Canadians' Thoughts On The Ugly American

I have been reading of late polls that address our feelings about our southern 'neighbour'. To be concise, we don't like or trust them anymore with, of course, very good reason. In today's Star, columnist Andrew Phillips distills the polls and offers his thoughts:

The headline that caught my eye late last week was this one: “Look how much Canadians hate the United States now.”

It was on Politico and it was propped up by the results of a major new poll that suggests a “lasting chill” has settled over relations between our two countries.

While the poll didn't use the word hate in its inquiry,  the results bespeak a deep distrust that has hardened over the past year or so.

If there was any doubt, there’s another poll out this week along the same lines. This one’s from Nanos Research in the Globe and Mail. It’s just as bleak.

Canadians have given up on the U.S. as a reliable ally (three-quarters of them in the Nanos survey, 58 per cent in Politico).

Far more Canadians see the U.S. as the biggest threat to peace (58 per cent) than Russia (29 per cent) or China (just 10 per cent), according to Politico.

Two-thirds of Canadians are concerned that the U.S. and Donald Trump are a security threat to Canada (Nanos). One in five (21 per cent) believe an invasion ordered by Trump is likely; only half dismiss that possibility.

Unsurprisingly, Canadians think we need to take our distance from the U.S. Fifty-seven per cent say it’s better to rely on China than on “the U.S. under Donald Trump” (Politico). Forty-four per cent favour more trade with China (Nanos).

Phillips suggests something I think most of us agree with: that lost trust will be difficult to regain, even after the mad king has passed into history.

It’ll take the Americans years, probably a generation, to rebuild trust — and only if whoever comes after wants to do any such thing, which is not a given.

And despite all of the criticism that the Conservatives, under PP, have lobbed against the Liberals for their failure to secure a new trade deal with the U.S., Canadians seem to understand that such a deal is unlikely under the mad king. 

It’s apparent to anyone who’s paid attention that a decent deal hasn’t been available and the blame for its absence lies at the feet of Trump.

Likewise, the anxious chorus coming out of segments of the business community to the effect that Canada must do everything to make sure the CUSMA trade deal is renewed this summer now sounds distinctly out of sync with the national mood. 

Canadians are no longer the naive, complacent and trusting souls we once might have been regarding the U.S. We have seen the enemy, and we will not easily forget him.

Judged By The Company You Keep

By the titled measure, I think we know how to evaluate Jamil Javani, the peripatetic Conservative who seems to have a special relationship with his old pal, JD Vance. Indeed, he even made it over to the chief MAGA propagandist, Breitbart News (formerly run by Steve Bannon), where he said, in regard to Canadian trade tensions wrought by Herr Trump's fits of pique,

Canadians would be “shooting ourselves in the foot if we continue this anti-America hissy-fit.”

In addition to media scrutiny over his unhelpful  comments, Toronto Star letter-writers have chimed in: 

“Anti-America, hissy fit,” is a rich statement coming from Jamil Jivani. His own “hissy fit” was on full display on election night, when he complained about Ontario Premier Doug Ford. This elected official seems to only care for promoting himself.

Paul Terech, Courtice, ON 

It’s difficult and problematic to have multiple voices speaking for the same political party. Having an MP saying one thing and the leader saying another is politically strange and probably not unifying. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he speaks for the party and that Conservative MP Jamil Jivani speaks for himself. Does this mean that a member of the party can say anything, even if it’s at odds with the party line? The Conservatives have numerous opinions under their very big tent, but when dealing with the public, conflicting messaging does come across as ambiguous and somewhat puzzling.

Douglas Cornish, Ottawa, ON 

The race to sell out Canada

For the last few months, we’ve had a clear front-runner in the race to sell out to/bow down to/kiss the ring of our former American friends — the Alberta separatist movement. After reading  Conservative MP Jamil Jivani’s comments regarding Canada’s efforts to remain sovereign and united, it’s no longer clear. The separatists are  neck and neck with the federal Tories.

Craig Gibson, Thornhill, ON

In addition to being an embarassment to Canada, Jamani can't be earning any points with his leader, Pierre Poilievre, still fighting the latest defection from his party's ranks, with possibly more to come.

Some Editorial Reflections

Although throughout most of my life I have been an inveterate writer of letters to the editor, I rarely write such missives anymore, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me. However, I do read editorial letters daily, and often like to acknowledge the keen insights contained therein. 

