The usual knee jerk reactions are on the board, anti-Trudeau, anti-China, and anti-free-trade.

If only it were the case that once these foolish statements were expressed, that would be it, and we could have an adult discussion of this.

But ill-informed, partisan populism seems to reign. That I even take the trouble to express my annoyance is a source of satisfaction to posters like that.

Nonetheless, simply stated, Trudeau is doing the right thing. He has good people on the job. We can and will benefit from a free-trade deal with China, and in general we will benefit from expanded free trade with many nations. Our recent experience, and the implications of the new administration in the US is a cautionary tale in having too few free-trade agreements rather than too many. We have clearly developed a relationship of trust, and a dependency on the US, and we are about to pay dearly for that. We will do ok, and we will recover, but we should take this as a lesson.