The US Versus Canada 16

It's time for another compilation of articles about the continuing frosty relationship between Canada and the US. At least the Gordie Howe bridge is finally open and the wildfire smoke has abated somehat, here at least. 

Trump’s New Tariffs Are Designed to Tear Canada Apart. "Washington can now reward some provinces and punish others. The political danger may be considerable."

Lessons We've Learned from Gordie Howe - Elbows Up and Beyond. "his new Canadian built and paid for Gordie Howe Bridge celebrates a Canadian icon who played all his hockey for American teams but was always one of ours."

As Wildfires Ravage Canada, A Trump Puppet From Michigan Is Now Threatening Canada To "Stop The Smoke" Or Else. LOL. "Toronto has the worst air on Earth this week. The north is burning, people are fleeing their homes by boat, and a Congressman from Michigan thinks the problem is that Canada won’t rake its forest."

Mark Carney won’t let Donald Trump see him sweat, but it comes at a cost (gift link). "Watch Mark Carney, not long ago thought to be a political novice, work a press scrum. We’re now used to the half-beat pause before the prime minister answers, the banker’s habit of restating the question in duller language, draining it of drama, and the refusal, almost physical, to take the bait. That composure can come across as a personality quirk but it’s more likely a construction. This week, a remarkable two-part Wall Street Journal (WSJ) investigation shows us what it was built to withstand."

Canada is taking an outsized role in the construction of the post-American world. "Mr. Carney is a continentalist, too – he just has a different continent in mind. But his ardent pursuit of the European connection is in the same counter-balancing mould, not only of Liberal leaders past, but of statesmen through the ages: calling the Old World back into our existence, to redress the balance of the New."

Trump's Threat to Canada is Deadly Serious. "A new report in the Daily Beast has revealed just how far the White House is willing to go to upend international law and to attack allies."

Midwestern Republicans blame Canada, level threats for drifting wildfire smoke. "'FINAL WARNING TO CANADA: Manage your forests to prevent these fires. American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year,' wrote a Michigan congressman running for governor."

Why this Toronto man is being flooded with requests from Americans about their Canadian ancestors (gift link). "The Canadian Citizenship Act has opened doors to foreign nationals who want to reclaim citizenship by descent. Archivists are suddenly in demand."

The Future File 2

This is part of a series of posts to feature articles that make verifiable predictions. My intent is to review them at a later date to see how accurate they were. 

Today's post references an article by Dean Blundell published on July 21: Trump Just Declared Economic War on Canada. Again, and Mark Carney Just Eviscerated Him For It. "He did it on a Monday. Of course he did it on a Monday. Set your TACO timer for 30 days."

At the end of the article, he says:

Here’s the punchline, and you already know it: these tariffs don’t take effect for 30 days.

Thirty days. The standard Trump escalation window. The exact runway he always builds himself so he can strut, threaten, watch the markets gag, watch American consumers scream about prices, watch the lawsuits pile up — Section 338 is going to get shredded in court, just like the Supreme Court already shredded his emergency tariffs in February — and then “graciously” announce a pause, a deal, a framework, a beautiful letter from Mark. Trump Always Chickens Out. He did it after “Liberation Day” cratered the markets. He does it every single time the bill comes due.

Review on August 21.  

The US Versus Canada 15

Canada and the US celebrated their respective national anniversaries this week, so it seems like a good time to post another set of articles about the relationship between our two countries. Let's start with Bryan Adams and his new song, "51st State".

  

• Trump Regime Lists "Nine Canadian Grievances" Of Unfair Canadian Trade Practices Ahead Of Free Trade Negotiation Deadline That MIGHT Have Been Written By A Three-Year-Old. "The Trump regime’s “key complaints” against Canada are, honestly, REALLY f***** funny."
• Canada and America Are Drifting Apart. The Pentagon Just Made It Official. "A surprise defence decision reveals the depth of the political rupture."
• Canada won’t drop fees on big American streaming services (gift link). "The Trump administration has explicitly opposed any such charges levied against the big streaming firms, most of which are U.S.-based giants."
• Stop Panicking about CUSMA. Canada’s Trade Future Isn’t as Dire as It Looks. "Trump can talk tough, but supply chains still bind North America together."
• Sorry, Mark Carney, ‘Shakedown in Windsor’ is a true crime drama where Donald Trump holds a bridge, and a nation, hostage (gift link). "Prime Minister Mark Carney said it was “no drama” that the Gordie Howe International Bridge opening ceremony had to be cancelled. He is wrong about that, writes Andrew Phillips. It’s actually a true crime story being played out for all to see."
• Trump Says He Won't Renew Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA) With Canada/Mexico. "A ruthless, fully-sourced fact-check of the dumbest eight words Trump has said this week — delivered the same day US inflation hit 4.2%."
• The Threat to Canada Is Coming From the White House. "This past week, the ambassador of a foreign country, Pete Hoekstra, publicly stated that Canada’s sovereignty would be a “great discussion” in the upcoming trade negotiations with the Trump administration."
• Why this Toronto man is being flooded with requests from Americans about their Canadian ancestors (gift link). "The Canadian Citizenship Act has opened doors to foreign nationals who want to reclaim citizenship by descent. Archivists are suddenly in demand."
  

