I took a walk over to my LCBO store yesterday afternoon, and I was pleased to see that Doug Ford's order for the removal of American alcohol is being implemented with dispatch. Below are two pictures I took, the first of the American Whiskey section, and the second of the shelves formerly housing California wines.
Needless to say, I left the store quite heartened.
Oh, and one more picture. Yesterday seemed to be a propitious day to display my allegiance.
UPDATE: I love this:
Special Note: I won't be commenting today on the imposition of American tariffs, but I hope the following puts American madness into proper perspective.
Last week I posted about the craven response many corporations are having to the Trump push to demonize Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. The majority, both in the U.S and Canada, are clicking their heels and shouting "Aye, ready aye" to the MAGA fiat to disempower traditionally underrepresented people in the workplace. An unseemly abuse of power, it reflects the American tradition of finding witches in their midst and dispatching them to metaphorical dunking chairs and pyres.
From comments I received last week, some see these programs merely as corporate-imposed dictates, a kind of performative politics that ultimately mean little. Indeed, it has been alleged that they have been wielded as a cudgel to advance the agenda of certain groups. While there may be elements of truth in that, DEI programs have much to commend themselves.
David Olive writes:
DEI is simply the enlightened business practice of creating workplaces whose diversity of talent and backgrounds helps make enterprises more productive, responsive to customers, and profitable.
But U.S. President Donald Trump regards DEI as “woke,” or unduly sensitive to marginalized people, and has banned DEI programs in his administration, claiming they are “radical” and “wasteful.”
Olive goes on to make reference to corporate obeisance to Trump by Canadian companies like Shopify, as well as sponsors now pulling out of Pride Toronto sponsorships, including Nissan Canada.
Many, however, have rushed to defend DEI.
...major Canadian corporations including Loblaw, Magna International, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Brookfield Asset Management have kept their DEI practices in place.
And a deeper dive by David Olive reveals the value of such programs:
What is DEI?
In their hiring practices, organizations that adopt DEI values recruit employees of diverse backgrounds. Managers are trained in DEI practices of celebrating diversity.
Managers’ pay is tied to achieving DEI goals that commonly include promotion of women and minorities. DEI enterprises purchase from Black-owned and women suppliers.
And DEI organizations use their financial resources to support marginalized groups in the wider society from which they draw their employees, customers and suppliers, including the LGBTQ+ community, Indigenous Peoples and people with disabilities.
Advocates of DEI regard it as a set of tools for creating a sustainably successful enterprise. That means maintaining “safe” workplaces where employees are protected from sexual predation and racist behaviour.
Such enterprises build employee loyalty and suffer less turnover, boosting productivity.
Corporate quislings responding with such alacrity to the madness from the U.S. risk compromising their businesses.
“Inclusive workplaces drive innovation, enhance productivity, and increase profitability.”
“Companies that turn away from inclusion risk alienating talent, stifling innovation, and exposing themselves to long-term harm.”
Add to that the disgust many Canadians will feel over a corporate lack of spine in this arena, especially in these times, when the Americans are seen more as foe than friend. Companies would therefore be well-adivised to proceed with extreme caution and eschew the frightened-rabbit response so many sadly seem prone to today.
The U.S. always touts itself as the greatest country in the world (if not in all of history). The nation bruits its achievements, its pool of talented citizens, its democracy (now it rapid decline) amongst its stellar achievements. However, one thing the nation lacks is any perspective or context outside its own self-proclaimed greatness, while the rest of the world has known, or is coming to know, the real state of nudity in which the emperor parades.
I was thinking about this last night as I watched the news. Each evening, Canadian channels warn of the hard times ahead should Trump's tariffs come into effect. However, frequently a counterbalance is offered through stories about how the American threat has affected the Canadian psyche, reflected specifically in our buying habits. Stories abound of angry, insulted Canadians cancelling travel to the U.S., along with their grocery purchasing choices - more and more Canadians are shunning, whenever possible, American products and buying more local and Canadian goods, When the latter is not possible, they are selecting non-U.S. products.
