a) Canadian independence, threadbare as it is, is currently being bartered away to the Chinese Communist Party by their wholly owned and operated Canadian tool, Mark Carney. For "benefits" that will gradually come to light but will not be good for Canada.
b) The smugness that has been drip-fed into Canadian populace over last several generations by MSM, CBC and the officialdom as directed by the Laurentian Corruptocrats UnElites. They are the ones who installed Mark Carney as PM through a foul process. Mark Carney, the Financial Magician of Justin Trudeau. That smugness.
Proverb of street-smart Canadians: "Never let the Laurentian elitists speak for Canadians."
....... and this type of thinking and attitude is why there eventually will be Wexit. To finally break away from the Laurentian Corruptocrats. Could be within 5 years, if Carney and Liebranos get a majority.
Not only. Perhaps you were not paying attention during the winter and spring. However, our electoral system effed up in unusual ways on the last election, to the point where many think there is credible doubt as to who really should have how many seats. For Elections Canada that is unusual.
Something like that one more time, and I will think that the dirty paws of Liebranos have something to do with in. Elections Canada used to be run pretty solid.
Got any links to those irregularities? I know there were a few recounts as mandated by law, but I don’t believe that’s suddenly cause to assume Donald Trump style “it’s all rigged because we lost” conspiracies
I mean, I think we have LOTS to back it up, just maybe not in the segments that count in this situation. Higher literacy, higher life expectancy, lower crime, maternity support, healthcare access and quality (despite everything we still apparently rank highly, good healthcare in the US is really only accessible to the wealthy), work-life balance, international perception and reputation, etc.
So I think we’ve got lots to be smug about if money isn’t the only thing we’re being graded on.
Yep.... and those differences aren't just "because we don't have a military". We could spend the 3.3% of GDP on our military, the same as the US does, and still have all those things.
A healthcare system that is allegedly free with intolerably long wait times is hardly something to be smug about. An international reputation that Trudeau the younger shredded and turned us into a joke. Lower crime - if you like a race based criminal justice system. Work life balance - if you think having a continually declining productivity index is something to be smug about. On the other hand we could be so much better than we are with some effort. Then maybe we could be smug.
A couple of other things to note about MAGA is that
1) it's an eclectic coalition held together mostly by Trump's personal popularity. This coalition is unlikely to endure once Trump exits the stage.
2) MAGA isn't actually that popular in America. Trump's approval rating has almost never crossed the threshold of 50%; it's currently hovering around 40%, although doesn't usually sink below a floor of 30%. Trump is also more popular than MAGA, as evidenced by MAGA losses in elections where Trump isn't involved or places where Trump scored higher.
All this is to say that MAGA isn't necessarily going to endure, especially when the reality that America isn't truly an island unto itself starts to bite more painfully. So far, though, Democrats and the American progressive left seem determined to make themselves even less popular to the American electorate...
MAGA might not endure, but I think we’d be foolish to think that it’ll go away when Trump leaves office.
First, he’ll be the GOP kingmaker in the wings until the day he dies, so that’s still a ways away.
Second, he has utterly reshaped the GOP, the Government, and the SCOTUS. That isn’t going to disappear overnight. I guarantee that MAGA or MAGA-lite folks, who follow a very similar, if more fractured, doctrine will continue his march for a decade or more after he’s gone.
A realistic assesment of our relationship with the giant next door. I can only hope the people in power understand our significance to the USA is low & moving lower. I am unsure if our people in power are just playing "Rope A Dope" by thinking they should just rag the puck and hope all of the above just fades away and whomever comes to power next will swing our relationship back to better days. If this is in the back of their minds moving forward will be slow and uncertain.
The upcoming review of the Free trade Agreement with the current US government could have significant negative impacts on Canada and compund the increasing economic problems piling up in our country.
As an Alberta I can only hope the Canadian powerbrokers & the Liberal Party wake-up to the fact we can become a global resource powerhouse. We need to let the world help us unleash the windfall of resources we as Canada have been blessed with.
The question is will the government allow this to happen - will the prospects of significant job growth, increased tax base, increased foreign investment, a stronger Canadian dollar and all the other positive aspects of significant growth be able to overcome the perenial hate on the Liberals and all their supporters have for developing our vast resource endowments.
“The question is will the government allow this to happen - will the prospects of significant job growth, increased tax base, increased foreign investment, a stronger Canadian dollar and all the other positive aspects of significant growth be able to overcome the perenial hate on the Liberals and all their supporters have for developing our vast resource endowments.”
