Commentary, Photography

The Lies We Tell Ourselves

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The saying “may you live in interesting times” is playing out not only on our collective Canadian doorstep but inside our homes and lives in the most intimate ways, unfortunately. The “interesting times” I’m referring to are, of course, the continuing verbal and threatened financial and annexation attacks against us from our southern neighbour and its leader, Donald Trump.

So here I am again, less than a month later writing about the political developments that have occurred to the south of us over the last few days; I first wrote of this situation here.

Since November, 2024, we have had to listen to falsehood after egregious falsehood cascade from Mr Trump in a constant torrent. Here are some of the more appalling ones, with direct statements from Trump in quotation marks followed by my factual rebuttals.

Falsehood: “The fentanyl coming from Canada is massive.” Reality: in 2024, 19.5 kg (43 lbs) of fentanyl coming from Canada was seized by U.S. border control. In the meantime, 9500 kg (21,100 lbs) was intercepted coming from Mexico.

Falsehood: “Stop the invasion!” Reality: in 2024, 198,929 people who were attempting to cross illegally from Canada to the U.S. were detained by American border officials. Meanwhile, 2.4 million people crossed illegally from Mexico.

Falsehood: “The U.S. is subsidising Canada to the tune of $100 billion” [as time has gone on, Mr Trump has changed this number to $200 billion, $250 billion and $300 billion. As far as I can tell, he just makes up a number and says it]. Fact: the trade deficit is 45 billion, caused by oil and gas shipments to the U.S. as part of the CUSMA free trade agreement that Mr Trump himself insisted on, orchestrated and then proclaimed at the time of signing in 2018 as “a truly extraordinary agreement for the United States, Canada, and Mexico.”

Given that the U.S. carries much larger deficits with a number of other countries, this complaint seems to be another of Mr Trump’s red herrings. Furthermore, and I can’t emphasise this enough, the U.S. is NOT subsidising Canada. In order to push his agenda, Mr Trump deliberately ignores the meaning of the word subsidy, which is a grant or gift of money. A trade deficit is not a subsidy.

Falsehood: “Canada doesn’t even allow U.S. Banks to open or do business there. What’s that all about?” Fact: American banks have been operating in Canada for many years. Citibank, Amexbank and J.P. Morgan Bank are all examples. These banks are required to operate under Canadian banking rules, a system that protected Canadian banks during the 2008-09 financial crisis when 166 American banks failed.

Falsehood: “Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st state.” Fact: Nothing could be further from the truth. Poll after poll shows that Canadians overwhelmingly want their sovereignty.

Falsehood: “If they become the 51st state, the tariffs go away.” Fact: This comment is not only reprehensible blackmail but is also senseless. That nugget may be coming out of Mr Trump’s mouth and showing up in writing, but he would never allow it, even if it were something we would accept. No, his intent, if he can, is to turn us into a voiceless, spineless colony, fit only for what we – and our resources – can do for him and his wealthy cronies. Mr Trump is known for his vengefulness, and he would surely punish us as much as possible.

But in this muddle of Mr Trump’s deceitful pomposity is a bigger worry, and that’s the lies we are telling ourselves. Unlike Trump’s, however, ours are lies of denial, of shock, of fear. 51st state? That’s just a joke. It’s in bad taste, but it’s a joke. The border and tariffs? He’s not serious. It’s just bluster. It’s a negotiating tactic. He’s not going to do tariffs, for sure. He would hurt his own people too much. Besides, we know how to do this. We handled him last time. We got this.

The truth is that we need to grow up and recognise Trump’s behaviour for what it is. This time he’s a very different animal. He’s experienced. He has been planning for four years and has for the most part installed in government a bunch of stooges whose only qualification is unwavering loyalty and an ability to do whatever they’re told; certainly thinking is not a requirement. This time, he has a very definite if peculiar agenda. That’s why he’s repeatedly telling these falsehoods. Say something enough and those around you will start to believe it just through sheer repetition. And through this behaviour he will also create lots of support for whatever action he decides to take against us.

I have heard it said in some quarters that Mr Trump’s tariffs against us – and likely Mexico as well – are enclosed inside a Trojan Horse, and I agree. All of the bombast around how we have to fix the border – we have now spent more than a billion dollars on appeasing him over these so-called issues and there will be more – or face tariffs, is, as I have suspected from the beginning, nothing but a distraction from his real purpose. To me, his clear agenda has always been to try to cripple our economy, to break us, to force us to dance to his tune. To play the puppet master and take enjoyment from our discomfort and fear. To generate lots of breathless attention on his leadership prowess.