In Canadian grocery stores, United States-grown produce is wilting on the shelves. Local executives are scouring wine lists over dinner to avoid ordering California pinot.
“It speaks to an awareness — and an intention to vote with their wallets,” said Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute. A survey of 3,310 Canadians by the Vancouver-based research firm last week found that 85 per cent of people plan to replace U.S. products with alternatives. Nearly half of respondents said they would change their travel plans to avoid the country.
Canadian airlines also have begun to scale back flights to the U.S. in anticipation of falling demand.
“One thing we can do is not give our dollars to the United States right now,” said Curtis Brown, principal at Winnipeg-based Probe Research, which found in a recent poll that more than six in 10 respondents are planning to avoid vacations to the U.S. Brown said his own daughter’s school division recently cancelled field trips to the country.
I don't really need to comment on the debacle in the White House with Zelensky. While the MAGATS will undoubtedly spin this a moment of massive disrespect to the United States, a form of lesse majeste, the real truth is that Zelensky showed what a real leader looks like.
If one ever wanted further proof of the near-absence of ethics and morality in the corporate world, one need look no further than their rapid dismantling of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. Since the policy has been denounced by Trump and his MAGA cult, corporations seem to be in a race to prove their discriminatory bona fides to the Orangutan-in-Chief so as not to lose government contracts or, in the case of publicly-funded entities, operating grants.
Amongst the notable sellouts are Pepsi and Coca-Cola, Disney, Citygroup, Morgan Stanley, PBS, Amazon and Google. One of the notable holdouts, and I applaud them for their integrity, is Costco, which recently has been threatened with legal action for their refusal to bow to tyranny.
I am sorry to report, however, that the noxious reach of American authoritarianism and exclusion now extends into Canada. Irene Galea writes:
Nearly 400 technology leaders have signed an open letter that condemns Shopify Inc. for cutting diversity programs and urges Canada’s tech ecosystem to protect equity, inclusion and diversity efforts amid a rollback of support for marginalized groups by influential companies and leaders.
The letter, published Monday morning, warns against the growing influence of unelected and unaccountable business leaders who “prioritize profit over people,” and calls on Canadians to uphold the values of inclusion that are being challenged in the United States.
Now comes word that the Pride Festival in Toronto is being compromised, again as a result of corporate cowardice.
Pride Toronto says three large corporate sponsors have pulled their funding from the festival this year in a move it says is connected to a backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the U.S.
Kojo Modeste, executive director of Pride Toronto, said on Wednesday that the non-profit organization was given a range of reasons by the three companies for their decisions to end sponsorship. It was told in the last couple of weeks that the companies have either experienced a "shift in mandate" or they do not have the financial resources to continue to support the annual event.
"Every time we lose a sponsor, there is less money that is directed to the festival. And so, it will definitely have an impact on us being able to deliver on the festival," Modeste said.
Who the corporate cowards are is not being revealed,
because Pride Toronto hopes to do business with them in the future, but said two can be described as "gold" sponsors, meaning they provide $150,000 in cash or in goods, and one as "silver," meaning it provides $100,000.
Now, one might say, "Since I never attend the Pride events, why should I care?" One obvious answer is the economic implications of any downsizing or ultimate ending of the event, given what it contributes to the local economy. A 2023 report offers the following numbers:
Beyond that, however, is the attempt to mute, even eliminate, diverse voices in society. The Benighted States, whence this repression emanates, has a long history of intolerance. Racism and bigotry are as American as Mom, apple pie, and baseball. One need only look at those whose voices are being muted by the war on DEI: women and minorities be they ethnic, racial, or sexual.
Canada can do nothing about the ease with which Americans so easily regress to deeply-ingrained, primitive patterns. However Canadians, despite our own often shameful past, now strive as a country for something better, meaning that inclusion and 'wokeness' are virtues, not sins against society.
Corporate cowards supinely submitting to fiats from Don Trump and his disciples are without question unacceptable and truly, profoundly un-Canadian; they should be repugnant to us all.