—>Of course the Laurentian Elite does not want this. This will only further give the west more power and influence which they loath to have happen and will do whatever they can to prevent. Keeping the west under control is what furthers their power and control.
The Canadian powerbrokers & the "Liberal" Party will not do anything that makes the Western and Northern Canada vibrant, industrious and prosperous. In fact, they will do everything to make sure that Western and Northern Canada does not become vibrant, industrious and prosperous.
"I recommend thinking of the United States as a monarchy wearing a representative democracy’s clothes. Decisions do not rest in the administrative state, or even in a political party (like Hungary), they rest in the attention of a restless and aging president and those known to have his ear, and his trust. How close to the president a decision-maker is, and who else has a voice on any given topic, goes a long way toward explaining outcomes."
Is it churlish to point out that this is EXACTLY how the Canadian government works...?
The way forward for Canada, regardless of whether MAGA persists or is swept away, is to get back to building a prosperous and wealthy society by developing our resources and encouraging capital formation and investment in Canada. A decade of the exact opposite in Ottawa has ground us to a halt with many Canadians believing the solution to be more obsession with climate change, more onerous regulations and taxes and more government intervention at all levels, not less. It doesn't look good for us and, with the Carney Liberals still on the same page, the problems will not improve. Trump and MAGA are just making them worse.
"they rest in the attention of a restless and aging president". Please don't leave out "mentally ill president". 20 years ago his average everyday ravings (magnets don't work when they're wet???) would have had him shuffled off to an asylum. And he's not the only one. A lot of the big players named here are unhinged. It's a mistake for our people who have to deal with them to assume otherwise.
A welcomed, respected and no doubt accurate picture of the "American condition". Welcomed, in particular, because it's totally aligned with my much less supported opinion. What to do, dear Canadians? The wolf is at the door!
The answer: stop your childish in-fighting, your vexatiousnous and your taunting stupidity. Become what you are not: a valued neighbour. Build resource production capacity within a world-wide marketplace, invest in national productivity so that "made in Canada" doesn't equate to "made in Canada more expensively", ditch bi-lingualism unless it's truly necessary to appease Quebecers, and give plaudits where plaudits are truly wanted. There's lots more...but you get my meaning.
Canada is the author of its valuelessness. We've suckeled at Momma US long enough. Let's put on our big-boy pants and re-earn the Canada our parents died for. First: a leader.
I think it has always been like this. I have American relatives and I have also worked with Americans in detail in both military and civil contexts. Therefore my sense of what you lay out in this article is quite similar behaviour for the last few decades — and sometimes worse before that (think McKinley, Fenians, Madison and 1812, etc).
I think that now under Trump who holds a grudge against Canada — thanks to Trudeau, Freeland and the previous trade talks in his first term. That he is on his “retribution” tour in his second term is obvious as is his first and most obvious target. That would be Us. The ones that the rest of the world think are Americans and the ones the Americans have (secretly or not) wanted to convert to being wholeheartedly American. One way or the other.
I've lived off and on in the US for decades. In general, Canada doesn't register. I remember talking to a guy in a San Francisco restaurant in the 90s. When I mentioned being from Canada, his response was something like "that must be even more boring than Oregon". Canada does create impressions with the Institutional MAGA faction who can point to it as a progressive hell hole of high living costs, drug addled zombies roaming the streets and endless debates about pronouns (kind of like a sub-Arctic California with a poor economy). This is the faction to fear, which is why the likes of Danielle Smith and even Doug Ford are better ambassadors than anyone from the Liberal Party. Justin Trudeau could have been genetically engineered to be the emodiement of all that this faction hates, even more so than Gavin Newsom.
Also need to add that a Canadian politician that could draw even more ire than Justin Trudeau would be Naheed Nenshi. I recently saw an interview where the Purple Bloviator insinuated that he was instrumental in getting TMX built and would offer up his obvious skills to negotiating with the Trump admin. That would be a sure path to 1,000% tariffs.
Thanks for a great article, very thought provoking.
The subservient angle is especially interesting, I understand the statement that much of MAGA land want us to be subservient but I believe that the ditches are full of those who underestimate the quiet and seemingly meek underdogs - it's too easy to say just look at the current World Series where the overwhelming favorite is losing to the underdog much to their dismay. That aside I am firmly convinced that the backbone in/of Canada is strong and we will get through this administration albeit bloodied and battered.