More on Disinformation 9

It's time for another post about disinformation and misinformation. I could probably do a post a day like this if I had the time and the stomach for it.  

• The War Against Misinformation Is Over. The Lies Won. "New research suggests people know images and headlines are false but share them anyway." What a journalist has to cope with. 
• "Klansplaining": A Field Guide to The Term And Language Trump/MAGA Have Perfected. 'A new word — Klansplaining — for rhetoric engineered so racists hear racism and everyone else hears "concerns about crime"'
• Russia and U.S. amplifying Alberta separatist narratives to stoke division, distrust: report. "Moscow's influence scheme is covert, while Trump-aligned meddling is overt and public." Just one of many articles on the subject: see also my blog post from earlier this week. 
• Canada Is Building a Firewall Around, Disinformation, Hate Speech And Democracy. "While the U.S. is busy letting the president sign executive orders restricting who can vote by mail, Canada just quietly dropped two of the most consequential pieces of legislation to protect democracy from foreign-funded gaslighting machines."
• AI Fakes Spread Disinformation. Is the Distrust They Create Even Worse? "Manipulated images undermine our shared reality—and the democracy built upon it."
• Scientists warn fake research is spreading faster than real science. "A major investigation found organized networks producing fake scientific papers, selling authorships, and manipulating journals to mass-publish fraudulent research."
• 5 (more) logical fallacies in the era of RFK Jr. "Common rhetorical tricks that are used to spread false health information."
• The Nursery Is No Place for Misinformation. "A basic newborn shot has become another target of the distrust machine, and the consequences can be devastating."

What the Heck is Happening in Alberta?

Over the past couple of months it's become clear that the usual discontent Albertans have with the federal government has morphed into something far more concerning. I lived in Northern Alberta for five years until 1984 and there was no love lost for Ottawa and especially Pierre Trudeau and his National Energy Program. But what is happening now is very different. 

In this post, I'm going to highlight several recent articles that cover different aspects of the current political scene in Alberta. 

For a starter there's this lengthy piece (gift link) from the Toronto Star:  "I went home to the heartland of Alberta independence. Even after covering Donald Trump for 10 years, I was still terrified by what I found." by James Maclennan. I included this as it was written by someone who grew up in Alberta and provides a good overview of the current separation campaign. The scary quote:

We like to imagine we are immune somehow from whatever it is that has torn the American polity apart so violently over the past 10 years, that what is happening there could never happen here. I promise you it can. In Alberta, it already is.

In this article Dean Blundell provides (in his words). "The Alberta File: How a Foreign-Backed Separatist Cabal Doxxed Three Million Albertans, Lawyered Up Against Treaty Rights, After Being Promised "500 Billion" From The Trump Regime: A definitive, on-the-record accounting of what the hell is happening in Alberta — and why every Canadian, every Treaty signatory, and every NATO ally should be paying attention."

Yes, he can be a bit long winded, but the article provides more history and context than most of the pieces I've seen in the major media and ties it to influence from the US and wider international disinformation campaigns. 

What is happening in Alberta in the spring of 2026 is a stress test of Canadian sovereignty conducted, in part, by a foreign power in friendly contact with a domestic separatist movement, lubricated by an algorithmically amplified information environment that pays Dutch YouTubers to tell Albertans separation is inevitable, organized through evangelical and convoy networks with documented histories of contempt for the state, and enabled by a provincial government that rewrote its own constitutional safeguards to accommodate the operation."

In The Leningrad Hot Dog Maker and the Destruction of Canada Charlie Angus takes a deep dive into the Russian disinformation machine and how it might affect Canada, even if there is no referrundum.

It won’t matter that the separatists don’t have the votes to succeed. They will drive false claims that the referendum was stolen or encourage a convoy of extremists to set up camp on the Coutts border to call for American help.

Imagine the hate that will be generated against First Nation people by online bots if the courts shut down the referendum.

The Donbas playbook is about weakening our nation and creating internal chaos. A full on hate storm is brewing. The Prime Minister needs to take this threat very seriously indeed.

Finally, Patrick Lennox of The Walrus asks How Did an Alberta Separatist Group Get Its Hands on the Voter List? There will no doubt be court cases arising from this and it will be interesting to see just how high up in the Alberta government they reach.