UPDATE: According to a report in The Globe and Mail, one of the three withdrawing sponsors of Toronto Pride has been identified as Nissan Canada, which
confirmed Friday it is withdrawing, but the other two sponsors have not been identified.
Nissan Canada spokesperson Didier Marsaud said in an e-mail the decision was based on changes to the company’s marketing priorities and budget evaluation for its new fiscal year, which starts April 1.
“Unfortunately, we will not be able to sponsor this year’s event in Toronto, a local decision solely due to a re-evaluation of all our marketing and media activations in a variety of activities to ensure we will efficiently support our new product launches and marketing campaigns coming in 2025,” he said.
Of the 14 companies listed as gold and silver sponsors on the Pride Toronto website, several have already confirmed to media that they will continue to fund the event. These include the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., Tim Hortons Inc., Air Canada, Rogers Communications Inc. and Smirnoff.
The Globe contacted other companies that had not yet confirmed whether they will be sponsors this year. Law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP said it is still participating.
However, Manulife Financial Corp., Bud Light (owned by Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA), The Abnormal Beauty Co., Kenvue Inc., Bubbly sparkling water, Adidas AG and Trojan condoms did not respond to The Globe’s requests for comment.
Canadian observers fear the U.S. backlash against DEI initiatives that followed President Donald Trump’s orders to axe such programming in federal agencies could be seeping across the border.
For my final post (at least for the time being) on The Lost One, I thought it would be interesting to cull some letters-to-the-editor from various newspapers. Given that Gretzky is likely not a man either capable of, or given to, deep reflection, I'm sure Canadians' disappointment and fury are lost on him.
From The Globe and Mail:
Not so great
Re “How Canada’s nearly 50-year romance with Wayne Gretzky came to an end” (Feb. 24): While I admire Wayne Gretzky’s hockey ability, my love of our Canadian boy ended when he wore a “Make America Great Again” hat.
However, his father Walter Gretzky loved Canada and Brantford, and Brantford loved Walter. At the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre this week, there was lots of talk about renaming it the “Walter Gretzky arena.”
Sydnie Crockett Woodstock, Ont.
From The Toronto Star:
Vitriol directed at Gretzky is deserved
I strongly disagree Wayne Gretzky should not be chastised for his support of Trump.
When popular sports figures choose to publicly endorse political figures they can affect the outcome of elections. They are implicitly endorsing the platforms, beliefs and behaviours of those politicians. When those platforms, beliefs and behaviours are self-serving, corrupt and immoral, those popular sports figures should face the unrestrained ire of responsible voters.
Given the recent irrational assault by Trump on Canada, Canadian hockey players in the NHL should keep their opinions to themselves. Play the game, earn your millions of American dollars .
G. Evans, Burlington
How sad to see the uninspired choice of Wayne Gretzky for honorary captain of Team Canada. Was this a deliberate choice for the U.S. to thumb their nose at Canada?
Gretzky? A guy who openly supports Trump, whose wife has posted her support of Canada becoming the 51st state, who has been tagged by Trump with no argument as the guy to be the next “governor” of Canada?
Not to be outdone, Gretzky chooses to enter the ice through the U.S. bench, giving them thumbs up along the way, does not wear the Canada jersey, but instead sports a suit in the U.S. jersey colours, does not approach the Canadian bench to encourage them, does not visit them in the dressing room after the Canada win, but gifts them with red ball caps ambiguously labelled “Be Great.” Which is a reference to what? The MAGA slogan or his own greatness? Either way, kind of pathetic. I lost a lot of respect for Gretzky when he started shilling for sports betting companies on Hockey Night in Canada, but this kind of closes the door on him for me.
A much better choice for honorary captain would have been Hayley Wickenheiser, a star player who is unambiguously Canadian.
Rob McConnell
Winnipeg
Wayne Gretzky’s name and statue stand as symbols of Edmonton’s hockey greatness, but recent actions have shown he no longer deserves this honour. It is time to remove his statue and rename Wayne Gretzky Drive.