We can prevail if we tackle the issues head-on and greatly minimizing our usual navel gazing, appeasing all the fringe noisemakers, pandering to the historical local grievances and politics and most importantly not making decisions about where votes are coming from in the next election and doing the right things for the country as a whole.
I don’t disagree at all that we need to tackle the issues, preferably with an eye to doing what is best for the country but I am skeptical that we will tackle them head on AND not to the benefit of Liberal government rather than benefit to the country. Would like nothing more than to be proven wrong
It is good that this article is not paywalled as it should be read far and wide amongst all Canadian stakeholders.
One nitpick, it's not the case that Canada was "quietly exempt despite the doctrine’s explicit claims about the whole hemisphere". The Monroe Doctrine was with respect to "future colonization" and confirmed that "the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere". The doctrine carved out Alaska and Canada.
Great article. I would only add that the more “establishment” Suzie Wiles has been sidelined by Stephen “Santa Monica Goebels” Miller. That’s not good for anyone.
Also, we are so incredibly out of touch if we think reaching out to the likes of Mitch McConnell or Lindsey Graham is going to help us sway the Administration. We’re boned.
Here is my summary of Mr. Muir's excellent, but quite discouraging article. "How do I intend to harm thee? Let me count the ways." Canada is going to have to be very resilient and nimble to avoid being kneecapped and beheaded by the Trump Mafia.
Excellent piece! Thanks to Editor Matt for bringing this to us!
Um. Quite the set of assumptions going on with that one, lol. JG
(I mean, I didn't edit it to be clear. But he is still my husband. I'd be pissed if he published it anywhere else! JG)
Yeah, I think that you should keep him.
...for now.
Canada must wipe off its unwarranted smugness.
The "smugness" of daring to exist as an independent country you mean?
a) Canadian independence, threadbare as it is, is currently being bartered away to the Chinese Communist Party by their wholly owned and operated Canadian tool, Mark Carney. For "benefits" that will gradually come to light but will not be good for Canada.
b) The smugness that has been drip-fed into Canadian populace over last several generations by MSM, CBC and the officialdom as directed by the Laurentian Corruptocrats UnElites. They are the ones who installed Mark Carney as PM through a foul process. Mark Carney, the Financial Magician of Justin Trudeau. That smugness.
Proverb of street-smart Canadians: "Never let the Laurentian elitists speak for Canadians."
Actual proverb of street-smart Canadians: "never pay any attention whatsoever to anyone who uses the phrase 'Laurentian elitists'"
....... and this type of thinking and attitude is why there eventually will be Wexit. To finally break away from the Laurentian Corruptocrats. Could be within 5 years, if Carney and Liebranos get a majority.
Forgive me if I don’t trust your clear bias on the issue
A foul process? Like you mean, our electoral system?
Not only. Perhaps you were not paying attention during the winter and spring. However, our electoral system effed up in unusual ways on the last election, to the point where many think there is credible doubt as to who really should have how many seats. For Elections Canada that is unusual.
Something like that one more time, and I will think that the dirty paws of Liebranos have something to do with in. Elections Canada used to be run pretty solid.
Got any links to those irregularities? I know there were a few recounts as mandated by law, but I don’t believe that’s suddenly cause to assume Donald Trump style “it’s all rigged because we lost” conspiracies
I’d be guessing but the smugness referred to might be of a self satisfied / self righteous nature based on very little to back it up.
I mean, I think we have LOTS to back it up, just maybe not in the segments that count in this situation. Higher literacy, higher life expectancy, lower crime, maternity support, healthcare access and quality (despite everything we still apparently rank highly, good healthcare in the US is really only accessible to the wealthy), work-life balance, international perception and reputation, etc.
So I think we’ve got lots to be smug about if money isn’t the only thing we’re being graded on.
Yep.... and those differences aren't just "because we don't have a military". We could spend the 3.3% of GDP on our military, the same as the US does, and still have all those things.
A healthcare system that is allegedly free with intolerably long wait times is hardly something to be smug about. An international reputation that Trudeau the younger shredded and turned us into a joke. Lower crime - if you like a race based criminal justice system. Work life balance - if you think having a continually declining productivity index is something to be smug about. On the other hand we could be so much better than we are with some effort. Then maybe we could be smug.
No...of daring to pretend we have a right to exist without continually earning that right.