To put it bluntly, Mr Trump is likely going to try to force us to our knees by economically corralling us into some sort of terrified acceptance of him as our “leader.”

In the 11th hour, Mr Trump, continuing to enjoy his role as puppet master, paused the tariffs. There was a collective sigh of relief all over the country, but I could also hear the whining and complacency returning: can’t we go back to normal? I just want things the way they were. But there’s another saying that we need to remember: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

We have been explicitly warned. There are certain things we have that Mr Trump wants, and and he will continue to try to get them. So whether or not we have to deal with tariffs, it’s incumbent on us to insist that our elected officials take appropriate actions to protect us from ever having to experience this again.

In other words, it’s high time that we go our own way, disentangling ourselves from the U.S, taking down interprovincial trade barriers, expanding our markets, buying local, and never, never making a so-called free trade agreement with the U.S. ever again.

Remember all those falsehoods I listed? Does any one of us really think that there won’t be more? Lots more? And that like the so-called border problems, they will all have moving targets at their core that depend on Mr Trump’s puppet master whims or whatever deceitful and/or bizarre pronouncements that fall out of his mouth? Let’s not forget, even though Mr Trump constantly presents himself as some sort of genius businessman who thinks “outside the box” he’s probably the only business owner on the face of the planet who has gone bankrupt operating a casino.

And additionally, when we see the underlings such as Howard Lutnick, Mr Trump’s choice for head of the commerce department, who during a press conference shouted that we Canadians need to “respect” the United States, we know without a doubt that we are truly finished with any sort of nation-to-nation relationship.

Many of us have friends and family in the U.S. and those personal relationships shouldn’t change, but as a national entity, the United States is no longer an ally, friend or even an acquaintance. For all practical intents and purposes, we’re adversaries, and should common sense prevail causing Mr Trump to withdraw the financial losses he plans to inflict on us and his own citizens, going forward we should be extremely dubious of any kind of trade agreement. And respect? That’s earned, not bestowed.

For the most part, we Canadians are easy-going, live-and-let-live people, probably too much so. But threaten our sovereignty and we will get our backs up. In short, Mr Trump has mistaken our kindness for weakness, thereby exposing what he really thinks of us. Not all relationships, even exceptional ones, have an indefinite shelf life, and it’s clear to me that that is what has now transpired. When you declare economic war on your so-called “best friend and ally,” then it’s time to move on.

84 thoughts on “The Lies We Tell Ourselves”

  1. Power to you, Lynette, and your country and fellow citizens. Individual instability is dangerous, when in positions of power, more than doubly so. You have a dangerous opponent. And, as you rightly say, complacency won’t defeat dangerous and volatile opponents.

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    1. Thank you very much for your support, Phil. Right now, Canadians are extremely angry and we need to use that to our advantage by implementing the changes we need to make. As you can tell, I’m concerned that complacency will come home to roost again and you’re right, it won’t defeat dangerous and volatile opponents.

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  2. Well said. The man is a bully and narcissist. Why 76 million people voted for him astonishes me. He pretends he’s all for the common man when he’s nothing of the sort. He threatens and blisters and most of what he says is made up. What worries me most though is who he’s got around him, pulling the strings.

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    1. Thank you very much, Jude. I completely agree. I can’t believe that that many supported him, either. Fully half of eligible voters. He’s really nothing but a showman; it’s all smoke and mirrors with no substance except for his very base emotions. Yes, the people he has installed in government are very concerning and then there are the “others” such as Elon Musk. For the most part, a bizarre and unstable group.

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  3. Excellent post and articulately succinct, Lynette. Many of us in the US are living in fear. At the moment, it’s the middle of the night and I’m awake, because of the fear and anxiety trump is causing. What can I do to protect myself and my loved ones from his bullying and threats? I’m searching for answers. Musk now has access to the Social Security system; why, no one seems to know. But the fact that he and his cronies have access to our private information is terrifying. It’s unfathomable to realize he is destroying our country. I didn’t vote for him, I do not support him, I will resist every step of the way, even though I’m terrified of the future.

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    1. Thank you very much, Tricia. I am so sorry to hear of this but I also understand it, much more than I thought possible even a year ago. I have read about Elon Musk and how on Trump’s orders, he’s trying to make over your public service in his own bizarre image. I agree that it’s terrifying, Tricia. Like Trump, he’s capricious and vengeful, and that makes him very dangerous. There’s power in numbers though, and since Trump seems to hate the U.S. west coast because there’s opposition to him there, maybe it’s time for you three states to consider going your own way as well? You certainly have the economy to do it. Please know that Canadians feel for all Americans who are trapped in this terrible situation.