We have long celebrated Gretzky as “The Great One,” yet he has turned his back on the country that made him a legend. Rather than upholding the values and pride of Canada, he has aligned himself with the ignorance and misguided ideologies that are increasingly coming from the United States. His presence on such prominent Edmonton landmarks is now an insult to those who truly cherish our nation.
Edmonton has no shortage of heroes who have remained steadfast in their loyalty. Let’s honour someone who truly represents our spirit, rather than a figure who has abandoned it in favour of the nonsense south of the border. It’s time for city officials to do the right thing: Remove Gretzky’s statue and rename Wayne Gretzky Drive.
Ron Boehm, Edmonton
Finally, lest you think The Sad One has no support, there is this 'thoughtful' missive from The Calgary Sun:
Both of Canada’s living hockey legends, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr, are friends with the 45th and 47th president of the United States of America. Is the level of hatred propagated by those afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome so maniacal that we have lost all sense of reason? I dare the media to try to cancel either one or both of these Canadian icons!
PAT BIONDI
Following up on my previous post about the erstwhile 'Great' One, Number 99 himself, it is clear that the odium he sparked by his appearance in Boston as the ceremonial captain of Team Canada is not subsiding. His alignment with the American cause, his affinity for the man threatening our sovereignty, his obvious disdain for his country of birth, have all become part of the backlash directed against him.
Is traitor too strong a word? The Globe's Cathal Kelly has some thoughts:
It started on social media with news that Mr. Gretzky had been booed in some Canadian bars showing the game. That spread to fringe outlets using words like traitor. Which allowed mainstream outlets to use the word in quotes.
By Saturday, the contagion was airborne. Everybody wanted to talk about it, even people who don’t care about hockey. Being less inclined to cultism, they’d had their suspicions for a while.
Kelly suggests the former hockey player could have avoided all of this by doing a few things differently.
He could’ve traded out the suit jacket for a sweater. Sidney Crosby’s No. 87 would have been a nice touch. Showed he isn’t a me-me-me guy.
Emphatic gestures to the Canadian team? Sure. At the very least, don’t be seen encouraging the enemy camp [a reference to the thumbs-up he gave the American team as he walked onto the ice].
Slapped a great, big smile on his face? It gets a bad rap these days, but you can get away with just about anything with a genuine smile. It would have been better than the expression of concentrated neutrality Mr. Gretzky settled on.
His shoddy performance allowed people to see him as he really is.
He’s an other-direction carpet bagger, a golf world hanger-on and a Mar-a-Lago regular. When you see Mr. Gretzky up close now, the first word that leaps to mind is “louche.”
Thursday’s appearance sealed an impression of Mr. Gretzky most have had for years, but did not publicly express. That he’s the sort of guy who got out of here as fast as he could, and never comes back unless it’s to make a few bucks or get his tires pumped.
He’ll show up for any gala dinner, but when his best buddy the President is threatening to annex the country? Oh, you wouldn’t believe how busy he is then.
By his actions and inactions, he has destroyed the mythology that he is a good Canadian living in a foreign land. He has been unconvincing for years, but recent events have sealed his ostracism in the minds of many.
Things were probably irreparable after the first time he was pictured in a MAGA hat, gone full sycophant. But when he would not wear our uniform after wearing theirs, that was truly it.
If you will excuse an uncharacteristic crudeness on my part, Number 99 did a Number 2 on our country. The stench of that act will linger well into the future.
Almost three years ago, I wrote the following about The 'Great' One.:
Gretzky has been dead to me since his shameful, full-throated endorsement of Stephen Harper in 2015, despite the fact that the retired hockey player does not live in Canada and is not eligible to vote here. Indeed, it left many wondering about the number of concussions he had sustained during his career.
Now, there is new reason to scorn The Addled One: his shameful performance as the honorary captain of Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off final in Boston the other night.