A couple of other things to note about MAGA is that
1) it's an eclectic coalition held together mostly by Trump's personal popularity. This coalition is unlikely to endure once Trump exits the stage.
2) MAGA isn't actually that popular in America. Trump's approval rating has almost never crossed the threshold of 50%; it's currently hovering around 40%, although doesn't usually sink below a floor of 30%. Trump is also more popular than MAGA, as evidenced by MAGA losses in elections where Trump isn't involved or places where Trump scored higher.
All this is to say that MAGA isn't necessarily going to endure, especially when the reality that America isn't truly an island unto itself starts to bite more painfully. So far, though, Democrats and the American progressive left seem determined to make themselves even less popular to the American electorate...
MAGA might not endure, but I think we’d be foolish to think that it’ll go away when Trump leaves office.
First, he’ll be the GOP kingmaker in the wings until the day he dies, so that’s still a ways away.
Second, he has utterly reshaped the GOP, the Government, and the SCOTUS. That isn’t going to disappear overnight. I guarantee that MAGA or MAGA-lite folks, who follow a very similar, if more fractured, doctrine will continue his march for a decade or more after he’s gone.
A realistic assesment of our relationship with the giant next door. I can only hope the people in power understand our significance to the USA is low & moving lower. I am unsure if our people in power are just playing "Rope A Dope" by thinking they should just rag the puck and hope all of the above just fades away and whomever comes to power next will swing our relationship back to better days. If this is in the back of their minds moving forward will be slow and uncertain.
The upcoming review of the Free trade Agreement with the current US government could have significant negative impacts on Canada and compund the increasing economic problems piling up in our country.
As an Alberta I can only hope the Canadian powerbrokers & the Liberal Party wake-up to the fact we can become a global resource powerhouse. We need to let the world help us unleash the windfall of resources we as Canada have been blessed with.
The question is will the government allow this to happen - will the prospects of significant job growth, increased tax base, increased foreign investment, a stronger Canadian dollar and all the other positive aspects of significant growth be able to overcome the perenial hate on the Liberals and all their supporters have for developing our vast resource endowments.
“The question is will the government allow this to happen - will the prospects of significant job growth, increased tax base, increased foreign investment, a stronger Canadian dollar and all the other positive aspects of significant growth be able to overcome the perenial hate on the Liberals and all their supporters have for developing our vast resource endowments.”
—>Of course the Laurentian Elite does not want this. This will only further give the west more power and influence which they loath to have happen and will do whatever they can to prevent. Keeping the west under control is what furthers their power and control.
Not without the blessing of the Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa crowd, I think.
The Canadian powerbrokers & the "Liberal" Party will not do anything that makes the Western and Northern Canada vibrant, industrious and prosperous. In fact, they will do everything to make sure that Western and Northern Canada does not become vibrant, industrious and prosperous.
"I recommend thinking of the United States as a monarchy wearing a representative democracy’s clothes. Decisions do not rest in the administrative state, or even in a political party (like Hungary), they rest in the attention of a restless and aging president and those known to have his ear, and his trust. How close to the president a decision-maker is, and who else has a voice on any given topic, goes a long way toward explaining outcomes."
Is it churlish to point out that this is EXACTLY how the Canadian government works...?
Yes. Not only churlish but incorrect.
Okay, this should be good.
How exactly is the Canadian government different?
The way forward for Canada, regardless of whether MAGA persists or is swept away, is to get back to building a prosperous and wealthy society by developing our resources and encouraging capital formation and investment in Canada. A decade of the exact opposite in Ottawa has ground us to a halt with many Canadians believing the solution to be more obsession with climate change, more onerous regulations and taxes and more government intervention at all levels, not less. It doesn't look good for us and, with the Carney Liberals still on the same page, the problems will not improve. Trump and MAGA are just making them worse.
"they rest in the attention of a restless and aging president". Please don't leave out "mentally ill president". 20 years ago his average everyday ravings (magnets don't work when they're wet???) would have had him shuffled off to an asylum. And he's not the only one. A lot of the big players named here are unhinged. It's a mistake for our people who have to deal with them to assume otherwise.
A welcomed, respected and no doubt accurate picture of the "American condition". Welcomed, in particular, because it's totally aligned with my much less supported opinion. What to do, dear Canadians? The wolf is at the door!
The answer: stop your childish in-fighting, your vexatiousnous and your taunting stupidity. Become what you are not: a valued neighbour. Build resource production capacity within a world-wide marketplace, invest in national productivity so that "made in Canada" doesn't equate to "made in Canada more expensively", ditch bi-lingualism unless it's truly necessary to appease Quebecers, and give plaudits where plaudits are truly wanted. There's lots more...but you get my meaning.
