Eric Thor

Banking Executive, Trader and Dad. Armchair economist and policy wonk. 🇨🇦

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

I felt like this one was worth dusting off as a reminder. What is it about politics specifically that makes people so uncomfortable discussing?

A difference of opinion is a great thing but a lack of understanding each other has lead to a difference of values. We have never been more polarized as a society and I think it’s because people lost the ability to talk about ‘hard things’.

Case in point, if you froth at the mouth at the mere mention of Trump or use an absurd epithet like ‘libtard’ to make your point you may be part of the problem. You’re no closer to understanding the other side.

My .02.

#politica #PoliticalDebate

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

🇨🇦↘️What a Difference a Decade Makes?

I am old enough to remember when Canadians could not only afford to feed themselves but they were the wealthiest class of people in the developed world. Fast forward a decade later and a large part of the population needs government programs and food banks to survive.

What's more shocking is that our government is flying all over the country for photo 'opps' like this is some sort of policy 'victory lap' instead of being the sign of abject failure that it is. I can think of very few things to demoralize a population more than to take away their ability to provide for themselves and being reliant upon government handouts.

Despite food price inflation being the worst in the G7 for ALL Canadians, the government has decided that the 'fat cats' making $56,182 or more do not qualify. ($74,201 for a single person with four children).
They could provide relief through responsible fiscal management but they would rather control the voters.
Keep this in mind when another government scandal goes unchecked (PrescribeIT $300M, Spaceport parking Pad $20M/year, Green Slush Fund $1B...).

#canada #economy #cdnpoli

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@vesperdigital If the 'uniparty' were a person...

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@jonkay @HadleyFreeman @thetimes Writing this piece was dangerously close to being a jailable offense in Canada.

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

🇨🇦🛠️May Jobs: GREAT Headline... GOOD Report

Good: 88,000 Jobs, Full-Time +, Industries +
Reservations: Public Sector bloat and Unemployment Remains High.

What do you think?
#jobsincanada #cdnpoli #economy

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@sarobertson_ You should be so lucky in your life to find someone that loves you the way David Cochrane loves the LPC.

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

🇺🇸🇨🇦US Canada Trade Relations - Forced Labour

US Canada trade relations are about to take yet another interesting turn. The US is approaching completion of their forced labour review at the time of the July CUSMA review and Canada is not in the best light for these 3 reasons:

1. Leadership and Denial: Recently in committee testimony Liberal MP Michael Ma denied the existence of forced labour in China (a well established fact) and it went unaddressed by the PM. Additionally, Mark Carney while at Brookfield was fined ($800K) for using slave labour in Brazil while they deforested 9000 hectares of the Amazon rainforest for soybean farming. These are awful optics about our leaderships' view on human rights abuses.

2. Extremely low enforcement actions: Between 2020 and 2026, Canadian authorities intercepted only about 50 shipments suspected of involving forced labour, with just two shipments ultimately denied entry. These were a shipment of textile products in 2024 and frozen seafood in 2025 (both originating from China). The US Trade Representative (USTR) highlighted this as evidence of minimal enforcement compared to the US, which has detained thousands of shipments worth billions.

3. Acting as a potential diversion or "dumping ground" for US-blocked goods: Reports and US concerns note that goods denied entry into the US (e.g., due to Xinjiang/Uyghur forced labour links) have reportedly been rerouted through Canada, sometimes for re-export to the US. This undermines the integrated North American supply chain and CUSMA commitments. Canada lacks tools like a public entity list or rebuttable presumption that would place the burden of proof on importers.

The consequence of the above could be 10% tariff applied to all trade outside of CUSMA. This seems like an issue that should unify the country; is anybody in favour of continued use of forced labour??

#canada #usa #cdnpoli

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@Tablesalt13 FWIW... I believe her.

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@harleyf The enemy of my enemy is my friend?🤷‍♂️

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@nationalpost https://t.co/CkHCYXchI0

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

Is this Real Life?

It seems the worse Canadians do, the more support the Liberals receive. What an odd incentive structure!

✅Unemployment is high
✅Food price inflation is high, food bank use is skyrocketing.
✅GDP is shrinking.
✅Businesses are shutting down (6 quarters of contraction)

The Canadian electorate is fickle.

#cdnpoli #markcarney #recession

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@carvincannabis @mapleblooded Degree in economics, masters in finance and 30 years in the field… so there’s that. 🤷‍♂️

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@peatearwoodmen @nationalpost that was my understanding as well... the reporting on this has been all over the place.

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

Is this Real Life?

It seems the worse Canadians do, the more support the Liberals receive. What an odd incentive structure!

✅Unemployment is high
✅Food price inflation is high, food bank use is skyrocketing.
✅GDP is shrinking.
✅Businesses are shutting down (6 quarters of contraction)

The Canadian electorate is fickle.

#cdnpoli #markcarney #recession

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

is this satire? We are absolutely in an economic crisis... In your own words, you talked about 'unemployment, inflation, capital fleeing the country and a long-term deterioration in Canada's fiscal position.' All those things are occurring but since it's your team causing it you're minimizing it.

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@carvincannabis @mapleblooded I address many of these things in this video.

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

🇨🇦🛝It's Just a 'Small' Recession

We have to look past a single data point to understand. Big deal or political spin?

#recession #cdnpoli

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@carvincannabis @mapleblooded What are the things you would need to see to be more concerned?

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@MoeStrackson @mario4thenorth @FP_Champagne If people got paid for every time they used 'technical' we would have created a lot of new millionaires this last week.

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@carvincannabis @mapleblooded But relatively speaking we are in an awful economic position. We lag the developed world…

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@SuitedAk @mario4thenorth @FP_Champagne We agree… it’s material.

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

A point of clarity, it was a referendum vote that the nation voted on. It wasn't Brexit that lead to the failure of the UK... some things to consider: 1. EU in the same time period underperformed in real GDP growth (10 year 13%) save for the countries that resisted EU convention i.e. Ireland 42%, Poland 40% 2. Failed domestic policy (rich social programs, monetary policy) and a failed immigration policy lead to the decline. TBH they may as well have joined the EU since they adopted the same policies that degraded countries like France (7%), Germany (4.4%)...

[Eric Thor @EricSThor]

@Tablesalt13 The US tariff review of supply chains and forced labour will not end well for a country whose politicians are running defence for countries actively engaged in the practice.