What follows are some of those insights:

Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat suspend flights to Cuba, work to return travellers on island nation, feb. 11

Three people I  know in Toronto just cancelled their trips to Cuba. The reason they were given was a “shortage of fuel.” One of them said, almost casually, “It’s too bad my parents can’t go because of the fuel situation, while another one said, “Oh well, these things happen.”

The problem is not just a shortage of fuel. There is political strangulation that produces a fuel shortage. There are people making decisions that destroy livelihoods .

Cuba is being economically suffocated, and the people paying the price are not governments, but ordinary human beings: taxi drivers, hotel workers, musicians, café owners, guides, families who make their livings from tourism and human connection.

We are watching collective punishment.

It feels like we’re all in a school with a bully. Everyone knows who he is. Everyone knows what he’s doing. The rules exist. The charters exist. The teachers exist. And yet nothing happens. Not because no one sees it. But because everyone is afraid.

The bully is rich. He controls resources. He retaliates. He ignores norms. So the institution adapts. It stops enforcing rules and starts managing damage. Leadership becomes appeasement. Silence becomes strategy. This is how systems rot.

We are told to be calm. To be civil. To avoid anger. But there is something deeply corrupt about a world that demands politeness in the face of organized cruelty. Anger is not the problem. Moral numbness is.

Mary Y. Mouammar, Richmond Hill  

Do Republicans even know why they hate Canada?

Donald Trump threatens to block new Windsor-Detroit bridge, demands part ownership, Feb. 9

It is absolutely amazing how much U.S. President Donald Trump hates Canada. He is surrounded by a large group of sycophants who seem to hate everyone, with  Canada  at the top of the list. The problem is they react to things they do not understand, and they do not seem to look at facts. The Gordie Howe International Bridge is the subject of the latest stupidity. Canada paid for the bridge with Michigan’s co-operation and help in building it. That an American and a Canadian construction worker shook hands when both sides met in the middle  says it all, but the White House has no clue. 

Jack Hughes, Welland, ON

Tired of the insults, I’m no longer buying U.S. goods

As a senior living in southern Ontario, I have for years enjoyed the purchasing options of many U.S. branded products and services. I’ve purchased automobiles, major appliances, clothing, footwear, computers and  a wide range of American brands of food, home use cleaning chemicals, personal care items, lawn equipment and tools. I have also enjoyed  multiple  American-owned restaurant experiences. I’ve travelled south of the border and bought U.S.  entertainment  over the decades.

 Now I find myself  frustrated and tired of the ongoing insults from the current U.S. president claiming lack of respect and unfair treatment to America from Canada.

Now it’s time for me to move away from American products and  focus  on domestic  products and those  manufactured outside the U.S. — in countries that   value, appreciate and respect loyal customers.

Barry Brigham, London, ON

We could do more for Cuba 

I agree with the letter-writer who said she was happy to see that Mexico is offering some humanitarian aid to Cuba.

I would like to see Canada doing likewise. Is there any way that we can help Cuba with green energy? They have a great source of energy in sunlight, wind, and the ocean  to produce power on the island.

It puzzles me that the world stands by while a deranged president bullies the world into listening to his demands.

It breaks my heart that we are not doing more to help.

What has happened to Venezuela is unconscionable.

The Cubans are wonderful people and their island country is a good place to visit for those of us who love the sun, especially in the winter.

Lillian Shery, Toronto

While our government may have to be circumspect as it creeps around the mad king, it is clear that regular Canadians cannot and will not be silenced.

Some Pics From Bluesky

 I would say these capture the tenor of the times, eh?

Callousness Or Cowardice?

 

In my previous post, I spoke about Canada's strange silence regarding Cuba, despite its long relationship with the island nation. In today's Globe and Mail, a letter-writer addresses the issue: 

Double standard?

Re “Cuba loses its Canadian tourists” (Morning Update, Feb. 11): Mark Carney seems to understand international bullying. He calls for “a new order that embodies our values, like respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.” So why is he silent so far about the U.S. attempt to strangle Cuba?

Mr. Carney says Canada should be principled and act consistently, “applying the same standards to allies and rivals.” That appears to be Canada’s position when it comes Greenland, but what about Cuba?

Mr. Carney specifically says we can’t “criticize economic intimidation from one direction, but stay silent when it comes from another.” So what about Cuba?

Mexico is not silent on Cuba’s situation, sending 800 tons of humanitarian aid. What about Canada?

Or are we just going to wait until we are the ones being economically terrorized by the bully?

Don McLean Hamilton

The only politician speaking out about the grave injustices Cuba is being subjected to is Don Davies, the interim leader of the federal NDP. And be sure to listen to Anita Anand's feckless non-response to him:

Canada's reaction to Trump's attempt at genocide is callous at best and cowardly at worst, and stands in sharp contrast to Mexico's. 

