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Whatever “fair share” means, it would appear Trudeau is a leading member of the one per cent, or more likely even the 0.1 per cent. A Globe and Mail story this week outlined some of Trudeau’s corporate blind-trust structures that, on the surface, don’t look a whole lot different from those targeted by Morneau in his attack on Canadian-Controlled Private Corporations. Numbered companies here, a joint-ownership corporation there, managed under the guidance of the same kind of tax experts who advise farmers, doctors and other users of the CCPC rules.





While Trudeau fights a tax war over small business corporations, he’s launched a trade war over Bombardier, the Montreal-based aerospace company that U.S.-based rival Boeing says is on the receiving line of unfair government subsidies. Boeing is seeking trade penalties on Bombardier’s American exports.



Trudeau says that unless the United States and Boeing drop attempts to find fault with Bombardier, the Canadian government will not buy $6-billion worth of Boeing’s Super Hornet fighter jets. “We won’t do business with a company that’s busy trying to sue us and trying to put our aerospace workers out of business,” said Trudeau.



Whether this threat to kill a deal over a legitimate trade dispute runs contrary to international trade law remains to be seen. A Toronto trade lawyer told me it’s unlikely any NAFTA rules are being broken, but he could not be sure.



As Boeing quickly pointed out, Boeing is not suing Canada. The U.S. aircraft giant has filed a complaint in the U.S. under trade law, charging that Bombardier has sold some of its C Series aircraft into the U.S. market at prices that are lower than it sells for elsewhere. Despite Bombardier’s claims that its C Series does not compete with any current Boeing product, Boeing says the C Series sales at a subsidized cost are a threat to a new Boeing product aimed at the same market.



In the airplane business, selling products at below cost is common practice. Boeing sold its 787 Dreamliners at a loss for years — although it is now making big profits.



Is this a trade war Canada wants to fight? Ottawa’s negotiating position is based on its defence of a money-losing aerospace firm that’s been receiving government assistance, and thinly leveraged on a threat to cancel an order for 18 fighter jets worth $6 billion.



Maybe somebody in Ottawa should look at Boeing’s revenue streams, balance sheet and political clout. The company is flying high with six-month profits soaring to US$3.2 billion, while production numbers are rising and its stock price is double what it was last year.



Boeing’s US$95-billion in annual revenue exceeds the revenues of the Quebec government. More than 60 per cent of Boeing’s revenue comes from commercial aircraft, while military aircraft such as the Super Hornet account for only about 12 per cent. The company is unlikely to be rattled by Canada’s threat to cancel a contract for 18 warplanes.



Trudeau’s trade threat could disappear next week if Trump intervenes or if U.S. trade officials rule that Canada is not dumping subsidized jets on the U.S. market. But no such easy resolution is on the horizon to rescue Trudeau from his tax war on the rich, including himself.

