卡尼警告“断裂”，民众却最怕房价：加拿大今秋最大考验来了！

即便马克·卡尼因在应对美国关税问题上被指“放低了姿态”，他仍继续用鲜明的语言来界定加拿大所面临的更大挑战。

Even while Mark Carney has been accused of lowering his elbows in regard to American tariffs, he continues to frame the larger challenge facing this country in stark terms.

• lower one’s elbows：字面义是“放低手肘”，引申为“动作不够激烈/态度软化”。

• frame … in stark terms：用鲜明（甚至严厉）的措辞来界定某事。

“现在发生的不是过渡，”卡尼上周在安大略省米西索加宣布一系列针对美国行动影响的行业措施时说，“这是一次断裂。它的影响将是深远的。”

"What's going on is not a transition," Carney said last week in Mississauga, Ont., while announcing an array of measures for industries impacted by the American administration's actions. "It's a rupture. And its effect will be profound."

• transition：过渡、转变。

• rupture：断裂、决裂，语气强烈。

• profound：深远的、重大的。

他看到的是“一个经济民族主义和重商主义新时代”的到来，并将当下描述为“逆境的时代”。他引用了加拿大历史上的重大国家建设型基础设施项目，以及二战期间及之后的全国动员。

He saw the arrival of a "new age of economic nationalism and mercantilism" and described the current moment as an "age of adversity." He invoked major nation-building infrastructure projects of the past and the national mobilization that took place in Canada during and after the Second World War.

• mercantilism：重商主义，强调通过贸易保护和关税促进本国利益。

• invoke：援引、提及（通常带有激发人心的意味）。

• national mobilization：全国动员。

“在这个深刻变革的时刻，我们肩负与前人相同的责任，也应怀有与他们一样的雄心，”他说。

"At this moment of profound change, we bear the same responsibilities and we should have the same ambitions as those who came before," he said.

• bear responsibilities：承担责任。

• ambitions：雄心、抱负。

几天后在圣约翰斯，他再次使用“断裂”的说法，之后在埃德蒙顿与自由党人讲话时又提到一次，最后在宣布第一批重大“国家建设型”基建项目时再度强调。

He made the same statement about a "rupture" a few days later in St. John's, then again when he spoke to Liberals in Edmonton and then once more when he announced the first set of major "nation-building" infrastructure projects that his government is willing to throw its political and practical weight behind.

• throw weight behind sth.：全力支持某事。

• nation-building projects：国家建设型项目，通常带有战略和象征意义。

从时间上看，卡尼仍是“政治新人”——当他周一在下议院参加质询环节时，距离他宣布参选自由党党魁还不到整整八个月。但他似乎已经意识到修辞的重要性，用来既界定问题，又提供号召。“rupture（断裂）”比他之前让加拿大人想象的“hinge moment（关键时刻）”更具感染力。

As measured purely in terms of time served, Carney is still a novice politician — when he rises in the House of Commons on Monday to participate in question period it will be exactly eight months, less a day, since he announced his candidacy for leadership of the Liberal Party. But he seems to grasp the value of rhetoric to frame both a problem and a cause — "rupture" is at least a more evocative term than the "hinge moment" that Carney had previously asked Canadians to imagine.

• novice politician：政坛新手。

• evocative term：能激起联想/情绪的词语。

• hinge moment：关键时刻、转折点。

加拿大人或许认同他的说法——皮尤研究中心今年春季的调查显示，59% 的加拿大受访者认为美国是本国的最大国际威胁。而六年前，仅有 20% 的加拿大人这么认为。（更显尴尬的是，同样有 55% 的加拿大人说美国是加拿大最重要的盟友。）

And Canadians may be with him on this — 59 per cent of Canadian respondents to a Pew Research survey conducted this past spring said the United States was this country's greatest international threat. Six years ago, just 20 per cent of Canadians said that. (As if to underline the odd predicament Canada finds itself in, 55 per cent of Canadians also said the U.S. was this country's most important ally.)

• predicament：困境、尴尬处境。

• underline：强调、凸显。

美国对加拿大钢铁、铝和汽车加征的关税是一个现实且紧迫的问题。但更大的挑战——所谓的“断裂”——是美国的变化，它对世界的看法完全不同于以往。

The tariffs imposed on Canadian steel, aluminum and automobiles are a real and immediate problem for the economy. The greater challenge — the "rupture," as it were — is a changed United States of America that takes a very different view of the world.

as it were：可以说。

• immediate problem：直接/迫在眉睫的问题。

但即便大多数加拿大人同意威胁的大致性质，也不能保证他们会认同卡尼的应对方式。随着下周议会复会，总理——以及加拿大人——必须在短时间内做出许多选择。

But even if a majority of Canadians agree with the approximate nature of the threat, there's no guarantee that they will agree with how Carney chooses to respond. And with Parliament reconvening next week, the prime minister — and Canadians — are in the midst of making a lot of choices in short order.

