I’ve lost it a bit. At least, according to my wife. She’s a dual citizen. She’s been in Canada for almost 20 years now and is a Canadian Citizen, but was born and raised in the US. She still votes and pays taxes there. When Mr. Trump was re-elected, and started spouting absurd plans to invade Canda, I freaked out. I truly envisioned American tanks coming across the High-level Bridge to park in front of the Legislature. I did some time in the reserves, but I haven’t had a rifle in my hands in decades. I’m not naive enough to think that our forces could stand up long enough to face a full-scale invasion from the south.
Those who know me agree that it doesn’t take much to make me paranoid. When my wife finally got me calmed down enough to listen, using clear arguments, reality, and a fair bit of loud cussing, I put some real thought into the threats Mr. Trump was making. Why did he think he could threaten us? Why did he think he should threaten us? How should Mr. Trudeau respond? How would I handle the situation if I was the Premier or the Prime Minister?
The bottom line as to why Mr. Trump is threatening us is because he wants attention. He wants us to think he will invade so that he can get something from bullying us that he doesn’t think he can get through proper diplomatic negotiations. In certain ways, we have brought some of this on ourselves. With climate change, everyone is looking at the Arctic Ocean as a year-round ice-free corridor for faster shipping.
That encompasses a large hunk of our northern border. Yet, we have not really done anything towards maintaining our Arctic sovereignty. We need to drastically increase our assets in the north, including icebreakers and submarines. We need to increase our funding for the Canadian Forces, both regular forces and reserves, plus making sure they have the best training and equipment available.
I’m quite dismayed that our Premier didn’t stand united with all the other Premiers. Unity is going to be very important if Mr. Trump isn’t blustering hot air. It is nice to think she is just looking out for her constituents first.
I’m still a bit cynical about her motives, as are most of the other Premiers. To most of us, international trade might as well be a foreign language spoken by an alien from another galaxy. When I read a story about pears being picked in South America, being then shipped to Asia to be packaged before finally being sent on to Canada, I had to shake my head. International trade is certainly going to be complicated, but this is crazy.
How did someone sit down and think it made sense to market pears this way? Did it originally start this way, or did it evolve from something less complicated? Ultimately, if we want to be protected from threats involving our commerce, we are going to have to become more self reliant.
By self-reliant, I don’t mean we all have to move to the mountains and forests to live in small cabins where we grow vegetables and hunt for deer to survive, although I do sport a nice survivalist beard.
We need to manufacture more of our consumer products. We certainly need to maintain work towards strategic security. That can include things like producing our own radioisotopes for medical diagnostic procedures, refining our own oil, and shifting our agricultural production towards what it takes to feed ourselves first.
Several years ago, there was a lot of talk about western provinces becoming independent or becoming US states. I’m sure this will cause that to resurface with a vengeance. Proponents want more control, more power, more something. When discussing this with my wife, her first comment was, “they’ll change their minds the first time they get a bill for a hundred dollars for a regular doctor’s visit.” In the meantime, please ignore the man impersonating a rational statesman.
Of one thing I am sure, Canada will not go quietly into the dark night.
Austin Mardon was decorated by the US Navy for being a team member of an Antarctic research field team, and most recently received a medal from NASA for DEI and accessibility. Dr. Mardon has the Order of Canada and is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and the John Dossettor Health Ethics Centre.
Catherine Mardon is a retired attorney from Oklahoma who is an author, lecturer, and basset hound lover.