Great post Fred! What I am seeing/feeling from OB in the whitehouse....Mommmmm he touched me, Canada replies...we shop where we bloody well WANT to shop! He makes just about that kind of sense, AND, I stopped US shopping, in stores & online, even China has better quality than some of the border shops. AND better prices. I still feel the grief of our southern neighbours :( Not their leader though.
I totally agree Fred! See how one rotten apple has spoiled the whole bunch...of us? Very sad time in history. Wish we could all live long enough to read the history books & let Canadians be the author, with commentaries from all affected countries!
Friendly but candid advice from a friend: It’s laudable that Canadians love their country. However, the reality is that the US GDP is 1000% higher than Canada’s and Canada is a military weakling. The US and China are peer superpowers who will act in their own best interests. The lack of symmetric messages simply reflects that Canada is largely dependent on the US economy and wholly dependent on US defense. Trump has said rudely but the message is nevertheless true-Canada is a US partner but it is not an equal partner. The only hope Canada has of being taken seriously is getting internal support from the relatively small sector of the US economy that is meaningfully reliant on Canada trade. Nothing Canada does on its own or even in combination with Mexico will affect the administration’s approach to trade. As an example, ending the auto industry supply chain would have a negative impact on the US auto industry but it would survive. It would likely kill the Canadian auto industry particularly if China starts dumping cheap EVs in Canada. To be clear, Canada should do what it can to improve its negotiating position but should not delude itself into expecting an equal place at the table. On the defense side, it has no position at all. Purchasing arms from non- US sources will not make a dent in the military industrial complex. China and Russia are offensive threats and the US is the only defensive alternative. Carney has done a good job of taking attention away from these realities but there is no possibility anything he does will alter the balance. The only way to move forward is to see things as they are; not as one would like them to be. Stop wish-casting about the impact of new trade deals and focus on making internal US allies. That is the only way to achieve more favorable outcomes.
It would be nice if China turned trump over to the intl. court for prosecution
That would certainly make for the most awkward state dinner in modern history Jeanie.
But realistically, no major power is handing over a sitting or former U.S. president to an international court.
Countries use international law very selectively when big geopolitical interests are involved.
The bigger story right now is something quieter...
America’s rivals no longer seem intimidated the way they once were...
and that shift alone is changing global behaviour fast.
I really hope Canada stays strong!
We plan to!!!! Thank you :)
"Washington still talks to Canada as a junior partner at the table" but that is changing, and rather rapidly, whether the Americans like it or not.
I think a lot of Canadians are sensing that shift now, Ron.
Not in some loud “anti-American” way…
more in a quiet realization that Canada needs more strategic independence
than we’ve had in decades.
Different trade routes.
Different defense conversations.
Different supply chains.
More leverage.
More optionality.
Healthy partnerships are supposed to be built on mutual respect...
not assumptions that one side will always fall in line automatically.
And honestly, some of the pressure tactics of the last few years...
may have accelerated Canada’s push toward diversification
faster than any speech ever could.
Great post Fred! What I am seeing/feeling from OB in the whitehouse....Mommmmm he touched me, Canada replies...we shop where we bloody well WANT to shop! He makes just about that kind of sense, AND, I stopped US shopping, in stores & online, even China has better quality than some of the border shops. AND better prices. I still feel the grief of our southern neighbours :( Not their leader though.
That’s exactly the emotional shift I think a lot of Canadians are going through right now, Patsy.
Not hatred toward ordinary Americans…
more like exhaustion with the chaos, the pressure, and the constant “do what we say while we do something else” routine.
And honestly, consumers vote quietly every day with wallets, vacations, subscriptions, and shopping habits.
Governments notice eventually.
The strange part is this whole era may end up pushing Canada to become more independent than we’ve been in decades.
Sometimes the fastest way to lose influence…
is to overplay your hand.
I totally agree Fred! See how one rotten apple has spoiled the whole bunch...of us? Very sad time in history. Wish we could all live long enough to read the history books & let Canadians be the author, with commentaries from all affected countries!
Friendly but candid advice from a friend: It’s laudable that Canadians love their country. However, the reality is that the US GDP is 1000% higher than Canada’s and Canada is a military weakling. The US and China are peer superpowers who will act in their own best interests. The lack of symmetric messages simply reflects that Canada is largely dependent on the US economy and wholly dependent on US defense. Trump has said rudely but the message is nevertheless true-Canada is a US partner but it is not an equal partner. The only hope Canada has of being taken seriously is getting internal support from the relatively small sector of the US economy that is meaningfully reliant on Canada trade. Nothing Canada does on its own or even in combination with Mexico will affect the administration’s approach to trade. As an example, ending the auto industry supply chain would have a negative impact on the US auto industry but it would survive. It would likely kill the Canadian auto industry particularly if China starts dumping cheap EVs in Canada. To be clear, Canada should do what it can to improve its negotiating position but should not delude itself into expecting an equal place at the table. On the defense side, it has no position at all. Purchasing arms from non- US sources will not make a dent in the military industrial complex. China and Russia are offensive threats and the US is the only defensive alternative. Carney has done a good job of taking attention away from these realities but there is no possibility anything he does will alter the balance. The only way to move forward is to see things as they are; not as one would like them to be. Stop wish-casting about the impact of new trade deals and focus on making internal US allies. That is the only way to achieve more favorable outcomes.
I actually think parts of what you’re saying are objectively true.
The United States is vastly larger economically and militarily than Canada.
Nobody serious disputes that.
Geography alone ties Canada tightly to the American system whether people like it or not.
But I think where many Canadians are pushing back now is on the assumption that size automatically means permanent obedience.
Smaller countries throughout history survive by diversifying risk, building alliances, increasing leverage where possible, and avoiding overdependence
on any single power... even friendly ones.
That’s not fantasy.
That’s basic strategic behaviour.
And honestly, I don’t think most Canadians believe Canada is suddenly becoming a peer superpower.
The shift is more psychological than imperial...
moving from “automatic alignment” toward “conditional partnership.”
That matters.
Because even within asymmetric relationships, leverage still exists...
energy,
minerals,
food,
water,
Arctic geography,
banking stability,
critical supply chains,
defense positioning,
and access to trusted democratic markets.
As for defense, I agree the U.S. remains central to North American security.
That’s simply reality.
But allies also tend to ask harder questions when trust becomes less predictable.
Diversifying procurement or trade doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning the relationship... sometimes it means trying to reduce vulnerability inside it.
And on the trade side, I’d argue something important has already changed...
Canada is no longer talking as though access to the American market is the only imaginable future.
That shift alone would have been politically unthinkable not very long ago.
So I don’t see this as “Canada versus America.”
I see it more as Canada slowly recalibrating after realizing...
the postwar assumptions underneath the relationship
may not be as stable as they once appeared.
Who cares americans are just a bunch of murdering terrorists. We don’t need that Tesla shit in Canada
I think a lot of Canadians are angry right now, especially with the political climate
and the economic pressure spilling across borders.
But it’s important to separate governments, corporations, and ordinary people
from each other.
Over 330 million Americans aren’t one single mindset any more than Canadians are.
As for products like Teslas or Chinese EVs,
that’s where the conversation gets more practical...
Canada has to decide what serves our long-term interests best...
affordability, manufacturing, data security, energy strategy,
jobs, infrastructure, and sovereignty.
That debate is legitimate.
But once discussions slide into treating entire populations as enemies,
the conversation usually stops being useful.