America wants Canada tied tighter to the U.S. economy. Canada is heading the other way. And that may be the most important economic decision we make in a generation.
Missed the boat on this one. Everything you wrote is true except you left out the most important US objective. Subjugation, control over hemispheric resources and critical minerals. Us dominance and military control of the hemisphere. These are the American objectives. Free trade is incongruent with these objectives. So from this framework Canadian actions to diversify and survive as a sovereign independent nation demand trading more internally and with the rest of the world. Securing global non US investments as we build up our global export opportunities is a further important step to national security. That is the only framework that should be applied. Canada is in an existential war of sovereignity survival against a bully imperialistic autocratic regime. The saving grace and there are 2. 1. The US presidrnts designs and imperialistic ambitions are not understood or supported by the majority of the American people (whose voice only matters if they take back control from the oligharchy). 2. Canada drawing closer economic ties with the EU and other middle powers and entering into security agrerments with these partners may strengthen our sovereignity and thwart US imperialistic designs. This is the reality and its darker than your analysis based on rational actors when the truth is rationality is not seeing the world in the rear view mirror. The world is more dangerous than ever with strong undertones of might makes right and this is the kens that needs to be applied. The rearview is history.
Are you saying the US is unsafe because these things can come through the border from Canada? I hope not, as that is ridiculous. When you cross to the new country it is the domestic Border Patrol agents you meet, who are tasked with preventing entry to criminals, drugs, smugglers. Also for checking the amount of goods you are transporting IN. The US does not need to worry about guns and drugs coming FROM Canada. I hope that's nothing like what you meant.
These statements of yours are highly inaccurate, outdated and exaggerated. It is still up to the US border people to stop things entering their country. Federal drug busts in Canada result in hundreds of charges and we are not a high source of fentanyl heading south. The fact that you need to label me from a single critique says way more about you than whether I am a liberal. Solidifies that your knowledge on all subjects here is minimal and skewed. Have a nice day Brian.
Names and places? Of these criminal activities,would also like to know if they were EATING your dogs and cats... always easy to hide behind somebody's fables blaming others, go away little man 😵💫
I was taught early on to always have options and alternatives. When you have those you can prevent yourself from being boxed in and dependent on one entity who can control your destiny rather than you.
It appears Fred that all the chess pieces are in play. Some pawns continue forward as always. Others have started moving vertically along with the power pieces. The Chess Board is being redesigned in real time. Someone referred to it I think as playing 3D chess which may be more accurate than you may think.
We may be watching an evolving board for CanadaCraft being built one memorandum, one treaty, one contract at a time. (The Minecraft reference comes from watching my son build worlds in amazing ways!)
Another goal, Fred. Recognizing the comments from the above gentleman on the malicious intent of the USA, one I agree with, you have instead provided a great general insight into the current state.
I only disagree with the one statement in your top graphic about America wanting to hold us closer and we’re headed the other way economically, a first in a generation.
I would submit this Canadian pivot is the greatest course change since Confederation.
Thanks again Fred, as always your knack for clearly articulating the reality of our current trajectory gives us a sense of calm. Understanding what is happening is vital to every Canadian. (Yesterday I re-stacked your Gander series❤️ damn they were excellent and heartwarming)
Looking forward means looking to the past...what worked or failed, more importantly WHY? No matter the quest, humans have tried it before!
Carney is progressing with the, PLAN in a logical order insuring the infrastructure is in place for the the next steps with options. The whole time working across a multitude of spectrum to insure that the next step lands on a solid footing...ready to receive even more weight.
Looking forward to the To investaRama and the next steps with the EU....
With capt Orange starting to realize what he's unleashed, the world is saying No. I'm hoping that more nations will pile on, not to our specific plan, but to a return to respect, building and cooperation where warranted.
So option TURTLE 🐢, slow but shure DiVESAVACATION, the only question is how to maintain the necessity of continuing this as a long term national strategy, for an actualization???
It will be easy, post trump, to return to the same old policies...
One thing that small exporters, don't have is support in developing new markets, outside of major centers, that can take years and cost lots of $$$$. Even when up and running imagine the cost of stocking and maintaining a presents.....
Part of our investment, has to be support and help develop an ongoing presence in key markets....
Missed the boat on this one. Everything you wrote is true except you left out the most important US objective. Subjugation, control over hemispheric resources and critical minerals. Us dominance and military control of the hemisphere. These are the American objectives. Free trade is incongruent with these objectives. So from this framework Canadian actions to diversify and survive as a sovereign independent nation demand trading more internally and with the rest of the world. Securing global non US investments as we build up our global export opportunities is a further important step to national security. That is the only framework that should be applied. Canada is in an existential war of sovereignity survival against a bully imperialistic autocratic regime. The saving grace and there are 2. 1. The US presidrnts designs and imperialistic ambitions are not understood or supported by the majority of the American people (whose voice only matters if they take back control from the oligharchy). 2. Canada drawing closer economic ties with the EU and other middle powers and entering into security agrerments with these partners may strengthen our sovereignity and thwart US imperialistic designs. This is the reality and its darker than your analysis based on rational actors when the truth is rationality is not seeing the world in the rear view mirror. The world is more dangerous than ever with strong undertones of might makes right and this is the kens that needs to be applied. The rearview is history.