The Star's Damien Cox offers some observations on The Lost One:
The evidence suggests No. 99 and his family are strong MAGA supporters, and Gretzky certainly hasn’t come out to protest the U.S. president’s suggestion that Canada should become the “51st state” with the pride of Brantford as its “governor.”
Gretzky ... is being characterized as a traitor in some quarters.Cox thinks this is unfair in some ways:
... if you’re looking for hockey people to be progressive or loudly anti-Trump when it comes to their views on Canada as a sovereign nation, you might be looking in the wrong place. Gretzky’s apparent right-wing leanings are more consistent with mainstream thinking in the bro culture that dominates the male hockey world than you might want to acknowledge.
Most NHL players are white, aren’t university educated and are more likely to follow social media than read a book. Their business prizes group think rather than individuality. These days, most are also affluent. All of that makes them easy pickings for the tribal MAGA world.
Cox points out that Gretzky is not alone in his disappointing behaviour.
Sure, his silence on Trump’s anti-Canadian comments is disappointing. Just as disappointing as it was when Bobby Orr and Jack Nicklaus came out as pro-Trump. The fact that these revered sportsmen can simply look the other way as forces of hate spread stolen election lies and blame Ukraine for getting invaded is upsetting.
The shame of Gretzky’s pro-MAGA leanings is that he is apparently unaware of the fear and unease Trump is generating in Canada. He would probably be at a loss to explain why Canadian fans booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 4 Nations tournament.
Like the rest of us, athletes are not paragons of virtue. Nonetheless, when you occupy an exalted position due to past physical prowess, you do have a responsibility, whether your heart is in it or not, to comport yourself with dignity, self-respect, and national pride. By all of these metrics, Wayne Gretzky has failed horribly.
Sometimes, when I look at the rapid devolution of democracy in the United States, I wonder if perhaps I am lying in a coma somewhere, and this is just some elaborate fever dream. A related thought is that if all of this were a movie treatment, it would likely never be produced, given the absurdity of the plot.
In the land of so-called make-believe, both novels and cinema have warned us of dystopian futures, sparked by the rise of a 'man of the people.' There was a 1957 film called A Face in The Crowd, about the meteoric rise of Larry Rhodes, featuring the against-type casting of Andy Griffiths as a demagogue. His character is ultimately brought back down to earth by a "hot-mic."
In a similar vein, but even more menacing, was Stephen King's The Dead Zone, later made into a movie starring Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen.
One cannot watch either of these films without thinking of Donald Trump.
My friend Gary sent me this last evening.
Both of these movies have what might be described as happy endings. While the signs are not good, it remains to be seen whether life will ultimately imitate art in contemporary Amerika.
If you don't know of him, allow me a moment to introduce you to Flavio Volpe. President of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, he was appointed in 2023 as a Member of The Order of Canada.
Volpe received the honour for advancing Canada’s automotive and technology industries on an international scale as a leading policy expert in national trade and industry competition. Created in 1967, the Order of Canada is one of the country’s highest civilian honours, recognizing people across all sectors who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions to Canada.Even more importantly, Volpe has emerged as a calm, incisive and wise voice for all Canadians as he offers his views and advice on how to deal with the U.S., a country apparently intent on waging a massive trade war against our country.
For people who think critically rather than merely listen to the echo chamber of their choice, it should be obvious that having a thin skin is not an attribute. While this affliction can be found in both political polarities, it seems especially endemic in the far right. Those of that ilk, as discussed in a previous post, tend to be perpetually aggrieved. Consider, for example, the vehemence with which they cite 'restrictions' on freedom of speech, the great cross they must bear throughout their tortured lives. Names like Jordan Peterson, Don Trump, and Pierre Poilievre come readily to mind. (The latter, in an article by David Moscrop, is described as Trump-adjacent, a lovely description, in my view.)
The problem with such people is their arrant hypocrisy. These particular free-speech warriors seem interested only in liberty for their own points of view. Indeed, those of the so-called woke, progressive and pro-Palestinian factions, in fact anyone with contrary perspectives are, to the unbalanced reactionaries, threats to the very fabric of society.