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      1. You’re spot on there, Lynette. We just happen to be in California at the moment and have learned it’s the fifth largest economy in the world; wow. Personally, I think it would be awesome for the three west coast states to join Canada.

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        1. Yes, California has a huge economy and would be perfectly capable of going it alone or perhaps with both other west coast states. I don’t know if you have a mechanism for separation (we do – there’s legislation in place) but maybe the time has come to start investigating that. I can’t see that there would be any opposition to welcoming you into this country if a plurality wanted to join. It’s definitely an interesting thought! The continental west coast (or as it’s called here, the left coast or wet coast 😉) has a lot in common. Try to be good to yourself as you wade (as we all wade) through this difficult time. Cheers.

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          2. Unfortunately, states wanting to leave is what led to the Civil War. As a country, we are not designed to separate – appealing as it is right now! New England joining the Maritimes, the west coast joining BC, has immense appeal!

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          3. Thanks very much for the information. I knew that your civil war was over the south’s desire to separate but I wasn’t aware that there hadn’t been the development of any sort of legislation responding to that in the interim.

            However, I think we might be rather unusual in the sense that we have a set of democratic mechanisms in place to follow if a province or territory wants to leave. Took years to develop them as you might imagine. In the end it’s not in the overall political best interests of any country to make separation easy. But if it comes to it, New England would definitely be welcome, too! Cheers.

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  4. As a citizen of the US I say “I’m sorry” about him. He is a menace to good things I believe in, like treating your best international ally with respect. He enjoys chaos, always looking for ways to exploit it in his favor. While I take no joy in saying “I told you so” to people who voted for him, I predict that’s going to be my go-to phrase for years to come. In the meantime, please know that I don’t personally know a single person, on either side of the political divide, who dislikes Canadians and would want y’all to be the 51st state. 🙄

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    1. Thank you very much, Ally, but the ones who should be apologising are those who elected him. I agree that there must be some level of regret going on for a lot of people at this point especially considering what he’s now planning to inflict on the Palestinians, and likely using your military to try to accomplish his grotesque plans. I’ve been hearing comparisons to Hitler, and while I initially thought that was going too far, I now have to agree that he’s showing all the signs of the same sort of megalomania. We know that many Americans are feeling embarrassment and/or shame at what Trump is trying to do; that’s something that many Canadians are keeping front and centre right now. I have American friends who will always be friends, but I intensely dislike your president, his toadies and the people who put him there.

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  5. Good on you for saying what most rational Canadians and Americans have been thinking for the past few months. Bullies, bully to get their way. They stomp their tiny little foot and people fall into line. Diplomacy and reason do not work with narcissists and psychopaths, because you can not reason with the unreasonable. And, if you need further proof of his plans, look at all he is destroying in America, by putting his unqualified sycophants in charge. He will smash it all to bits and then resurrect even a tiny bit of hope, crowing what a good thing he has done. So, Canadians, we need to drop all internal trade barriers today, we need to start new pipelines or run massive tanker trains across to the Eastern coast and also send new tanker ships through the Panama, while Panama still operates it, we need to stop the import of oil by Eastern Canada, we need to start new trade deals with other countries, we need to get to 2% GDP on the armed forces today, we need to double up protection on our border, not to keep people and fentanyl out of the U.S., but to keep people, fentanyl and guns from coming up from the U.S., as they have long done and we need to stop making what Trump is doing seem like it is justified. He is a liar and you can not trust him, even for one second. Buckle up, its gonna get bumpy, but with his threat to Gaza, Greenland, Panama, China, Britain and the EU, we now have friends in the fight who can not longer sit on the sidelines. Oh Canada, No to 51st or any state. Allan

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      1. Nope. I gave at the office. 😉But, we need more than just a photo op PM, looking for a place to happen. We do not need Poilievre, who is Trump Light and has been on the U.S. podcasts talking about taking similar steps in Canada. It is always a problem when a social conscience is mistaken for socialism.

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        2. Agreed! No Poilievre! Trump’s platform is his platform. The last thing we need is that narcissistic sociopath sitting in the PMO. If that’s the case, wave good-bye to our sovereignty because Peter Pee Pants will sell us out.