That 2.9 million voting-age Albertans have had their personal information circulating in the Maple MAGAsphere poses a massive public safety risk and exposes the October 19 referendum process even further to foreign influence from the global far right. We can safely assume that Alberta’s list of electors has been captured by agents of authoritarian regimes who wish Canada, as the last standing democracy in North America, all sorts of harm, unrest, and collapse.

The implications of this breach, which is likely the largest in Canadian history, will come into further relief in the coming days and weeks leading up to the referendum the UCP seems hell-bent to bring on.

That will do for now. I could have easily included sevral more articles, but the ones above paint a pretty detailed, and not pretty, picture of what's going on. 

 

 

The US Versus Canada 14

It's time for another article abut the ongoing cultural and economic conflct between Canada and the United States. 

How the US will get it's booze back into Canadian liquor stores

Expect Donald Trump to try to punish Canada for not bending the knee (gift link). "It’s now clear the Americans aren’t even willing to sit down until Canada coughs up what’s being described as an “entry fee” — unilateral concessions on a range of issues in return for the privilege of getting to the table and facing, no doubt, demands for even more concessions."

How much does Trump hate Canada? (gift link) "Five charts help illustrate the U.S. President’s obsession with his northern neighbour."

Why Did So Many Canadians Keep Doing Business with Epstein? "The predator’s network reached into this country’s financial, science, and cultural elite."

A network of YouTube accounts is promoting U.S. annexation to Albertans, researchers say. It has 40 million views (gift link). "Flagged as a “potential covert influence operation” in a new report, those behind the network are tough to trace."

 Mark Carney Officially Put A Bullet In Canada's Relationship With Trump's America. "Mark Carney simply never misses. This morning, he kindly put our relationship with Trump's America in a body bag while reminding us who we are."

Can Alberta Protect Its Secession Vote from Trump? "If we’re being honest, probably not."

Washington demanding 'entry fee' from Ottawa before trade talks: sources. "Trump administration demanding concessions before formally launching CUSMA talks, sources tell Radio-Canada."

The US versus Canada 13

It's time for amother article abut the ongoing cultural and economic conflct between Canada and the United States. 

• Doug Ford takes anti-tariff message to Texas as opposition cries foul (gift link). "Ontario Premier Doug Ford is in Texas this week, meeting with businesses and American lawmakers to shore up support for local industries and advocate against U.S. tariffs, ahead of crucial trade talks between Canada and the U.S."
• Pete Hegseth Is Waging a Holy War to Take Over Canada/Greenland To Build Greater North America "in Jesus’ Name”. "The Secretary of War just merged the Crusades with colonial conquest and called it God’s plan. Canada is on the map."
  
• American booze bans, 'Buy Canadian' policy flagged by U.S. as trade irritants: report. "U.S. wants its alcohol returned to all markets after being pulled from shelves in several provinces." Even if it got back on our shelves, that doesn't mean that Canadians will buy it. 
• A Mother, a Child and Niemöller’s Warning. "News reports tell us of Canadian Tania Warner, age 47, being held in a Texas ICE detention centre with her seven-year-old autistic daughter. She was stopped in an arbitrary traffic search while returning from a baby shower. Tania is married to an American and believed her papers were in order. It didn’t matter. They took her away."
• Two Ops, One Playbook: How MAGA (and Maple MAGA) Turn MAID and “Anti‑Christian Bias” into a Psy‑op For a "Crusade" Against Canadians. "CANADA said "NO" to importing MAGA when we elected Mark Carney. So the Trump Regime (and MAPLE MAGA) is supporting TWO "Psy-Ops" across Canada to justify a "Crusade" north of the border."
• The MAGA Plot to Take Down Canada. "A growing movement of MAGA-pilled Albertan separatists would happily break up the country to be closer to Trump."
• On Behalf of Canada, Tucker Carlson Can Go F*** Himself. "Let's break down Tucker's latest "Let's take over Canada" campaign, sponsored by Russian State Media." Carlson is vile and the thought of him even running for the US presidency in 2028 makes me cringe. 
• How Alberta’s Separatist Movement Could Shake North America. "The resentments, politics, and risks behind their push to leave Canada."

Canada Launches a New Space Program

The Canadian government has announced that it will fund the construction of a space launch site near Canso, Nova Scotia. Canada has been building satellites and other space hardware, like the Canadarms on the Shuttle and ISS, but has not had it's own dedicated launch site.  

The government will also be funding the development of a made-in-Canada launch vehicle. 

A spaceport in Nova Scotia. A spaceport in Newfoundland. Three funded Canadian rocket companies. A $105 million competitive grant program with more rounds coming. The global space economy is projected to reach approximately $2 trillion by 2040. Canada is planting its flag in that economy right now, while the ground is still moving — instead of letting a billionaire cult leader control the on-ramp.

