On a weekly basis, with a few exceptions, I tend to ramble about a subject with a local connection. Sometimes awkwardly, I may choose to employ humour while attempting to make a point.

I seek accuracy and only embellish for effect.

After ten hours flying with Flair Airlines to Vancouver and back, with lots of time to think and read, I have one major question that has left me completely flummoxed. How can one person have so much power?

We avoid discussing the situation, but an existential threat is upon us.

Not long ago, I didn’t really understand what an existential threat was, but every day now we learn more.

American politics is currently so weird. So much to talk about, such dramatic and impactful goings on, but almost everyone has been avoiding the subject. Please forgive me as  I ramble way out of my lane this week.

A few chance encounters during my trip to Vancouver last week have provided fodder for this Rambling. I will not be taking sides regarding the “Trumpization” of world politics. That would force me into a sphere far from my expertise or level of knowledge. But have we ever seen such polarization?

Yes, tourism, hospitality and the theatre industry have been hugely affected by the “trade storm.” But there is so much more.

Sitting next to me on the flight to Vancouver was a sharp young man who has recently started his career with CP Rail. The company is formally known as Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., and he works mostly in the area near Woodstock. Most of the freight they carry is automobile industry-related. He and his co-workers aren’t sleeping soundly, knowing that if major automakers shift production to the States, most of them will be out of work.

I hadn’t thought of that. The wide-ranging effect of potential economic contraction and the uncertainty caused by the continually shifting tariff situations are making any reasonable long-term planning impossible.

Right here on Queen Street, I had a brief chat with one of the hard-working, courteous and enthusiastic UPS delivery men. They are always working so hard, in all types of Canadian weather, under daily deadline pressures. Driving and zipping safely around our Niagara Peninsula and our world.

The whole tariff uncertainty has thrown their lives into uncertainty, with the media informing us that UPS may be forced to lay off, terminate or redeploy some 20,000 employees. This is an unfathomable number, and I had not even thought of such a trickle-down effect of tariff uncertainty.

Rambling on about our current world status.

At YYZ’s Pearson International Airport, I sat next to a 20-ish international student who was clearly nervous. She openly told me about her status as an international student in Canada, preparing for a career in the hospitality field. She had come to our country from Vietnam, and her life planning has been totally ripped asunder. She has been studying hard, and is now forced to abandon any long-term goal setting.

I saw no value in telling her that a recent article in the St. Catharines Standard quoted Craig Youdale, a dean at Niagara College. Yes, this major employer may be forced to suspend several of their hospitality-related programs. Government policy changes have created widespread uncertainty, causing decreased enrollment and attendant financial difficulties.

And, industry employers are unable to intelligently make plans for the future. What is the future for Niagara Falls, a world-renowned tourism destination for over a century and a half?

So, I have been rambling way out of my usual lane. Never one to encourage negative conversations, I have only been trying to point out how Canadians are doing our level best to avoid engaging in polarizing discussions.

Even when Prime Minister Carney and President Trump met with President Trump in the Oval Office earlier this week, serious topics were avoided. Pretty expensive small talk, wouldn’t you say?

I am not going to proffer my opinions, but what the heck is going on? Annexing Canada as a 51st state? No more Canadian-built automobiles to be sold in the U.S.?

It’s way beyond my thinking, so I will ramble to a sudden conclusion.