadian or support other countries, other than the US. I've read that if you're buying a car, if your VIN starts with 1, 4 or 5, it's built for the main in the US.  There are many websites that identify Canadian products, Canadian companies.

The main reason I thought of writing this post was from a CBC article about a Canadian honey producer. If you check this link, you can read it for yourself. So what I was thinking that let's make Canadian honey one of the items you check out. Personally, I've been buying BC honey for a few years. At the moment, I have a half empty jar of Fredrich's Honey, made in Cedar, BC and an unopened jar of Dutchman's - Island Gold Creamed Honey from Coombs, BC. What I'm asking is that you check out and support your local honey businesses, and of course, any other. Check out local farmer's markets, see what your grocery stores have on offer. SAVE OUR BEES!

OK, well, that's it for now. While I'm on the topic, maybe support Canadian artists and authors. 

Here is Bryan Adams' song, 51st State and his thoughts.

If you want to check out a Canadian author, here is one you might not have tried and if you like fantasy / adventure, I'm sure you'll enjoy. It's a fascinating series. H. Leighton Dickson has written other fantasy books as well. 

Anyway. #ElbowsUp and keep up the good fight Canada.