Here’s the piece that most coverage is either missing or treating as a footnote, and it absolutely shouldn’t be.

Alongside the Spaceport deal, Defence Minister McGuinty announced that Canada plans to become a full member of the NATO Starlift initiative — a program designed to create a space-launch network across alliance members, allowing allies to get payloads into orbit on short notice, especially during a crisis or active conflict.

All I can say is that it's about time.  

The US versus Canada 12

Trump is at it again, just this week talking about "Governor Carney" again. I think Carney, as a former central banker, must have a fairly thick skin, but the disprespect is surely pissing off a lot of Canadians, including me. 

So here are more articles about how Canada and our formerly friendly neighbour have been doing.

• Canada Is Already at War with the US—We Just Don’t Know It Yet. "Conflicts don’t always start with an invasion." 
• The United States is at War... With Canada. 'Simon Tisdall writing in the Guardian states, “Know your enemy is the first lesson of war - and Britain’s enemy is now Donald Trump.” This is a lesson that ordinary Canadians have known for well over a year. Trump continues to taunt us and belittle our nation in the same way that Putin ridiculed Ukraine prior to the invasion.'
• BREAKING: Trump's Next Pretext To Break Canada Is Already Built. It's Iran, and Canada Should Be Very Worried... "Iranian operatives. Canadian soil. American outrage. And a Pedophile/Rapist/Felon President who has already told you exactly what he wants." Note that in the last week, three synagogues and the US consulate have been shot at in Toronto. 
  
• Data Dive with Nik Nanos: The current Canada-U.S. relationship is built on contradictions (gift link). "Canadians are ripping mad at the United States. By the standards of modern polling, that anger is unusually deep and widespread. Yet even in this moment, Canadians still see the economic upside of trading with the United States."
• Americans’ feelings toward Canada, U.K. plunge to new lows under Trump, new U.S. poll finds (gift link). "A new Gallup poll finds that American views of Canada and Great Britain have dropped to the lowest levels ever." recorded, despite most still holding positive opinions of both countries." 

Featured Links - March 4, 2026

Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

• Fat Signing Bonuses, and Concierge Service, for Family Doctors (gift link). "In a country where a quarter of the population lacks a family doctor, Canadian communities compete in a zero-sum battle to recruit family doctors." The competition for doctors willing to work in small towns is becoming more intense in Canada, and I suspect, in the US as well. 
• This Looks Like an Insider Bet on Aliens (archive link). "Someone just put a lot of money on ET." I wonder if they have inside information. 
• Nature Comms: The Risk of Kidney Disease Increases Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection Compared to influenza. Yet another reason to do everything you can to avoid catching COVID-19.
• Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted. "As vaccination rates decline, the economic consequences will increase, research suggests."
  
• AI Made Writing Code Easier. It Made Being an Engineer Harder. "Yes, writing code is easier than ever. AI assistants autocomplete your functions. Agents scaffold entire features. You can describe what you want in plain English and watch working code appear in seconds. The barrier to producing code has never been lower. And yet, the day-to-day life of software engineers has gotten more complex, more demanding, and more exhausting than it was two years ago."
• John Shirley's guide to wrecking your career in science fiction. "A short memoir with  material that may be upsetting. Published for the first time at Boing Boing. Some of it's about Harlan Ellison, a hero of my youth--an enemy for a while, then a friend once more. Joe Straczynski, I review The Last Dangerous Visions, which you co-edited, at the end of this."
• A new space race could turn our atmosphere into a 'crematorium for satellites'. "When we look up at the night sky and see a satellite glide past, we might not consider climate change or the ozone layer. Space may feel separate from the environmental systems that sustain life on Earth. But increasingly, the way we build, launch and dispose of satellites is starting to change that."
• The Stupidest Glitch Imaginable Killed a $72 Million Lunar Mission in a Single Day. "NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer satellite was supposed to map water across the surface of the Moon, but glaring design and testing errors killed it."
• Trump Is Spoiling for a Fight over Canadian Potash. "The fertilizer that feeds America is key to the president’s next confrontation with Ottawa." 'Next confrontation` There's more? Oh, joy. 

The US versus Canada 11

It's been a while since I wrote on of these posts, though I have been following the news about Canada's relationship with the US pretty closely. In the past couple of weeks, I've seen more discussion about the possibility of a US invasion of Canada, something which I've posted about before  this. It  seems that people, including members of our government, are taking the possiblity more seriously. So I'll start this post with a couple of articles about that. 

How a US Invasion of Canada Would Really Unfold—And How We Fight Back. "American aggression is no longer theoretical." This article looks at lessons learned from Uktaine's response to the Russian invasion and applies them to Canada. 

