Trump is forcing Canadian leaders to grapple with what they can’t control and what they can [Video]

The last few weeks may have at least buried any remaining notion that Canadian leaders can exert much control over the current president of the United States.

Six-and-a-half years ago, when Trump’s first administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Conservatives declared that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was a “failure.”

“What is his plan to fix this tariff issue?” Erin O’Toole, the party’s foreign affairs critic, asked.

As recently as last fall, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was touting the fact that Stephen Harper, a Conservative prime minister, had secured gains and reprieves from George W. Bush and Barack Obama where Trudeau had failed to do likewise with Donald Trump — which is a bit like suggesting that your family’s history of raising iguanas means you’re qualified to handle a velociraptor. 

If there is a “fix” to the tariff issue, it is once again proving elusive — not only for the prime …