Yes, especially compared to the US at the moment, Canada is safe. However, our economy, even if we weren't so closely tied to the US, is under serious pressure from Trump's insane use of tariffs. He has openly attacked Canadian manufacturing of cars and heaps both ignorance and insult on Canada whenever he can. His threats to annex Canada are considered a serious threat here. No one is laughing. His ignorance when he says "we don't need anything from Canada" and "we don't even do that much business with Canada," is utter madness. As we all know well in Canada, we are the US's single biggest trading partner. Thus the tariffs have wrecked havoc on many industries and it's only beginning to be felt by people. And will likely dominate our economic life for the the next few years. Also, travel to the US has become much more dangerous for Canadians and we are advised (by numerous sources including our government) not to travel with laptops and even our cell phones which are subject to search and seizure by US border services. I was hoping to visit some good friends in Maine this summer and there's a likelihood that I would be denied entry. And I have family that lives in California and many close friends that live all across the US. We all feel rather cut off these days. And we have our own domestic version of MAGA which may have lost the recent federal election but whose vote share in pretty damn close to the ruling Liberals. And our progressive third party, the NDP (somewhat democratic-socialist but pretty centrist for all that) was decimated in the recent elections as many NDP voters, frightened of Trump's threats and the rise of our own right wing authoritarians, voted for the Liberals. So things may be calm at the moment, but for many people , the feeling that things are less safe is steadily growing. And, beyond feelings, things are less safe.
Ah, well, that's got rather deep roots and hearkens back to the 80s when Reagan was president, Thatcher was UK-PM, and Brian Mulroney was PM for the Conservative government of that time. Though the Conservatives at that time were centre-right, the most significant thing they did was to usher in neo-liberalism full bore. That meant first the FTA (the 1988 Free Trade Agreement with the US) and then NAFTA in 1994 (with the US and Mexico) and which was renegotiated under Trump 1 to become the USMCA. Mulroney's government lead massive reforms in social programs (usually reducing them; and cut some very significant social and educational programs). After Mulroney lost power to the Liberals (pretty much centrist though they lean centre-left to get elected and they were just fine with neoliberalism) the Conservatives moved further right. And they moved further right still under Stephen Harper. Now, after 10 years of Liberal government under Justin Trudeau, the Conservatives have moved even further right under Pierre Poilievre who has embraced much of the rhetoric of Trump and MAGA (anti-immigrant, anti-woke, anti-crime though Canada's crime rate has been dropping for years, and so on). One huge moment for the right-wing swing was during the pandemic when we had a huge convoy of truckers invade our capital Ottawa and make camp for several weeks. It was all about anti-masking activism but, of course, included a litany of traditional complaints about big government. MAGA was a big supporter of that convoy (both ideologically and financially) and the heart of that activism came from Alberta (the centre of Canada's oil industry with politics that are comparable to Texas). That's the short version of what is referred to as Maple MAGA.
Thank you, Chris, for this much needed beautiful respite.
Thanks, Manuel. Indeed, we need our respite in these trying times.
Chris, from south of your border, Canada looks safe. What assails you?
Yes, especially compared to the US at the moment, Canada is safe. However, our economy, even if we weren't so closely tied to the US, is under serious pressure from Trump's insane use of tariffs. He has openly attacked Canadian manufacturing of cars and heaps both ignorance and insult on Canada whenever he can. His threats to annex Canada are considered a serious threat here. No one is laughing. His ignorance when he says "we don't need anything from Canada" and "we don't even do that much business with Canada," is utter madness. As we all know well in Canada, we are the US's single biggest trading partner. Thus the tariffs have wrecked havoc on many industries and it's only beginning to be felt by people. And will likely dominate our economic life for the the next few years. Also, travel to the US has become much more dangerous for Canadians and we are advised (by numerous sources including our government) not to travel with laptops and even our cell phones which are subject to search and seizure by US border services. I was hoping to visit some good friends in Maine this summer and there's a likelihood that I would be denied entry. And I have family that lives in California and many close friends that live all across the US. We all feel rather cut off these days. And we have our own domestic version of MAGA which may have lost the recent federal election but whose vote share in pretty damn close to the ruling Liberals. And our progressive third party, the NDP (somewhat democratic-socialist but pretty centrist for all that) was decimated in the recent elections as many NDP voters, frightened of Trump's threats and the rise of our own right wing authoritarians, voted for the Liberals. So things may be calm at the moment, but for many people , the feeling that things are less safe is steadily growing. And, beyond feelings, things are less safe.
Thanks for filling me in, Chris. When did the right wing Canadian version of MAGA sprout?
Ah, well, that's got rather deep roots and hearkens back to the 80s when Reagan was president, Thatcher was UK-PM, and Brian Mulroney was PM for the Conservative government of that time. Though the Conservatives at that time were centre-right, the most significant thing they did was to usher in neo-liberalism full bore. That meant first the FTA (the 1988 Free Trade Agreement with the US) and then NAFTA in 1994 (with the US and Mexico) and which was renegotiated under Trump 1 to become the USMCA. Mulroney's government lead massive reforms in social programs (usually reducing them; and cut some very significant social and educational programs). After Mulroney lost power to the Liberals (pretty much centrist though they lean centre-left to get elected and they were just fine with neoliberalism) the Conservatives moved further right. And they moved further right still under Stephen Harper. Now, after 10 years of Liberal government under Justin Trudeau, the Conservatives have moved even further right under Pierre Poilievre who has embraced much of the rhetoric of Trump and MAGA (anti-immigrant, anti-woke, anti-crime though Canada's crime rate has been dropping for years, and so on). One huge moment for the right-wing swing was during the pandemic when we had a huge convoy of truckers invade our capital Ottawa and make camp for several weeks. It was all about anti-masking activism but, of course, included a litany of traditional complaints about big government. MAGA was a big supporter of that convoy (both ideologically and financially) and the heart of that activism came from Alberta (the centre of Canada's oil industry with politics that are comparable to Texas). That's the short version of what is referred to as Maple MAGA.
Thank you Chris. It all smells oligarchic and fascist, regardless of country. Thanks for taking the time to write back.