Canada is the author of its valuelessness. We've suckeled at Momma US long enough. Let's put on our big-boy pants and re-earn the Canada our parents died for. First: a leader.
100 upvotes, esp. for the second and third paragraph.
I think it has always been like this. I have American relatives and I have also worked with Americans in detail in both military and civil contexts. Therefore my sense of what you lay out in this article is quite similar behaviour for the last few decades — and sometimes worse before that (think McKinley, Fenians, Madison and 1812, etc).
I think that now under Trump who holds a grudge against Canada — thanks to Trudeau, Freeland and the previous trade talks in his first term. That he is on his “retribution” tour in his second term is obvious as is his first and most obvious target. That would be Us. The ones that the rest of the world think are Americans and the ones the Americans have (secretly or not) wanted to convert to being wholeheartedly American. One way or the other.
I've lived off and on in the US for decades. In general, Canada doesn't register. I remember talking to a guy in a San Francisco restaurant in the 90s. When I mentioned being from Canada, his response was something like "that must be even more boring than Oregon". Canada does create impressions with the Institutional MAGA faction who can point to it as a progressive hell hole of high living costs, drug addled zombies roaming the streets and endless debates about pronouns (kind of like a sub-Arctic California with a poor economy). This is the faction to fear, which is why the likes of Danielle Smith and even Doug Ford are better ambassadors than anyone from the Liberal Party. Justin Trudeau could have been genetically engineered to be the emodiement of all that this faction hates, even more so than Gavin Newsom.
Also need to add that a Canadian politician that could draw even more ire than Justin Trudeau would be Naheed Nenshi. I recently saw an interview where the Purple Bloviator insinuated that he was instrumental in getting TMX built and would offer up his obvious skills to negotiating with the Trump admin. That would be a sure path to 1,000% tariffs.
A Wikipedia example of a useless politician, is Naheed.
Alex Muir for PP's chief of staff.
Pierre could do worse. But then, that's also what I said when I married him. JG
I think what you meant was - Pierre could do worse - and I'm 100% certain that he will.
Please clarify, I do not know enough about this.
Alex is my husband. This is the joke. JG
Thanks for a great article, very thought provoking.
The subservient angle is especially interesting, I understand the statement that much of MAGA land want us to be subservient but I believe that the ditches are full of those who underestimate the quiet and seemingly meek underdogs - it's too easy to say just look at the current World Series where the overwhelming favorite is losing to the underdog much to their dismay. That aside I am firmly convinced that the backbone in/of Canada is strong and we will get through this administration albeit bloodied and battered.
We can prevail if we tackle the issues head-on and greatly minimizing our usual navel gazing, appeasing all the fringe noisemakers, pandering to the historical local grievances and politics and most importantly not making decisions about where votes are coming from in the next election and doing the right things for the country as a whole.
yes we can prevail if we tackle the issues head - BUT - the problem is we won't.
I don’t disagree at all that we need to tackle the issues, preferably with an eye to doing what is best for the country but I am skeptical that we will tackle them head on AND not to the benefit of Liberal government rather than benefit to the country. Would like nothing more than to be proven wrong
Well reasoned and well explained.
We're screwed.
It is good that this article is not paywalled as it should be read far and wide amongst all Canadian stakeholders.
One nitpick, it's not the case that Canada was "quietly exempt despite the doctrine’s explicit claims about the whole hemisphere". The Monroe Doctrine was with respect to "future colonization" and confirmed that "the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere". The doctrine carved out Alaska and Canada.
Great article. I would only add that the more “establishment” Suzie Wiles has been sidelined by Stephen “Santa Monica Goebels” Miller. That’s not good for anyone.
Also, we are so incredibly out of touch if we think reaching out to the likes of Mitch McConnell or Lindsey Graham is going to help us sway the Administration. We’re boned.
Here is my summary of Mr. Muir's excellent, but quite discouraging article. "How do I intend to harm thee? Let me count the ways." Canada is going to have to be very resilient and nimble to avoid being kneecapped and beheaded by the Trump Mafia.
Canada has divested itself of its resilience long ago and has not been nimble since WWII.
Sounds about right, also sounds very bad. So far, Canada has "worked" while the hyperpower to our south has been benign. But nothing lasts forever.