Charlie Angus

Nothing Feels Urgent Anymore…

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I just finished reading William Finnegan’s “Nothing Feels Urgent Anymore – And That Should Terrify You”

He writes of the US –

“In the early stages of collapse, the warning signs come like alarms: loud, unmistakable, emotionally triggering. You feel compelled to respond. To signal. To warn others.

But we’re not in that phase anymore.

We’re in the part where everything bleeds together. Where Trump’s criminal and idiotic antics, Supreme Court nullification, dollar decoupling, tariff tumult, and cabinet secretariat stupidity all feel like background noise.

We are experiencing the flattening of outrage.

This isn’t a failure of attention. It’s a feature of the system now. And it’s not just cultural. It’s strategic.”

It feels like that here in Canada – we’re in limbo – although I’m sure a lot is going on in preparation for the reconvening of Parliament on May 24 (I think that’s the date), there isn’t a ton of stuff in the news so there isn’t much to react to.

It feels weird!

I feel like I’m holding my breath.

I’ve just reached out to Charlie Angus to see if we can get a “Resistance” event going in NS – but here’s the thing – I haven’t sorted out what we’re resisting at the moment – trump’s 51st State threats have gone quiet right now. Resistance to Poilievre was essential during the election- that’s now over. While still Conservative Party leader, he lost his parliamentary seat so he won’t be there delivering his bombastic nonsense (Andrew Sheer will be acting opposition leader in the House – who knows how he’s going to handle responding to the government’s proposals). Poilievre will continue making pronouncements (likely unchanged from his carping before and during the election) but it won’t have the same force until he’s elected in his “safe” Alberta seat – he won’t be back in Parliament until the fall.

I feel we need to maintain our wariness and opposition to trump and those stupid tariffs. Yes, trump has dropped the “51st state” crap, for now. But it lurks, just the same. He’s moved on from threats against Panama and Greenland to his shiny new jet (how silly is that!), and all the lovely AI deals he’s made in the middle east, and he’s just today more or less given up on his buddy Putin, he says. What does he turn his attention to today?

Here in Canada we’re left waiting for the third or fourth shoe to drop – no clue what it’ll be about. So yes, resistance to this all the idiocy – but at the moment it has no shape. We’re in limbo here.

Another week or so, we may find ourselves with focus – we need to continue working at being informed so we can jump in the moment there’s some real issue that needs our attention and voices!

By the way, if you happen to live in Nova Scotia and still need connection to Resistance, please get in touch. I believe Charlie Angus has a bigger picture shaping his Resistance efforts. I need to know more about that. If you feel you do, too, get in touch. I can’t organize an event on my own – I need colleagues willing to put in some time to make the phone calls and help set up the structures for an event – this isn’t a commitment to a long term project – just the one gathering. I’d love to make it happen – I think it could provide some focus to shape this “slow” period for all of us.

A Warning From Charlie Angus

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Charlie Angus sounded an alarm this morning – those of us who voted for an independent, more self-sufficient Canada need to heed it.

I know what you were thinking: the election is over, Canada will negotiate a new deal with Trump, and life will return to normal.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s not how it’s going to play out.

In a world of gangster leaders like Trump and Putin, Canada’s repudiation of the MAGA march just won’t stand. The authoritarian, anti-democratic “project” has been years in the making. It’s been driven by the likes of Bannon and Hungary’s Victor Orban — and they aren’t going to let Canada stand tall as a model of liberal democracy.

The online platforms are already gearing up with BOT farms disrupting online conversations. It’s all about undermining both Carney and Canada.

He goes on:

On the domestic front, there is no way the Conservatives will give Carney the grace period needed to build trust with the public. The Maple MAGA machine will do everything it can to undermine Carney. 

Just watch.

He ends with:

In the MAGA world it is unacceptable that Canada is seen as a symbol of the resilience of liberal democracy.

In the coming months, it will not just be the new Prime Minister who is put to the test. Canada, our shared values and nationhood, will be tested as well.

I know we will rise to the challenge, but only if we can identify the toxic playbook being used by Maple MAGA and the far right.

Here’s my reply when I restacked his message:

Thanks Charlie for sounding the alarm. I think I’d have come to the realization myself eventually, but better I should get here sooner.

I believe we need the resistance you’re building right now more than ever. We Canadians need to keep pushing back against Maple MAGA, trump MAGA, and Russian efforts to bring Canada to heel.

We need to keep those protests going – both to support American efforts to resist trump, but also to make complacent Canadians aware of the bumpy future we also face – not from our Liberal government, so much, as from Poilievre and Conservative efforts.

What Canada needs at the moment is a strong collaboration of politicians and citizens to work through the problems we face. I was hoping PP losing his seat might send a message that Canada needs a different approach from him. I wasn’t hopeful he could actually bring that; I was pretty sure he had but one song. But I was holding my breath allowing him the possibility of actually putting Canada first.

I can see from your piece, my hope is naive. You’re right. The attacks have already started. We need to build our resistance as quickly as possible so we can fight back in support of our independence, our autonomy.

We need to be alert for every opportunity to rally – at the moment it’s quiet out there. But as soon as the distractions and stonewalling start up (I suppose that will come with the opening of parliament), we better be ready with our signs. 

One of the things that’s made the protests in the US effective, particularly with regard to the deportations, has been the advance organizing done by community groups who have been in a position to jump into action as soon as someone in the community has been rounded up. People have predetermined what roles they would play, who would call the lawyers, who would bring out the signs, who would make calls, who would sent emails. Within hours, protests have arrived at the right places and they’ve been able to interfere with the disappearing of community members. We need similar advance planning. 

I haven’t found that group of friends who will march with me. I know, I just need to start by calling one or two people to plan for what’s coming….