In a direct address to the nation, Prime Minister Mark Carney has reframed Canada's long-standing relationship with the United States as a 'weakness' that must be urgently corrected under the shadow of the Trump presidency.
US here… when trapped in a room with a rabid hyena, I suspect the best course of action is to slowly and carefully search for the door. my limited view of canadian news indicates thats what is happening. what am I missing?
Luckily, this is the world at large and not a room with hyena in it. Also, we all know where the fucking door is, it’s actually right behind us, we’re all just too scared to open it.
We’re already so far behind and more of this centrist “being careful” stuff is not only cowardly, but it’s never actually even worked for much more than delaying, and intensifying, the issues. Far too many people believe that anything done by “the left” must be dreamland stuff that we can’t possibly actually do. You press them on it and it quickly becomes clear that it’s all just baseless, vibes-based nonsense which is rooted in what can only be considerer a hostage situation that they keep supporting.
We need to focus on making ourselves stronger. We need to expand and reinforce the rights of workers, make real effort to tackle the housing crisis(supply of houses no one can afford will change nothing), start making trade connections with reliable countries, and for fuck’s sake we have to start taxing the rich and corporations. Carney is doing the opposite of those things, but the average Canadian has the economic understanding of a toddler so here we are.
This is the rhetoric that keeps getting repeated, so it’s totally understandable that from an outside perspective, one might expect that it’s what’s happening … but the actions of the government tell a completely different story.
They have been deepening integration at nearly every turn.
Carney dropped the Digital Services Tax - at quite literally the 11th hour - for zero reason other than appeasement of US tech oligarchs.
We continue to stay in queue for US-made (and US-controlled) F-35s that will not help us defensively against a US incursion.
Earlier this year, our government brought armoured-vehicle manufacturer Roshel on a trade mission to the US. Roshel had already signed contracts with ICE at that point.
Our “AI champion”, Cohere, runs most of their shit on top of Palantir’s software.
This. Canadians are being walked down the garden path with patriotic rhetoric and fear to motivate us, but it’s not leading where we’re being promised. People will wake up in ten years and realize we’re deeper than ever in the US security architecture and with more foreign ownership in critical industries.
That’s what he ran his election on. But his tenure has suggested he doesn’t believe that.
US here… when trapped in a room with a rabid hyena, I suspect the best course of action is to slowly and carefully search for the door. my limited view of canadian news indicates thats what is happening. what am I missing?
Luckily, this is the world at large and not a room with hyena in it. Also, we all know where the fucking door is, it’s actually right behind us, we’re all just too scared to open it.
We’re already so far behind and more of this centrist “being careful” stuff is not only cowardly, but it’s never actually even worked for much more than delaying, and intensifying, the issues. Far too many people believe that anything done by “the left” must be dreamland stuff that we can’t possibly actually do. You press them on it and it quickly becomes clear that it’s all just baseless, vibes-based nonsense which is rooted in what can only be considerer a hostage situation that they keep supporting.
We need to focus on making ourselves stronger. We need to expand and reinforce the rights of workers, make real effort to tackle the housing crisis(supply of houses no one can afford will change nothing), start making trade connections with reliable countries, and for fuck’s sake we have to start taxing the rich and corporations. Carney is doing the opposite of those things, but the average Canadian has the economic understanding of a toddler so here we are.
understood and agreed. thanks for the excellent response.
edit: the enormity of the problem can make incrementalism seem like an acceptable drug.
Only that people want fast simple fixes to large complex problems that took decades to build.
And some seem to think that we should sever all ties to the US, which is not something he campaigned on, and is also not possible.
Bugs Bunny getting out the land mass separation saw
This is the rhetoric that keeps getting repeated, so it’s totally understandable that from an outside perspective, one might expect that it’s what’s happening … but the actions of the government tell a completely different story.
They have been deepening integration at nearly every turn.
Here’s our Minister of Natural Resources telling the business readers of our paper of record not to worry, this is all going to be fine: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-tim-hodgson-donald-trump-us-stakes-canadian-critical-mineral-companies/
Like, the president of friggin’ Palantir Canada is on the PM’s Council for Canada-US Relations.
We upped our military spending to 2% of our GDP to satisfy Trump’s demands of NATO and we are now promising to 2.5x that number to 5% of GDP, also demanded by Trump. https://globalnews.ca/news/11115774/canada-election-defence-spending-nato-trump/
Carney dropped the Digital Services Tax - at quite literally the 11th hour - for zero reason other than appeasement of US tech oligarchs.
We continue to stay in queue for US-made (and US-controlled) F-35s that will not help us defensively against a US incursion.
Earlier this year, our government brought armoured-vehicle manufacturer Roshel on a trade mission to the US. Roshel had already signed contracts with ICE at that point.
Our “AI champion”, Cohere, runs most of their shit on top of Palantir’s software.
At least one of the “major projects” for “nation-building” being rammed through by the Liberals is the Ksi Lisims LNG project, an export facility floating off our west coast that will be 100% US-owned: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/25/opinion/ksi-lisims-lng-investment-decision
This. Canadians are being walked down the garden path with patriotic rhetoric and fear to motivate us, but it’s not leading where we’re being promised. People will wake up in ten years and realize we’re deeper than ever in the US security architecture and with more foreign ownership in critical industries.
thank you very much for the excellent reply and the links.
Politicians are linking our economy further with the US.
Setting up ways to ignore regulations that they say is to get other countries to invest but refuse to limit US involvement in it.