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    2. Hi Allan, thank you very much. I agree with everything you say here, but I worry that people will want to go back to what they know, although I see hope in what Trudeau is doing (more leadership coming from him now than he ever did in the past, in my little opinion) to diversify. I am completely opposed to any renewal of CUSMA, though. I don’t mean that we shouldn’t have agreements with the U.S., but they should be much narrower in scope. “Free trade” puts us in a very precarious position, totally dependent on the vagaries of the U.S. electorate. We need to let CUSMA just die a natural death. Trump is completely out of control and headed towards megalomania. I can’t believe what he’s trying to do to the Palestinians. It’s totally illegal and completely immoral. Agreed that opposition to him from all over the world is starting coalesce. We’ll probably see some strange bedfellows – Iraq springs to mind – but we have to stay fixed on what’s best for us. For sure it’s going to get bumpy; I’m even hearing people say that they’re concerned he might trigger a world war. It’s certainly not impossible, given the hallucinations he seems to have.

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      1. The Democrats are trying to regroup for the midterms. What they don’t yet see is that if Trump is successful in what he does in the first 100 days, there will be no midterms and no Presidential term limits. He is throwing everything out there from Project 2025 seeing what will stick to the wall. You can not trust a word he says and his whole hand off the bible during his pledge is nothing more that takesie backsies. This just came in about Musk and minions

        AttachmentIMG_1964.PNG

        We need to find other rational countries to align with and sell U.S. snowbird properties and keep away from U.S. travel. I think an American Revolution is in the offing and then his international enemies will strike. Gilead is not far away.

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        2. Hi Allan, I wasn’t able to open that attachment. Please send it again if you can. I agree that we have to find other rational countries to align with and also have to seriously curtail U.S. travel, products and services. I think you might be right about another war there. That’s if he doesn’t start a world war first. Yup, Gilead isn’t so fictional any more.

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          3. Thanks Lynette. 30% devalued Trump, but still Trump. Its telling that more people want the Conservatives than want Poilievre. Spoiling ballots or sitting home is not an option in the coming election.

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  6. Well said Lynette. I read an article yesterday in the Guardian that compares Trump’s actions to an abusive husband. It says more than this but this line stuck out to me ‘What makes an abusive parent or spouse, or an abusive dictator, or Trump, especially terrifying? They’re unpredictable. They lash out in ways that are hard to anticipate.’
    It sounds like an apt description and he is very good at that role. I believe, as you, that he wants Canada to be a part of the US. He wants our resources, but also our arctic waterways.
    It is equally frightening to see what he’s trying to do to Palestine. Saying there’s nothing left for the people but rubble, while sitting next to the man who inflicted that damage is almost comical. And thinking he has any sort of right to that land is beyond comprehension.
    It seems that some of your message is being heard. Provinces are talking about easing up the inter provincial rules and Quebec is even considering allowing the pipeline to run through the province. So, maybe we’ll be stronger over all in the end.
    Great article Lynette, Maggie

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    1. The trouble is many think we are dealing with a rational, reasonable person. He has adopted the Wal-Mart style of negotiation. Every 6 months, suppliers must reduce the price of the product or improve it or they lose the contract. We have to allow the Americans to deal with Trump. Danielle still thinks she can reason with him. She likely can, but she will need to drop the price of our oil by another $5/barrel and then more and more and more. Sell everything elsewhere or go broke trying.

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        1. What I do not understand is why she continues to tell the press what Canada needs to do and yet keeps at arms length from Team Canada. Why is she a Federal spokesperson when she hates the feds? And, can we please stop using the term czar for everyone in charge of something. That’s the U.S. solution and czar is a Slavic term for monarch or king. Use boss or administrator.

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      2. Danielle is one of his grovellers and has talked herself into believing that she influenced him. She drank some of his koolaid while she was down there kissing his ring. Trump dropped the oil tariffs to 10 % to mollify his base; he probably doesn’t even remember who she is, if he even registered her in the first place. (Trump: premier from where? Albania? Algeria? Armenia?) The U.S. currently enjoys lower prices from us. All we have to do is raise the price to the going world rate.

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        1. As a Libertarian, her playbook matches many in MAGA (no longer GOP). All she did by visiting Mar-a-Lago was let him know where he could squeeze and to go with Mr. Wonderful, that says a lot. Trudeau also should not have gone to Mar-a-Lago. He just became the foil for Trump’s 51st state jokes. Nobody is saying the quiet part out loud….you can never win an argument or reason with a narcissist. The target just keeps moving and after the 30 day lull, it will move again. The current price for Alberta crude only came to be because of Rachel jumping in to make alternate shipping means available for our oil (tankers and getting Trudeau to buy the TMX). We need to move it East and get the demand and the price up again.

