Perfect for a small patch for the windshield (or a bumper sticker)
I know I shouldn’t have done it (copyright and all), but I couldn’t resist – I turned that sign into a logo I can use.
Charlie’s piece: Canada’s People Power In Action is about the negative economic impact our grassroots boycott of US products is having in the US and the positive impact it’s having here in Canada.
…new statistics reveal the staggering impact that Canada’s boycott is having on the United States. The American liquor industry is reporting an 85% drop in sales to Canada. That is a staggering hit.
We need to remind ourselves to keep this going! There are alternatives in the grocery stores – from Mexico, Peru, France, … and if you can’t find one, maybe this isn’t the week to buy that particular item.
This boycott matters!
Much of the response in the US is that we’re mean, they’re the victims, innocent bystanders…
The United States still doesn’t get it.
Our feelings aren’t bruised. We are deeply offended by the attack on our sovereignty as a nation and the disintegration of the rule of law south of the border. The response has been a national campaign of grassroots resistance.
This is people power in action.
We have been using our purchasing power to strengthen the Canadian economy – we can definitely do that in a more focused way.
The boycott may be disastrous for the MAGA economy, but it is creating a unique opportunity for Canada. We need to seize the moment.
Now to find our voices and make our political leaders understand together we need to build Canadian economic independence – not based on projects like the Keystone XL pipeline (which does nothing to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, even if it was offered to trump as an inducement to engage in trade talks – a waste of time – his fickle decisions are no guarantee of economic stability for us – not worth the paper they will be written on!).
We have to find ways of increasing our spending and investing here at home in projects that establish new industries which support (rather than degrade) our environment, which build a different kind of military (let’s learn from Ukraine and Finland – warfare is changing very fast), which strengthen our Canadian cultural activities and showcase all Canadians.
There’s lots of work to be done – let’s get going!
Me, I’ve printed out the “sticker” above, it’s going in the corner of my windshield, today.
I just got home from having lunch with a friend. She came into the restaurant raring to talk. She’s a regular panelist on a couple of CBC radio programs. She’d spent the morning trying to negotiate the next panel opportunity. She was more than a bit exasperated.
The topic the panelists were being asked to weigh in on had something to do with their thoughts on why Canadians are feeling jumpy, grumpy, a bit scared – but please don’t talk about politics!
I’d say the majority of Canadians are steeped in the mess happening in the US and more than a bit concerned that we could be next.
And while we’re not paying as much attention to Canadian politics, we’re keeping half-an-eye on what’s going on and a bit uneasy about the economy and social issues here at home. As much as anything, it’s politics driving the uncertainty we’re all feeling.
Poilievre is back in the House of Commons playing his broken record again, sounding just the same as he did before the election in, when was it, past March (no, I just looked it up – April 23/2025) – feels like years ago!
I can’t believe anybody is listening to him, paying him any attention. He’s at it again, tearing down, making no effort to be constructive. He’s still doing his best trump imitation.
And the fact that PP is back in the House of Commons, still campaigning in an election he lost both as potential PM, as well as his seat in his Ottawa riding, is having a chilling effect on the CBC.
Since PP introduced his defund the CBC campaign even before the election campaign itself, the CBC has tried instituting policy to limit political discussion on its talk shows. A couple of the program hosts have joked about censorship. This was the first time I understood what’s actually going on.
So I’m not just wearing my paperclip in solidarity with Americans fighting to preserve most of their constitutional rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion,….
I am wearing my paperclip to remind people here in Canada our freedom of speech is also under attack. I’m wearing it to protest censorship right here in Canada!
Hell, if the CBC can be forced to self-censor, quietly gagging program panelists before there has been any discussion of defunding the CBC in Parliament, then we all need to be proudly wearing paperclips!
I’m trying to get a feel for how I can best participate in our current political world. I’m an outsider to the US mess. I keep an eye on the war in Ukraine, on the horrific destruction in Gaza, watchful of China’s moves on Taiwan and the suppression of liberty in Hong Kong. There’s chaos everywhere.
It takes me back to a Kingston Trio song from the early 60s:
Details different, situation the same (SNAFU)!
I realized recently I can no longer fight on the palisades; but I’m still good at reading stuff from all over the map and building a bigger picture. That’s what I’m finding myself doing at the moment.
