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OTTAWA — The trade war against American gherkins and strawberry jam will start on Canada Day, which is when the government’s retaliatory action against U.S. steel tariffs will come into effect.

The date is no coincidence. It was picked to optimize unity among patriotic Canadians in opposition to Donald Trump’s policies and public statements.

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But it turns out there’s no need to artificially stoke the anger — a new poll by Abacus Data suggests nearly 80 per cent of Canadians oppose Trump’s tariffs.

The President has made the government’s job that much easier by saying in Singapore he intends to punish “the people of Canada” for the comments made by Justin Trudeau in his post-G7 press conference (where the Prime Minister repeated his opinion that tariffs levelled on national security grounds against Canada were “insulting” and that Canadians, while polite, would “not be pushed around.”)