I don't like perpetual whiners. They lack the fiber to deal with real life, and are manifestly unfit for public office. In the following, former Global News reporter Rachel Gilmore takes them to task for their feckless character. Young PP comes in for particular scrutiny:
Here in Ontario, it is Family Day, but all is not well. We have an unnecessary election pending, the premier has cloaked himself in his Captain Canada regalia, and he has done everything he can to buy votes, plunging the province into even deeper debt while education, housing and healthcare, to name but three deep, go vastly unnourished.
Yet according to polls, despite his malfeasance, Mr. Ford will be romping to another electoral victory, thanks both to the current crisis with the Amerikans and the fact that the march to the ballot box is in the dead of winter. Apparently, despite all the talk about rising patriotism and supporting our country, voting is not part of the calculus, with pundits predicting a very low turnout.
Come February 27, heedless Ontarians will undoubtedly and, unfortunately, get the government they deserve.
The only bright spot in this morass of indifference is the knowledge that not all are fooled, as evidenced by these letters to the editor:
Well, it seems clear from election polls Premier Doug Ford will be re-elected in a landslide even though most Ontarians were not happy with the early election. He’s done a masterful job. The hat slogan “Canada is not for sale,” $200 cheques before an election and mentioning possibly 500,000 lost jobs likely all contribute to his strong poll numbers. He has rushed to Washington to plead Ontario’s case regarding tariffs with seemingly little success as the U.S. has just announced a 25 per cent tariff on our steel and aluminum. He’s promised billions for infrastructures and a tunnel under Hwy. 401 but has completely forgotten to support our health-care system, end the long wait times in ERs. A four-year mandate to fight tariffs seems to be in the cards. Voters are forgetting his health care and housing failures, feeling he’ll fight for them even though it’s the federal government that has the power to counter the U.S.A.‘s tariff attack.
Peter J. Middlemore Sr., Windsor
I have just seen Premier Doug Ford’s latest campaign ad, and I am livid. The Premier’s Washington, D.C. visit was supposed to be about defending Canada’s interests, but instead it appears Ford’s main focus was creating sparkling footage for a campaign ad. It’s bad enough that the Premiers emerged empty-handed from their meeting with mid-level White House staffers, but Ford’s new campaign ad rubs salt in our collective wounds. In the voice-over for the ad, Ford repeatedly puts America first — “made in the USA” before “made in Canada,” pride in the work of American workers before the work of Canadians, and the push for his Fortress Am-Can. That’s right, even the name of Ford’s economic plan puts America first. Where’s your hat, Doug? Did it blow off while you were busy bending the knee to Trump?
Carol Kroeger, Ottawa
It probably hasn't escaped your notice that extreme right-wingers are never happy. They see enemies everywhere; subversion abounds. The white race is under attack, trans people are on an ungodly mission to upend 'normal' sexual identity, drag queens want your children, sanctuary cities in the U.S. are allowing killers and rapists to sap the Union, Black people want to end the police, etc., etc., ad nauseam.
This cult of victimhood has never been more apparent than under the Don Trump regime. To believe him and his abettors, the American justice system under Biden was weaponized, Canada is screwing the U.S. when it comes to trade - no, wait - make that the entire world that has been exploiting U.S. benevolence, whether through NATO, Ukrainian-Russian wars, digital service taxes, unfair tariffs - you get the picture. The elephant in the room has been kicked around enough, and won't take it anymore.
So much for American mythology.
Closer to home, PP, the leader of the Conservative Party, has, until very recently, preached the same message about Canada. It is broken, we have been told, thanks to the ineptitude of Liberal rule these past 10 years. Only PP and his party can rectify things, so the message has gone, at least until very recently.
Now that the Liberals seem to be gaining polling traction thanks to Don Trump's attacks on our sovereignty, the Conservatives have altered their message slightly, adopting a Canada First slogan that seems but an anemic echo of the bellicosity coming from the U.S. Indeed, to prove his bona fides as a strong leader, PP has even said we must immediately send troops, helicopters and surveillance to the border, a placatory move that will find no real favour with the southern behemoth. One wonders if PP has ever heard of Neville Chamberlain.