Today, I’ll share a few things I’ve read you might find helpful / interesting, too.
To build a more resilient, less dependent – democratic – Canada, we will need to rebuild our collective toolkit, find a new solidarity across our differences, and rediscover the common good. We will need government strong enough to harness the market and democracy strong enough to harness government.
What We Owe Each Other describes Canada’s equalization policy and how it operates. It’s a good refresher for all of us, including Albertans. There’s also this tidbit that clarifies provincial contribution to the national economy (in case you think Alberta contributes the most – it doesn’t).
Corey Hogan has written a useful piece about three myths underpinning the Alberta separation movement: Three Alberta Separation Myths.
The next several months could be a dangerous time for Alberta. It does not take a majority of Albertans voting to separate to severely damage our home – serious talk alone will be sufficient.
Consider the example of Quebec in the 1970s: companies moved from Montreal to Toronto to escape political uncertainty. This was despite the fact that corporate taxes were lower in Quebec than Ontario at that time.
Putting so much political risk into the equation will more than undo any other Alberta Advantage we create. It’s incumbent on all of us to tread carefully. Now is a time for cool heads and facts.
There are also the Treaties which govern much of the land in Alberta! It could be argued most of the province is controlled by those treaties and the First Nations Peoples will determines what happens there. (Tried tracking down the source, unsuccessful.)
If tomorrow you woke up and your country was being erased, not just by missiles, but by hate. If you saw strangers online spreading that your story no longer mattered, that your pain was inconvenient, that your survival was a political annoyance…
Wouldn’t you want someone to write you back?
Wouldn’t you want someone, somewhere, to care enough to keep your voice alive?
That’s why I’m still here.
And that’s why you, reading this right now, are part of something I’ll never be able to measure.
Gotta step away from my computer and get on with life.
It’s a gorgeous warm, sunny day here in NS. Dandelions everywhere. Magnolias and azaleas in bloom. You can see the leaves growing on a day like this.
I have to head out for a walk – to feel connected to it all.
donald trump has been talking a lot about re-taking the Panama Canal, buying Greenland (while not ruling out an invasion), and making Canada the 51st State. He looks as though he will make good on his promise to take military action in Mexico after he signed an executive order designating certain cartels as terrorist organisations. Many outlets and pundits have declared that these talking points are either bluster, impossible, or mere diversions. My assessment is that they are not.
trump doesn’t really joke; he says outlandish things to see what sort of reaction he gets. In this case, with all of these proposals, Republicans responded with support and the American public barely noticed because “that’s just trump being trump.” In truth, trump rarely drops an idea, even a bad one. He was intent on buying Greenland during his first term and never let the idea go. Thus, when he talks about acquiring new territory for the US, or using military force in Mexico, he is serious.
…he is clearly laying the groundwork for, and removing barriers to an aggressive expansionistic policy over the next two years. What comes next is likely to be a mix of four strategies: Lebensraum, Anschluss, the hybrid Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and “Wag the Dog” (but with a distinctly internet age twist). The following is a brief discussion of what each of these four operations would look like.
The rest of the analysis lays out four goals that trump has already floated: a major military incursion into Mexico on the pretext of curtailing the flow of drugs into the US, as well as stopping the flow of migrants from Central and South America; the takeover of the Panama Canal either through coercion or outright military means; the annexation of Greenland either by purchase or military means; and finally the annexation of Canada either by “persuasion” or a military incursion.
Then the article lays out how each of these four goals could be accomplished – the threats, the cyber disinformation attacks (which would create chaos in each jurisdiction), the showcasing of “Quislings” who are solidly behind the idea of annexation and stand before the world proclaiming how much better off the subjugated citizens would be and their desire to be subsumed by the US. And finally the military actions if the “voluntary” tactics don’t work.
By the time we get here, Trump would have already taken back the Panama Canal and found a way to annex Greenland. Trump has long set his sights on making Canada a part of the US. The Republican Party would prefer it to be a territory, with no say in the US government. “The Canadians, they are going to elect two Democrat senators; we don’t want that. Territory status isn’t too bad,” according to Representative Byron Donalds.