Preparing for the Worst. Charlie Angus offers some concrete suggestions for fighting back against the US, even before an invasion. 

Donald Trump wants to make an example out of Canada. How will we prepare? (gift link) This article is cited in Charlie Angus's post and is also worth reading (as are most of Andrew Coyne's opinion pieces in the Globe and Mail). 

The Most Dangerous Politician In Canada

I was going to include this post by Emmett Macfarlane in a Featured Links post next week, but after reading through it a couple of times, I decided it deserved it's own post.

If you've been paying any attention to Canadian politics recently, you'll likely have seen mentions of a growing separatist movement in Alberta (and to a lesser extent in Saskatchewan and British Columbia). That's always been an undercurrent in Western Canadian politics, but its become more prominent since the rise of the UCP in Alberta and the second Trump administration in the US. But what Alberta's Premier Danielle Smith is now proposing is more dangerous than plain separatism. As Macfarlane states in his post, she is now the most dangerous politician in Canada. 

We like to denigrate comparisons to Trump as lazy because Trump is distinct in so many ways. He tells more lies than any other politician. He actively and nakedly seeks unlawful self-enrichment. He is on multiple counts a criminal. He is monumentally stupid. In short, any other politician will always have attributes that distinguishes them from Trump. Smith is no criminal. She’s not stupid. But once we see that Trump is as much a symptom as he is the cause of America’s anti-democratic rot, we should recognize the same holds for people like Danielle Smith. She is the most dangerous politician in Canada, launching an agenda not only of fear and greed, but one that seeks to undermine the country, its federal structure, and its spirit of tolerance and compassion. It is nothing short of evil, and it must be fought on all fronts.

Canada Fights Back and Why

The Canadian press has done a lot of reporting on how Canada is responding to Trump's trade war but not so much on Canadians' response to his administration's fascist takeover of the US government. That doesn't mean there is no response.

In Toronto recently, a group calling themselves Canada First, and clearly patterned on the US extreme right, held a rally (or more accurately tried to hold a rally) in Toronto's Christie Pits park, site of an infamous antisemitic riot in 1933. They were outnumbered 10 to 1 by anti-fascist demonstrators. 

The win last weekend was straightforward. Neighbours showed up, beat drums, chanted “Fascists go home,” and starved the rally of clean footage. City officials called it what it was—a hate demonstration—and community organizers delivered a family‑friendly counter‑rally that kept the energy non‑violent and the message unmistakable. Police reported ten arrests tied to the dueling events. And then everyone left, leaving the organizer to get pissed off that not enough Groypers and racists showed up. LOL.

 ...

 Canada First tried to plant violence and American grievance in a Canadian park with a Canadian historical memory of fighting back. Toronto—regular people with flags, drums, and kids in tow, not “left wing lunatics”—showed that our democracy does not make space for ethnic‑cleansing euphemisms or white‑supremacist cosplay.

That is what patriotism looks like here.

Charlie Angus published an article that looks at Canadian patriotism from a historical perspective. 

In the years since the Group of Seven, Canada has become a multiracial, multinational country that is increasingly urban. Our diversity is also part of who we are as a nation.

But we are, at our core, still children of the wild north. The reality of life in such a land is so that we could never survive without our trust in each other.

In Canada, there is little room for the rugged individualist. Mr. Marlboro Man wouldn't last long here; he wouldn't be able to push his vehicle out of the snowbank without asking someone for help.

Canadians have survived because we understand that we have to rely on neighbours.

Its a lesson that our neighbours to the south seem to have forgotten. 

 

 

 

The US versus Canada 10

It's time for links to a few more articles about the continuing contretemps between Canada and the US. There are no signs that the situation is improving and I don't expect it to as long as the Trump administration remains in power.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 17, 2020

Trump’s Attacks on the Climate Are an Opportunity for Canada. "The US was never really a clean energy leader. Can Ottawa step in?" Unfortunately, Carney seems to be paying only lip service to greenhouse gas reduction goals. 

Alberta Separatists Say Trump Regime Offered Them $500,000,000 “Loan” To Break Up Canada. 'Alberta’s separatist circuit is bragging about a half-billion-dollar “transition loan” they say was discussed with Trumpworld in Washington. Seditious if true...' I've seen other articles describing links between Alberta separtists and the US extreme right. 

U.S. orange juice shipments plummet as Canadians find Florida OJ hard to swallow. "Tropicana might cost $13.99 but Canada-processed brands are typically half that." Canadian apple juice is a good alternative. 

Canada on Notice: The Attack on International Law Is an Attack on Canada. "It is notable that Trump has lifted sanctions on Russian kleptocrats but is imposing them on the International Criminal Court. And a Canadian judge. He backs it up with the leg-breaking threat to "take whatever steps are necessary" to get his way. We are in the age of gangsters. Canada has been put on notice."