Additionally, as Craig Wallace writes, the would-be PM
has promised to build a large military base in the Arctic, funded by cutting foreign aid (sounding like Trump and his MAGA base here) and threatening to jail fentanyl dealers for life (a violation of the Charter of Rights). He still cannot or will not describe in detail how he will “axe the tax,” “build the homes,” “fix the budget” and “stop the crime.” He, in fact, has no answers.
Like his schoolyard taunts ("carbon-tax Carney, carbon tax Freeland"), all of his bromides are simplistic, and, if directed solely to his base, likely satisfying. However, for those of us who choose not to farm out our thinking to a career politician, all that PP says, as the saying goes, is thin gruel indeed. As we move into the next federal election sooner rather than later, all of us need to be engaged and critical in our thinking.
I know that's a tall order, but when the future of Canada is at stake, it is surely not too much to demand.
Blair posted on social media that his meeting with the premiers was "pleasant" but also said he "never agreed that Canada would not be the 51st state."
"We only agreed to share Premier Eby's comments," Blair wrote.
How about either or both of these as an answer to Mr. Trump and his acolytes?
H/t Moudakis
Or, put another way:
Although I am now a senior, there is no doubt in my mind that should the Americans ever invade Canada (a notion unthinkable just a short time ago), I would do my best to resist. That resistance would likely involve violence. That may seem laughable coming from someone like me, but before I made my grand exit from the world, I would want my presence here to account for something. And what could be nobler than fighting for the country I love?
An article by Aisha Ahmad, an associate political science professor at the University of Toronto, suggests that we could make life a real hell for an invading force:
If Trump ever decides to use military force to annex Canada, the result would not be determined by a conventional military confrontation between the Canadian and American armies. Rather, a military invasion of Canada would trigger a decades-long violent resistance, which would ultimately destroy the United States.
As someone who has studies insurgencies around the world for the past two decades, Ahmad knows of what she speaks:
The research on guerrilla wars clearly shows that weaker parties can use unconventional methods to cripple a more powerful enemy over many years. This approach treats waging war as a secret, part-time job that an ordinary person can do.
Guerrillas use ambushes, raids and surprise attacks to slowly bleed an invading army, and local communities support these fighters by giving them safe havens and material support. These supporting citizens can also engage in forms of “everyday resistance,” using millions of passive-aggressive episodes of sabotage to frustrate and drain the enemy.
Trump is delusional if he believes that 40 million Canadians will passively accept conquest without resistance. There is no political party or leader willing to relinquish Canadian sovereignty over “economic coercion,” and so if the U.S. wanted to annex Canada, it would have to invade. [In that regard youi might want to read Stephen Harper's reflections on what he would do to stop U.S. economic warfare.]
Resistance, says Ahmad, would take various forms:
When your child is dying in your arms, you become capable of violence. Once you lose what you love, resistance becomes as natural as breathing.
Except for a few collaborators and kapos, my research suggests many Canadians would likely engage in various forms of everyday resistance against invading forces that could involve steal, lying, cutting wires and diverting funds.
Meanwhile, the insurgents would unleash physical devastation on American targets. Even if one per cent of all resisting Canadians engaged in armed insurrection, that would constitute a 400,000-person insurgency, nearly 10 times the size of Taliban at the start of the Afghan war. If a fraction of that number engaged in violent attacks, it would set fire to the entire continent.
Canada’s geography would make this insurgency difficult to defeat. With deep forests and rugged mountains, Canada’s northern terrain could not be conquered or controlled. That means loyalists from the Canadian Armed Forces could mobilize civilian recruits into decentralized fighting units that could strike, retreat into the wilderness and blend back into the local communities that support them.
Please take a moment to read Ahmad's full article. It provides much food for thought, as well as a roadmap to navigate the perilous times we are now entering.