Canadian support for being a part of the US runs around 20% at best, and triggered increased feelings of nationalism in the other 78%. Most Canadian leaders (outside of Alberta) are taking a “F*** You” attitude towards Trump’s threats of tariffs. Politicians there are engaged in competitive outbidding to see who can be the most hostile to Trump, his tariffs, and attempts to make the Canada part of the US. Only Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has shown receptiveness to treating the Trump administration, and its punitive tariffs, with kid gloves.
If Trump has successfully acquired the Panama Canal and Greenland via some combination of threats, coercion, or military force, his eye will turn to bringing Canada into the fold. By this time, the US has discarded NATO, Congress has been cowed, the military brass tamed and staffed with yes men. He believes that he is coming from a position of military strength: Canada and NATO cannot possibly hope to stop a US invasion.
Sounds crazy, right? But it’s not unimaginable given the shameful display of “power” that happened in the Oval Office yesterday (Mar 1 2025), the attempted humiliation of President Zelenskyy in front of a televised international audience. We got to see “the real” trump and vance on display!
At this point, if Canada has failed to give in to demands and economic blackmail, they and NATO will be given an ultimatum presented as a fait accompli: you will let US troops in. You cannot stop us by conventional means. The three options to NATO at this point are to allow us to annex Canada, fight a conventional war they cannot hope to win, or to use nuclear weapons against the United States and engage in mutually assured destruction. At the same time, the public in NATO countries will have been subjected to a barrage of disinformation for months, and support for a futile (and bloody) conventional war or a nuclear exchange will be low.
This will likely be the thought process of the Trump administration if they have made it this far. The problem with this thinking is that like most historical US leaders, they’re not prepared to deal with an insurgency. And Canada is no exception.
Imagine a country with the population and GDP of California, with a land area larger than the United States, having no say in its own governance. Now imagine it has been invaded, and that getting military-style weapons from the country that invaded them is ridiculously easy. Imagine that the country doing the invading doesn’t have the troops or the resources to lock things down adequately.
On top of that, unlike Iraq, there is a clear and mostly coherent sense of nationalism in Canada (they’re still very proud of burning the White House down in the War of 1812.) There’s also the matter of people who would come from other countries, including the US, to participate in an insurgency in Canada.
Russia assured their people in 2022 that Ukrainians were just like them and wanted to re-join the old Soviet Empire. It didn’t work out like that. If anything, Canadians are less enthusiastic about being a part of the US than Ukrainians were about being part of Russia. It’s hard to see this turning out well for the US in the long run.
My immediate reaction – Fantasyland! But I have a niggling feeling that these scenarios are not impossible. My anger at trump and his cat-and-mouse nonsense over “tariffs” has grown because I can sense what’s described in this Substack piece becoming a reality. I’m not fear-mongering here. I’m just trying to increase awareness of the bigger agenda that for the moment is obscured by the tariffs. The tariffs are the opening salvo in trump’s game. What I don’t think he understands is the extent the tariffs themselves will be detrimental to the US economy. Nor has he figured in the impact individual Canadian’s boycotting US goods can have overall.
We need to be serious in our efforts to buy Canadian, to work hard at buying local, to refuse to spend our $$$ with US companies as much as we can to make the lives of Americans, who are also pawns in this game, as difficult as possible. Our best hope for side-stepping an impending onslaught is for the American people to fight back themselves. For them (especially Republican supporters of trump) to become so angry they take action to curtail his (and musk’s) power. Our best allies are those disaffected American’s who wrench back control for themselves.
In the meantime, there are difficult days and weeks and months ahead. We can overcome dismay and despair by reaching out to one another, by supporting one another, and by taking those small personal actions that collectively can have an impact. Stand strong!
The power of the grassroots Canadian boycott is being felt in a big way across the United States. Just ask the US tourism industry.
Since Trump began his goon squad reign, they have suffered a precipitous plunge in reservations and trip bookings from Canada. Donald Trump says there is nothing America needs from Canada.
Turns out Canadians are by far the biggest spenders of tourism dollars in the United States. We might be polite, but we hate bullies. In homes across this country, Canadians are resisting tyranny by simply changing their tourism plans and shopping lists.
And this is causing the US tourism industry to panic.