Larry, I think this is a fair challenge to the article.
I framed diversification primarily as an economic response to American protectionism.
You're arguing that I stopped there when I should have asked the next question...
**what is driving that protectionism?**
That's where I think your comment gets interesting.
If Washington increasingly sees North America not simply as three sovereign countries trading with one another...
but as a strategic sphere whose resources, supply chains and security policies should align with U.S. interests,
then Canadian diversification becomes much more than trade policy.
**It becomes sovereignty policy.**
Where I'd be a little more cautious than you is declaring every part of the larger objective settled fact.
That's something I'd want to document carefully rather than assume.
But I absolutely agree with the consequence...
Canada needs...
more domestic trade,
more Canadian processing and manufacturing,
more non-U.S. investment,
more overseas customers
and stronger economic and security relationships with other democratic middle powers.
Not because we want to abandon America.
Because a sovereign country should never leave another country with enough economic leverage to dictate its choices.
You may be right that I stopped this article one question too early.
And that next question might deserve an article of its own.
Brian, organized crime and border smuggling are absolutely legitimate problems, and Canada has a responsibility to deal with them.
But we should be careful about which direction the evidence points.
The fentanyl flow from Canada into the United States is tiny compared with the overall American fentanyl problem,
and irregular southbound crossings from Canada have fallen dramatically.
And guns are particularly interesting.
In 2025, more than 90% of the firearms seized at the Canadian border coming **into Canada** came from the United States.
Less than 1% of seized firearms were being exported from Canada.
So yes... let's secure the border.
Let's go after the gangs.
Let's stop fentanyl and illegal guns in **both directions**.
But border security can't become a convenient excuse for pretending Canada is responsible for America's drug crisis when the numbers don't support it.
**Good neighbours fix real problems together.
They don't invent a bigger one to justify a trade war.**
Are you saying the US is unsafe because these things can come through the border from Canada? I hope not, as that is ridiculous. When you cross to the new country it is the domestic Border Patrol agents you meet, who are tasked with preventing entry to criminals, drugs, smugglers. Also for checking the amount of goods you are transporting IN. The US does not need to worry about guns and drugs coming FROM Canada. I hope that's nothing like what you meant.
Kathy, that's pretty much how I read Brian's comment too.
Obviously drugs, guns and criminals can cross an international border in either direction, and both countries have a responsibility to stop them.
But there's a big difference between saying **“cross-border smuggling exists”**
and suggesting Canada provides some sort of easy gateway responsible for America's fentanyl or gun problems.
That's where the evidence and the rhetoric need to be separated.
Canada should secure its side of the border and the United States should secure its side.
And when we're discussing something as serious as fentanyl, organized crime and illegal firearms,
I'd rather deal with the actual numbers than use the border as a political talking point.
**Real border problems deserve real solutions... not exaggerated ones.**
Yes Fred, thanks, that's exactly right.
These statements of yours are highly inaccurate, outdated and exaggerated. It is still up to the US border people to stop things entering their country. Federal drug busts in Canada result in hundreds of charges and we are not a high source of fentanyl heading south. The fact that you need to label me from a single critique says way more about you than whether I am a liberal. Solidifies that your knowledge on all subjects here is minimal and skewed. Have a nice day Brian.
Thanx for repeating the same old trump Lies....
Names and places? Of these criminal activities,would also like to know if they were EATING your dogs and cats... always easy to hide behind somebody's fables blaming others, go away little man 😵💫
Well put Fred. Thank you.
I removed a commenter from GeezerWise today.
Not because he disagreed with me or other readers.
Disagreement is welcome here.
He was removed because the discussion deteriorated into personal and vulgar attacks against another reader.
**Challenge my facts.
Challenge my conclusions.
Challenge each other.**
But attack the argument, not the person.
That's the standard here.
I was taught early on to always have options and alternatives. When you have those you can prevent yourself from being boxed in and dependent on one entity who can control your destiny rather than you.
Carole, that's it exactly.
What works in our personal lives works for countries too.
**Options give you negotiating power. Dependence takes it away.**
Canada doesn't need to stop doing business with the United States.
We just need enough alternatives that no American president can ever assume we have nowhere else to go.
That's not anti-American.
**That's just smart Canadian risk management.**
Good article Fred, thanks for sharing.
Very well written my friend! Canada Strong!!!
I respect how he’s placed the chess pieces on the trade board
Elmo, that's a good way of putting it.
What impresses me isn't one particular move.
It's that Canada finally seems to be thinking several moves ahead.
New markets.
New trading partners.
More domestic production.
More Canadian processing.
More infrastructure.
Trump can move a tariff around the board.