• approximate nature：大致性质。

• in short order：很快、迅速。

“我们政府的特质将通过我们的专注和执行来展现，”他在埃德蒙顿对自由党议员说，他借用冰球的比喻指出政治能展现一个人的品格。

"The character of our government will be revealed by our focus and our delivery," he told Liberal MPs in Edmonton, riffing on the idea that politics, like hockey, reveals an individual's character. 

• riff on：即兴发挥、借用。

• delivery：这里指“执行、落实”。

“我们都在这里，要为加拿大人完成数十年来前所未有的重大事业。这意味着……变化才刚刚开始。”

"We're all here to get big things done for Canadians at a scale and a pace that hasn't happened for generations. And that means … the change is only just beginning."

这些选择中的第一个在上周四宣布——首批重大基建项目的“分批（tranche）”。

The first of those choices was announced on Thursday with the initial "tranche" of major infrastructure projects.

• tranche：分批、部分，常用于财政和项目分配。

即便几乎所有加拿大人都认同大型基建项目的审批和建设过程需要加快，但在抽象层面上的讨论要比在具体项目被点名时容易得多。

Even if nearly every Canadian could agree that the process for approving and building major infrastructure projects could stand to move faster, that discussion is easier to have in the abstract than it is when specific projects are identified. 

毫不意外，上周四的宣布已引发争议——环保组织担心扩建不列颠哥伦比亚省液化天然气项目所带来的温室气体排放，以及公共资金可能被用来支持该项目。

And predictably Thursday's announcement has produced disagreements — environmental groups are concerned about both the greenhouse gas emissions that will result from expanding a major liquefied natural gas project in British Columbia and the possibility that public funds will be used to support it.

• in the abstract：在抽象意义上。

• predictably：不出意料地。

• greenhouse gas emissions：温室气体排放。

卡尼暗示，下一波项目可能包括一条新管道，配合阿尔伯塔油砂行业的 Pathways Alliance 碳捕集与储存计划。

Carney suggested that a subsequent wave of projects could include a new pipeline paired with a major initiative — the Pathways Alliance — to capture and store carbon emissions from Alberta's oilsands. 

虽然阿尔伯塔省长丹妮尔·史密斯周四表示乐观，但其他许多加拿大人可能并不热情——至少要看是否能找到私人投资方修建这条管道。

While Alberta Premier Danielle Smith seemed optimistic on Thursday, many other Canadians might be less than enthusiastic — at least if a private proponent can be found to build that pipeline.

• proponent：支持者、倡议方。

政府是否动用公共资金支持其所选择的基建项目，可能会牵动更深层次的讨论——联邦政府究竟应该把钱花在哪里。这场讨论预计将在今年秋季卡尼政府的首份预算案中逐渐成形。

Any decision to use public funding to support any of the government's chosen infrastructure projects may factor into a deeper discussion about what the federal government should spend money on — a discussion that should start to crystallize with the Carney government's first budget this fall.

• crystallize：逐渐成形、具体化。

• factor into：成为…的考量因素。

但对许多加拿大人来说，唐纳德·特朗普并不是他们唯一、甚至可能不是他们的主要担忧。

But for many Canadians, Donald Trump is not their only — or maybe even primary — concern.

Abacus Data 最近的民调发现，当被要求在“特朗普的政策与不可预测性” 和 “国内关切（如住房负担能力、医疗和成本上升）”之间作选择时，60% 的受访者认为未来两年加拿大面临的更大威胁是国内问题。而 61% 的人认为联邦政府对特朗普“过于”或“比较”关注。

Recent polling conducted by Abacus Data found that when asked to choose between "Trump's policies and unpredictability" and "domestic concerns like housing affordability, health care and rising costs," 60 per cent of respondents believed those domestic concerns were the greater threat facing Canada over the next two years. And 61 per cent said the federal government was paying "far" or "somewhat" too much attention to Trump.

• housing affordability：住房可负担性。

• unpredictability：不可预测性。

• far / somewhat too much attention：太过/有点过度关注。

卡尼政府对这些民意的初步回应可能很快就会出现。总理已承诺将同样迅速有力地推动住房建设，并计划于今年秋天成立一个新的联邦住房机构来主导这一努力。

The Carney government's initial response to such sentiments might come soon. The prime minister has vowed to move with just as much force and speed to build more housing and a new federal agency to lead that effort has been promised for this fall.

• vow to do：誓言要做。

• federal agency：联邦机构。

当然，不可能把国内事务和加美关系完全切割。但这项民调提醒我们，如果连房子都住不起，其他事再重大——哪怕是地缘政治大变局——也显得无关紧要。

Of course, it's not easy — or even possible — to draw a neat line between domestic issues and Canada-U.S. relations. But that poll is a reminder that little else matters — not even the need to respond to seismic geopolitical change — if you can't afford a place to live.

• draw a neat line：划清界限。

• seismic geopolitical change：地震般的地缘政治变化。

面对这场“断裂”——以及其他种种事务——住房看似次要。但对卡尼政府的回应来说，它可能是最基础的一环。

In the face of a rupture — and amid so much other activity — housing might seem secondary. For the sake of the Carney government's response to the rupture, it might be foundational.

• amid so much other activity：在其他众多事务中。

• foundational：基础性的。