A Canadian Whisky Brand May Move Bottling to the U.S. A Union Blames Trump. "Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, appeared at a news conference this week at a factory in Kitchener, Ontario, with an unusual prop: a crown-shaped bottle of whisky." You would think a Canadian brand would know better.

Ken Dryden’s Warning: A Powerful Last Testament From a Great Canadian. "Dryden used the game to write less about hockey and more about the nature of politics in the age of gangsters. He wrote a devastating critique of the failure of leaders to stand up to Trump, hence paving his way for anti-democratic behaviour."

 Las Vegas Mayor Called a Press Conference Begging Canadians to "Come Back" Yesterday. Yeah, No... Ten reasons why Canadians aren't travelling to the US. 

The USA versus Canada 9

Just two stories to note this time; both of them important.

First, in Quebec in Canadian waters north of Lake Champlain, a fisherman was abducted by the US Coast Guard. His boat was rammed and he almost drowned before being plucked from the water and being detained for a couple of hours before being released. 

This wasn’t ambiguous. This wasn’t a high-speed chase. This wasn’t a drug cartel sting. This was a 60-year-old Quebecois fishing off a borrowed boat — in Canadian waters, near Venise-en-Québec, 15 kilometres north of the U.S. border.

 It’s unclear if Canadian authorities were notified before or after the incident. It’s also unclear what the Carney government intends to do about the incident — but silence is complicity.

If Trump’s administration is detaining Canadians in Canadian territory, then we have a serious diplomatic emergency — not an “unfortunate misunderstanding.”

This story should be getting more attention than it has been so far. If Mr. Lallemand was anywhere near where he said he was, then the US Coast Guard had no business being there. Our government needs to push back, hard, on this. Is the St. Mary's River now going to become a danger zone for Canadian boaters and fishers? Or Whitefish Bay? 

Second, the boycott of US products by Canadians has finally caught the attention of US media and Trump's MAGA followers. 

It isn’t a negotiating tactic. It wasn't organized, planned or led by anyone. The boycott is the result of an instinctual response from ordinary Canadians across the country to defy the threats and disrespect of Donald Trump.

And Trump can't do anything about it. His understanding of politics is that of a zero-sum game. He not only believes in a world defined by winners and losers but also uses his power to humiliate and degrade those he considers lesser.

From politicians and potential rivals, he demands public concessions and makes them genuflect in public.

But Donald Trump is powerless against the determination of ordinary Canadians. As powerless as Mr. Boycott, as powerless as the English overlords in India, as powerless as the racist state in Alabama, by a people who are united in nonviolent non-co-operation.

Finally, as a very pleasant aside, the Toronto Blue Jays are in sole possession of first place in the American League. Elbows up, Blue Jays! 

The USA versus Canada 8

The relationship between Canada and the US is and contin
uing to change. It's clear that Prime Minister Mark Carney is determined to reduce Canadian dependence on the US and he seems to have the support of most Canadians and Parliament. Here are some articles covering what's happened over the last month. 

Request: I am curious to know how much of this is being reported in US media. I'd appreciate comments with links if you can provide them. 

Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor

Nation-Building in the North from science fiction author and futurist, Karl Schroeder. "Canada is reconfiguring itself as a strategic global power. How does that work?" I hope that people in Carney's administration are reading Schroeder. (As an aside, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois reads Robert J. Sawyer.)

Republicans say tax retaliation proposal could be cut from Trump bill if international deal can be reached. "The provision would impose a progressive tax burden of up to 20 per cent on foreign investors’ U.S. income, raising concerns on Wall Street about the attractiveness of U.S. investments." If dividend income from US stocks held by Canadian investors starts getting taxed, there is going to be a big sell-off here. 

Trump's 'revenge tax' on other countries could hit U.S. "Tax that could hit Canadians comes with risk to U.S. revenue, investments."

American Climate Scientists Have a New Canadian Hero. "How McGill professor Juan Serpa created SUSAN, the online forum helping U.S. researchers protect their data from Trump."

Last Year's Move to Toronto And This Year's Politics (video and commentary) from historian and author, Timothy Snyder, one of the many academics who have moved from the US to Canada. 

The US Badly Needs Rare Minerals and Fresh Water. Guess Who Has Them? "As China tightens its grip on critical resources, Trump eyes Canada’s riches."

Canada Torches the Trump Umbilical Cord: Bill C-5 Passed, EU Trade/Security Partnership Signed, and Our Democratic Break From America Begins. "A Historic Pact with the EU Signals Canada’s Rise as a Sovereign Power—and a Sharp Rejection of Trump’s Tariff Bullying and War-First Chaos." Blundell can be a bit hyperbolic (a friend described him as 'shouty') but if you are interested in this subject, he's worth following. 

