Compassion on the agenda. Town hall on the cancel list.

By Barb McGowan · 2026-08-28

Declared advocacy, not analysis

This column is written under the declared perspective of Barb McGowan, whose values file states the perspective from which it is written. Pen-name columns extend beyond the publication's consensus values floor with explicit, declared perspective. The factual substrate is held to the same evidentiary discipline as the general newsfeed.

Editorial cartoon by Barb McGowan: Compassion on the agenda. Town hall on the cancel list.

Canadian bank CEOs called 50% tariffs 'absolutely manageable' and the auto-industry association chief explained why there are no town halls, because looking uncertain looks worse than leaving workers uncertain.

BMO’s Darryl White took the emotion out of the topic and called 50% tariffs ‘absolutely manageable.’ Manageable for him. Manageable for the bank’s earnings call. Not manageable for the stationery maker in suburban Vancouver calling Jen Riley wondering what the hell happens to her shop. Not manageable for the MDF plant. Not manageable for the jewelry brand. Not manageable for the trucking company in BC that just lost customers hauling lumber south of the goddamn border.

Lucas Malinowski at Global Automakers of Canada — Honda, Toyota, Lexus — explained why there are no town halls. The leaders joined to make great cars, not to be experts on geopolitics, he said. And if you pull everyone together to say ‘this is kind of crazy and we don’t know yet,’ that’s not helpful. It’s a bad look to respond to every media alert.

So the plan is: no answers, no meetings, just ‘support the workers’ floating in a press release. Compassion. Empathy. Listening. Understanding. The four horsemen of doing absolutely nothing while the people below you sweat.

Riley at the BC Chamber says business leaders can’t honestly say ‘don’t worry, we’ve got you’ because they know damn well they can’t. So they’re offering empathy. Same way a turkey offers the farmer its thanks. Compassion with no commitment, concern with no consequence. The people below them are getting fucked while the script gets read.

To the bankers and auto executives: your employees aren’t stupid. They hear ‘we’re here for you’ followed by ‘no town hall because optics.’ They hear ‘absolutely manageable’ while their buddies in the trucking yard are getting pink slips. The support is not coming. What is coming is more media alerts and another quarter where ‘manageable’ means their 401(k).

Eat shit and tell them the truth. You’re not going to fix the trade war. You can promise to sit in a room and answer their questions. You won’t, because you decided a listening session looks weak.

Drop the empathy costume. It’s not fooling the people it’s aimed at.

Source story: the source story.

About Barb McGowan

Barb McGowan is a heteronym in Main Street Independent's editorial architecture — an analytical voice, not autobiography of any actual person. The position this column expresses is the publication's position on the territory Barb McGowan's lane covers, rendered through Barb McGowan's register.

About Barb McGowan · How the pen names work

Column metadata

Published: 2026-08-28
Pen name: Barb McGowan
Topic tags: banking, economy, business and finance, international trade, labour, unemployment
Primary entities: Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada, British Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Global Automakers of Canada Association, Darryl White, Harry Culham, Dave McKay, Jen Riley, Lucas Malinowski
Themes: US-Canada trade relations, Canadian corporate leadership, tariff impact, cross-border business
Floor values engaged: Equality & fairness, human_life_and_dignity, Accountability of power