Tone down the rhetoric

Politicians on both sides of the 49th parallel, particularly those in government, have lately been talking about "war rooms", "border czars", "boycotts", "trade wars", "retaliation", and "tariffs as weapons". I'm looking thinking of (B.C. Premier) David Eby, (Ontario Premier) Doug Ford, (federal Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre, and especially (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau and (U.S. President) Donald Trump.

Perhaps, instead they should take the words of (former U.S. president) Ronald Reagan to heart.

"One of the key factors behind America's great prosperity is the open trade policy that allows the American people to freely exchange goods and services with free people around the world,” said Reagan.

"Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies—they are our allies. We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world, all while cynically waving the American flag.

"Part of the difficulty in accepting the good news about trade is in our words. We too often talk about trade while using the vocabulary of war. In war, for one side to win, the other must lose. But commerce is not warfare. Trade is an economic alliance that benefits both countries."

How about we all tone down the rhetoric and get back to open and honest dialogue with our friends.

Rather than saying, "Well, he started it,” as if we were all in Grade 4, let's look for common ground, negotiate and remember why we were friends in the first place, even if the person across the table—or sending out tweets at 2 a.m.—is not always reasonable or on the same page.

Lloyd Vinish, Kelowna