While Canada has many things to be proud of, this surely is not one of them.

Where Is Canada's Voice?

I am old enough to have seen much, and I am certainly a realist when it comes to politics. As Bismarck said,  it is "the art of the possible." That being said, I cannot shake the feeling that Canada should be doing much more in its responses to Donald Trump's genocidal insanity.

I begin with the premise that there will always be something that will set off the unhinged president, be it a television ad critical of tariff weapons, an exercise of foreign policy independence (Mr. Carney's trip to China), or the mere fact of trying to open a new bridge to Detroit. (The latter is in the news today, as Trump demands 50% ownership of the new Gordie Howe Bridge.

There is no appeasing a madman. And yet Canada continues with very, very muted responses to the mad king's outrages, perhaps still under the delusion that diplomacy has a chance. Two egregious examples demand immediate rectification. 

The first involves Kimberly Prost, a Canadian who sits as a judge on the International Criminal Court. She, along with others, was sanctioned by the U.S.in August of last year. 

The State Department says Judge Kimberly Prost, of Canada, was sanctioned for ruling to authorize the ICC's investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the court "a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel" and said the U.S. has remained steadfast in its opposition to the ICC's "illegitimate judicial overreach."

An article today discusses what those sanctions mean for Prost. 

Her credit cards stopped working. A bank transfer to newlyweds in the U.K. has been stuck in limbo for months. She can’t travel to the U.S. — she was even disinvited from virtually attending a recent international law conference in New York.

And in a dystopian turn that could be pulled from a Ray Bradbury novel, her smart speaker no longer responds after Amazon cut off access: “Suddenly, Alexa wouldn’t talk to me.”

Prost is unbowed by these sanctions.

“These measures are completely futile because they certainly do not impact the way we do our jobs,” she said. “We continue with our work, we carry on, and we solely focus on objective and independent analysis of the evidence before us to reach our decisions.”

Compounding this grave injustice is the silence the Canadian government has chosen as its 'strategy' (although Anita Anand claims she raised the issue privately with American secretary of state Marco Rubio). 

Bob Rae, our former ambassador to the UN, was more forceful last summer, that is, until his wrists were slapped:

“The U.S. attack on the International Criminal Court and its judges is disgraceful,” Rae tweeted the day Prost was sanctioned. “Judge Kim Prost are [sic] carrying out their public duties. Attacks on them by Russia, Israel and the U.S. are intended to weaken and intimidate the international legal system.”

Rae, who left his ambassadorial post in November, quickly deleted the tweet. Government communications obtained by the Star, and first reported by online publication The Maple, suggest he was instructed to. “Getting my wings clipped,” Rae messaged a colleague that day. 

Who, or what, is served by such cowardice?

The second, even deadlier example is Trump's genocidal sanctions on Cuba, a country we have visited every year (except during the pandemic) since 2010. Trump, as you are likely aware, has threatened reprisal tariffs against any country that sends oil to that country. People will die as a result of this illegal edict, and it has devastated Cuba's tourism industry, one that relies heavily upon Canadian tourism for foreign currency.  Consequently, Air Canada has ceased flights to the island, as Havana warns it will no longer be able to refuel flights owing to the fuel shortage wrought by the embargo.

Personally, having much experience of a warm and gracious people both on and off the resorts, I feel terrible that the island is being condemned to such an unjust fate. Canada has always considered itself a friend to Cuba, having joint ventures there involving such fields as mining, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, etc. And yet again, absolute silence.

I understand that Canada is not about to start shipping oil to Cuba, but the very least it could do, in consultation and collaboration with Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is to speak out in the name of decency and sanity. Her country had been sending oil to the island, but has since stopped in the face of Trump's derangement. She, however, has at least spoken out to a degree about the situation.

Sheinbaum said at a public event in the northern state of Sonora that she did not discuss Cuban affairs in a phone conversation with Trump on Thursday. She added that her government seeks to “ diplomatically solve everything related to the oil shipments (to Cuba) for humanitarian reasons.”

Canada's silence on these issues is inexcusable. It is well and good to talk about national pride, but in order to cultivate and support it, our country must do much more than cower in the face of Trump's threats. 

A Tonic For The Times

A friend sent me this video. If you watch it in its entirety, I think you will find it a stirring reminder of some of the things that make Canada such a special place, a place we should all be grateful for and proud to call our home.

How's that as a tonic fpr the times that currently plague us?