Here’s what’s at stake:
In Florida, Canadians represent 38% of the tourist dollars coming into the state.
In Texas, Canadians spent $403 million last year. Both states have seen significant cancellations, as have other states.
If just 10% of Canadians hold firm in the boycott, it would mean the loss of 140,000 jobs.
It is still too early to say just how many Canadians have decided to rip up their tourism plans, but the messages I am getting from across the country paint a picture of a grassroots boycott that has become deeply embedded in the sense of Canadian nationhood.
This past week, I’ve shopped with a careful eye on where products are manufactured or grown – anything from the US got put back on the shelf. I know my local fabric store is a bit uneasy because a good deal of the fabric on hand is produced in the US and customers have been asking about that. The machines are actually made in Asia, the parent company is Swedish, and I do think shipments are direct to Canada without having to go through the US. Yup, if we keep up our boycott the US will feel it.
Angus ends with:
Once the impacts of the bourbon boycott, the grocery store actions and the cancelled travel bookings begin to pile up, you are going to see a lot of American businesses calling out the predator-in-chief.
As for Canada? Keep the boycott going. We will last one day longer and be one day stronger than the creeper in Washington.
I agree. Pay close attention to what’s going on. Read the whole piece – it will encourage you to make the effort!
A local comentator yesterday made an interesting assertion – she didn’t think anything Trudeau or Sheinbaum had to say to trump made the difference. trump is claiming a win for the US. Yes, both Canada and Mexico agreed to strengthen the borders with increased policing but those were actions already being undertaken, and likely desirable. No, she believes the pushback against the 25% tariffs came from a few significant close trump confidants who screamed loudly when both Canada and Mexico revealed their retaliatory tariffs and some personal businesses (like Tesla and Starlink) were going to be hurt! (The early morning big drop in both US and Canadian stock markets was an indication of what would come if the tariffs were actually levied.)(A good explanation by Matt Stoller.)
OK, so the tariffs have been shelved for the next 30 days. Where does that leave us? Stuck with the same “cat and mouse” game, more musings about the “51 state”, questions about what will happen in a month answered with a cryptic “Watch.” We’re stuck in limbo for a month.
Yesterday Canadians, (Mexicans, too, I’m guessing) began boycotting “produced in US” products. My grocery shopping on Sunday took me 20 minutes longer because I read every label and put back anything connected with the US. I wasn’t shopping yesterday but I know when I go to any local store in the next day or two I’ll find Canadian products marked with shelf labels or small Canadian flag stickers to make my shopping Canadian easier! I must check whether any such labelling will happen online – I have to look for it. I have to make the same effort to buy Canadian when shopping online!
The thing is, we Canadians need to keep that up, not just for a week. Not just for a month. We need to make buying Canadian a priority going forward. Our politicians need to keep this conversation going.
In part that will happen because there’s an election in Ontario shortly, and the Liberal Party of Canada is in the midst of a leadership race where these threats made by trump will continue to be a major issue. When parliament resumes in March, I expect the government to fall to be followed by a national general election where our vulnerability to trump’s whims will be front and centre.
While PP (Poilievre) has managed to take a “tough” stance on Canadian retaliation to the stupid tariffs, he can’t resist lying about our energy exports, he can’t stop himself from belittling anything the Liberal government puts forward. His “Canada First” is tinged with a kind of bombast that reveals the posturing he’s addicted to. I have a very close friend, a staunch Conservative, who keeps telling me PP is “a smart politician”. I can’t see it. Forced into defending Canada, he’s still singing his one song – he can’t bring himself to stand as a leader of a signifiant resistance to a US takeover. He’s certainly not persuading me to vote for him. I wonder how many other Canadians are evaluating the situation similarly.
The next thirty days are important. I have decided to stop worrying about the impending tariffs, not because they’ve been set aside, but because I refused to live with the uncertainty. I do believe as March 3/4 draws nearer the nonsense from south of the border will reappear, with new unmeetable demands and both Canada and Mexico will scramble once more to strategize ways to push back.
In the meantime every Canadian needs to be creative about finding small ways to strengthen our sovereignty! It’s not enough to refuse to buy US today. We need to keep it up going forward and for the foreseeable future! It’s part of the “playing offence” that Jean Chretién was advocating!
jmn 