Fact Checking "Cosplay Kristi" Noem's Latest Canada Smear. "No, Governor Noem—Canada Isn't a Narco-State, Trudeau Never Worked With You, and Fentanyl Isn’t Flowing North."

The USA versus Canada 7

The relationship between Canada and the US is still strained although there hasn't been as much heated rhetoric as we saw earlier this year and there's still quite a bit of coverage in the Canadian media.. Some trends look like they will be long-term if not permanent, particularly in travel between the two countries. 

Request: I am curious to know how much of this is being reported in US media. I'd appreciate comments with links if you can provide them.

We stand on guard for thee

THE NEW NORTH: Mark Carney Goes To Washington - And He's Not There To Negotiate. "Mark Carney’s first face-to-face with Donald Trump isn’t about diplomacy—it’s about delivering the breakup notice. Canada has moved on."

In a small Alaska town, Canada-U.S. tensions are upending a longstanding relationship. "Skagway has deep roots with the Yukon. A state resolution aims to keep the peace."

Trump Revives Talk of 51st State. It’s Not Funny Anymore. "The US doesn’t need tanks to take over Canada—just trade policy and chaos. Here's how we fight back."

Four decades after it raised the Canadian flag, a small Idaho town fights to keep it flying (gift link), "The banishment and resurrection of the Canadian flag in northern Idaho marks a minor moment in the life of a city of 2,520. But it comes at a time of much broader social and legislative change across the U.S., as conservative states, emboldened by the triumph of Donald Trump in last year‘s election, pursue new measures to stamp out ideas they find distasteful, including the celebration of groups outside heterosexual orthodoxy."

Toronto woman says she was denied entry to U.S. for not having a visa. "A Canadian woman says she missed an awards ceremony for her dad in Brazil after being denied ntry to the United States because she apparently needed a U.S. visa. Ontario resident Nur detailed her stressful experience dealing with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and United Airlines on TikTok." Canadian citizens DO NOT REQUIRE a visa for a 1-1/2 hour stopover in the US on their way to a foreign destination. I don't suppose that having an Arabic sounding name could have had anything to do with it, could it?

New data showing Canadians are avoiding U.S. may be ‘consequential,’ says professor. "A new Statistics Canada report found that Canadian-resident return trips from the United States substantially declined in April, a trend that one professor says reflects the effectiveness of the Canadian movement to boycott American products and travel, in protest of the Trump administration."

Travel over the Canada-U.S. border keeps plummeting. "New data from Statistics Canada found a decline in travel between the countries, both by land and air. In April, 820,700 U.S. residents took road trips to Canada, a 10.7 per cent drop from the same month in 2024. Canadian residents returning from the U.S by land totalled 1.2 million in April (plummeting 35.2 per cent), which StatCan says is a "steep decline" compared to the same time last year."

Sault border traffic drops for third month in a row. "'Everybody's worried about it, but we have no projections on what it's going to do,' said Sault, Michigan official about plummeting cross-border travel."

Canada lures US medical pros with wild promise of "science". "As Trump keeps on Trumpin', those in the United States who can leave the United States are busy trying to leave the United States. One of the most prominent groups looking to fly the increasingly authoritarian coop? Healthcare workers."

Western Alienation

With the election of a fourth Liberal federal government under Mark Carney, there has been a resurgence of Western alienation, particularly in Alberta under the UCP lead by Danielle Smith. There's always been a dislike and distrust of the Federal government in Alberta. It gained traction in the 1970s and 1980s with the National Energy Program and has been slowly building ever since, especially with the Liberal government's environmental focus in the last decade. The election of a UCP government (the closest thing Canada has to the US MAGA movement) hasn't helped.

Here are a few recent articles that I thought were relevant and worth reading, starting with a good overview from the Globe and Mail.

• Western discontent is a growing problem after Liberal election victory (gift link).  "Tens of thousands of Western Canadians have newly registered with the Alberta Prosperity Project, which is collecting the names of people who support a sovereignty referendum.

Next a couple of articles from Jared Wesley, a professor of political science at the University of Alberta.

• Carney's Federalism Dilemma. "The prime minister must choose avoidance or engagement."
• Charting Alberta’s Future. "A Constructive Look at Premier Smith’s “Alberta Accord”

Finally, a rather different perspective on Premier Danielle Smith and her plans for Alberta from Dean Blundell. 

• From MapleMAGA to Treason: Danielle Smith Outlines Plan to Hand Alberta to the U.S. "Alberta’s Premier is rigging the system to ditch Canada, cozying up to Trump and pushing a 51st-state fantasy."
• Danielle Smith’s Alberta Exit Plan: MAGA’s Canadian Traitor or Just Desperate for Attention? "While most Albertans want nothing to do with MAGA or American chaos, Danielle Smith keeps flying to Mar-a-Lago, cozying up to Trump allies, and spending your money to sell Alberta’s soul."