**Canada's job is to make sure he can't checkmate us with it.**
It appears Fred that all the chess pieces are in play. Some pawns continue forward as always. Others have started moving vertically along with the power pieces. The Chess Board is being redesigned in real time. Someone referred to it I think as playing 3D chess which may be more accurate than you may think.
We may be watching an evolving board for CanadaCraft being built one memorandum, one treaty, one contract at a time. (The Minecraft reference comes from watching my son build worlds in amazing ways!)
Doug, I LOVE “CanadaCraft.” 😂
And I think you've put your finger on why this can be difficult to see while it's happening.
One memorandum doesn't look historic.
One trade agreement doesn't.
One rail contract, defence partnership, energy project or new foreign investment doesn't either.
But start putting those pieces beside each other and something much bigger begins to appear.
**We're not watching one grand Canadian plan suddenly drop from the sky fully built.**
We're watching it being assembled.
One agreement. One investment. One piece of infrastructure. One new trading relationship at a time.
Maybe that's the 3D chess part we're missing.
While everybody is staring at today's move, **the bloody board itself is changing underneath the pieces.**
CanadaCraft.
I'm stealing that one, Doug. 🇨🇦😂
Right on the money. Fred
Another goal, Fred. Recognizing the comments from the above gentleman on the malicious intent of the USA, one I agree with, you have instead provided a great general insight into the current state.
I only disagree with the one statement in your top graphic about America wanting to hold us closer and we’re headed the other way economically, a first in a generation.
I would submit this Canadian pivot is the greatest course change since Confederation.
Scott, you may have me on that one.
I called it the biggest economic shift in a generation because I was trying not to get carried away.
But the more I look at what is happening...
trade,
defence,
energy,
infrastructure,
critical minerals,
domestic manufacturing
and our relationships with Europe and other middle powers...
the harder it is to see this as simply another economic adjustment.
We're reconsidering an assumption that has shaped Canada for most of our modern history...
**That our economic future would always become more deeply integrated with the United States.**
That assumption is being rewritten.
Whether historians eventually call this the biggest Canadian course change since Confederation, I'll leave to them.
But I think you're right about the scale of what we're watching.
**This isn't Canada changing trading partners.**
**It's Canada changing direction. **
Thanks again Fred, as always your knack for clearly articulating the reality of our current trajectory gives us a sense of calm. Understanding what is happening is vital to every Canadian. (Yesterday I re-stacked your Gander series❤️ damn they were excellent and heartwarming)
Looking forward means looking to the past...what worked or failed, more importantly WHY? No matter the quest, humans have tried it before!
Carney is progressing with the, PLAN in a logical order insuring the infrastructure is in place for the the next steps with options. The whole time working across a multitude of spectrum to insure that the next step lands on a solid footing...ready to receive even more weight.
Looking forward to the To investaRama and the next steps with the EU....
With capt Orange starting to realize what he's unleashed, the world is saying No. I'm hoping that more nations will pile on, not to our specific plan, but to a return to respect, building and cooperation where warranted.
Not look for much?
Be well!
Bernie, not looking for too much at all.
And I think the word you used that matters most is **“footing.”**
I've been watching individual announcements for months, but increasingly I'm seeing the sequence behind them.
Infrastructure.
Energy.
Transportation.
Defence.
Critical minerals.
Domestic processing.
New investment.
New markets.
New relationships with Europe
and other middle powers.
Each one gives the next one somewhere firmer to land.
That's also why I agree with your point about history.
We don't have to invent everything from scratch.
Canada can look at where dependence served us, where it left us vulnerable, and why.
My hope is that whatever eventually happens in Washington, we don't confuse a friendlier America with permission to forget what we've learned.
Because the real objective isn't replacing one dependency with another.
**It's building enough options that Canada gets to choose its own future.**
And yes, Bernie... I'm watching those next EU steps very closely too.
So option TURTLE 🐢, slow but shure DiVESAVACATION, the only question is how to maintain the necessity of continuing this as a long term national strategy, for an actualization???
It will be easy, post trump, to return to the same old policies...
Bernie, THAT may be the most important question of all.
Trump gave Canada the shock.
But this can't become a Trump policy that disappears when Trump does.
Because you're right... the temptation will be enormous.
A friendlier president arrives.
The threats stop.
Washington starts talking about our “special relationship” again.
Everybody relaxes.
And slowly we crawl back into the same dependency.
That's why diversification has to become **Canadian policy, not anti-Trump policy.**
Build the ports.
Build the rail.
Build the energy corridors.
Process more of our resources here.
Establish customers in Europe and Asia.
Attract investment from countries other than the United States.
Make those relationships so valuable and so permanent that no future Canadian government would dream of unwinding them.
We can remain America's friend and trading partner.
**We just can't ever again make America our only serious option. **
One thing that small exporters, don't have is support in developing new markets, outside of major centers, that can take years and cost lots of $$$$. Even when up and running imagine the cost of stocking and maintaining a presents.....
Part of our investment, has to be support and help develop an ongoing presence in key markets....
So much too do!