I'll conclude by noting that I livered in Northern Alberta for 5-1/2 years starting in 1978. The feeling that the Western provinces have been wronged by the East is very real and runs very deep. I do not envy Mark Carney right now, having to deal with that and Donald Trump. 

The USA versus Canada 6

Yet more about the still deteriorating relationship between Canada and the US. 

How to Save Canada. "We’re going to have to work hard—and fast—if we want to avoid becoming Trump’s fifty-first state."

The US Dollar Plummets While the Canadian Dollar Soars: What’s Driving the Shift? "USD/CAD Nears 1.3850 as Economic Fears and Trade/Bond Tensions Grip the US."

Trump’s chaotic rule means we need a growth strategy more than ever. Somebody tell our political leaders. "This week marked the realization among Donald Trump’s business supporters that the fantasy version of Mr. Trump they had been carrying around in their minds bore no relationship to reality."

Canadian university teachers warned against travelling to the United States. 'The Canadian Association of University Teachers released updated travel advice on Tuesday due to the “political landscape” created by President Donald Trump’s administration and reports of some Canadians encountering difficulties crossing the border. The association says academics who are from countries that have tense diplomatic relations with the United States, or who have themselves expressed negative views about the Trump administration, should be particularly cautious about U.S. travel. Its warning is particularly targeted to academics who identify as transgender or “whose research could be seen as being at odds with the position of the current U.S. administration.”'

California Governor urges Canadians to ignore Trump, come back for sand, sun and wine. "California estimates Canadians are the second-biggest international spenders for its tourism economy, and state tourism officials say visits by Canadians dropped 12 per cent in February compared with the same month last year." If you want California wine and you live in Ontario, you'll have to go the States to get it as the LCBO no longer carries it. 

Nearly 900,000 fewer people went to the U.S. in March as cross-border travel plummets. "Data shows one of worst year-over-year drops recorded outside of COVID-19 crisis."

Trade war starting to show up in higher prices on some grocery items. "Impact on grocery budgets softened by absence of counter-tariffs on many products." We may see higher prices on canned goods because of the US tariffs on Canadian aluminum. 

Liberals revive campaign pitch for centralized military procurement agency. "In the face of annexation threats from the Trump administration and a Canadian public increasingly demanding the federal government buy less from the United States, the Liberals have resurrected a previous campaign pitch to create a standalone defence procurement agency."

Carney’s Silent Power Move: Labeling Trump's America a "National Security Threat" Foreshadows Canada’s Possible Next Steps. "A move that may have flown under the media's radar should be sending shockwaves through the political landscape after the Trump Regime revived his 51st State bullshit yesterday,"

The USA versus Canada 5

It's time for more posts about the hottest topic in Canadian news right now. It seems that Canada got off lighter than many people expected in Trumps tariff announcement, but now he's taking on the whole world. What a fucking mess!

• Prominent Yale professors flee Trump’s America for new roles at University of Toronto (archive link). "Philosophy Prof. Jason Stanley will be transferring in a few months, joining Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore." As the article points out, there are others coming north, and there will be many more. 
• Is Canada Treating Trump’s Annexation Threat Seriously Enough? "We can’t cling to the belief things will return to normal." If he goes after Greenland, then we'll know he's serious about Greenland.
• Environmental comeback of Great Lakes at risk with Canada and U.S. in tariff turmoil (gift link). "But the Trump administration’s combative stand on binational relations – coupled with deep job cuts to U.S. civil servants dedicated to Great Lakes initiatives – have strained the partnership and put the region’s hard-won environmental progress at risk." For example, the idiots in DOGE have laid off people from the lamprey control initiative. This is nightmare fuel, especially if you've ever seen a lamprey.
• Worthwhile Canadian Observations. "About a “boring” country that definitely isn’t." Some things about Canada that Americans should learn. 
• Canada’s New US Travel Warning: Leave Your Phone, Grab a Burner, and Maybe Skip the U.S. Altogether. "Canada’s government just updated its travel advisory for the U.S., and it’s not your usual “pack a sweater” memo. Immigration lawyers are advising Canadians to leave our smartphones at home, pick up a burner phone, and seriously consider staying north of the border. Why? Things south of the 49th are getting messy, and Canadians—along with a few other countries—are taking notice." Yes we are. I just read that traffic across the international bridge in Sault Ste. Marie was down 30 percent in March.
• Trump’s Big "Fentanyl" Lie About Canada Just Got Exposed— US Senators Are Lining Up For Canada on Tariff Day And Trump Is Furious. "Some US Senators Are Fighting to Stop His Fentanyl Tariffs—Here’s Why."