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          1. I agree that Trudeau and LeBlanc made the worst possible decision to go down there. They completely demeaned themselves and of course so did Smith. Question: is Mr Wonderful Kevin O’Leary? Agreed; there’s no winning an argument with a narcissist – I actually think he’s probably a sociopathic narcissist given how he likes to watch people squirm and even more so now with his intentions towards the Palestinians. Those poor people. I don’t even know what to say. Agreed that the oil needs to go east; as you said, trains will work very well.

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    2. Thank you very much, Maggie. I think that the comparison to an abusive spouse is very fitting . I agree completely with that quote. There is no way that we will ever be able to anticipate what Trump will do or say largely because he doesn’t know himself. He knows the broad strokes of what he wants, but otherwise I think he revels in scaring people and in the end that dominates everything he does. Lord Acton said “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Through those executive orders and the grovellers who surround him, he’s totally playing out that statement.

      Agreed that he’s after our waterways and resources, but I would bet money that at the end of this tariff pause, he’s going to come back with more stuff we have to do do avoid them again such as opening more fully our banking and our agricultural management. That’s where we are going to have to be extremely tough. There shouldn’t be any negotiation in those areas at all and any politician who goes near them is no longer acting in our best interests.

      And Palestine? Those poor people. I’m stunned at what he’s proposing and yes, there’s Netanyahu standing there smirking. Trump’s megalomania is in full bloom. I believe it’s possible that he could trigger a world war.

      Fingers crossed that the feds and the provinces take us down a better road where we can grow and stand on our own two feet. I’m really hoping!

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      1. When he mentioned our banks, I got very nervous. There’s good reason why our system didn’t collapse when their’s did.
        And your comments about Poilieve are very true. It’s scarey that he could be our voice. I’m still rooting for Carney.

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        1. I agree! I became very nervous as well! Our banking system is one of the best in the world and certainly a lot better than the American system.

          For the first time in my life, I joined a political party (the Liberals) so that I could vote in a leadership election. I want Carney, too. I’ve never believed in being a card-carrying member of a party, but this time I’m going to do all I can to help him win. He’s the one we need to deal with Trump.

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  7. You hit all the right notes with me, Lynette. An excellent piece! As a country we have to act now to protect our interests; expand our trade and break down interprovincial trade barriers. The bully is going to strike again, we have to be ready next time and the times after that. We’re not going back.

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    1. Thank you very much, Belinda. I couldn’t agree more; we can’t go back. As long as we learn our lesson here, it’s unlikely that we will. Taking down the interprovincial trade barriers and expanding our markets will help a lot to keep us on our feet, but when the time comes we will have to dig in and persevere, too. I hope that we can.

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  8. Hi Lynette. I do not agree with your assessment of these things, but I understand that you want to defend your country. I see only those who agree with you are responding, so I’ll tamp down the urge to defend my country in the spirit of not causing division here.

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    1. I understand, Lori, and I’m so sorry. This isn’t meant to be personal (it always is though, isn’t it?) but Canadians are very, very angry right now, probably the angriest I have seen in my lifetime, and it crosses all demographic lines. While some of this situation is our own fault, we also don’t deserve what has been coming our way so we have to do what we have to do.

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      1. I understand there are Canadians who are mad. I’m trying not to react from emotions in return, because the last administration brought this country to a new low. My family is struggling financially, and I’ve been optimistic this change will bring us relief. I also have some Canadian friends who are angry with the government there. One of them recently moved to Texas. I know she’d like to get back there someday. I’m also optimistic that relations will improve between our two countries.

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  11. You’re absolutely right, Lynette. Canada has become far too complacent in recent years and if anything needs to start doing a better job at interprovincial trade, becoming less dependent on a single market (ie the US) and protecting our own interests. It’s a shame it took something like a potential tariff war to encourage Canadians to buy local when that’s something we should (and could) have been doing much earlier. But here we are.

    While we might have delayed tariffs for the time being, it comes at the cost of now having to satisfy Trump’s other demands of strengthening security at the border. But more importantly, now Trump knows this tactic works. And who knows what the next threat will be and what else we’ll have to give in (or give up) to reach a compromise. There’s nothing to be gained when trying to reason with a bully, especially when that bully is irrational.

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    1. If there’s one unintentionally positive thing that Trump has done for us, it’s that we’re now beginning to act like an adult country. It’s important that we keep that momentum going over the long term, because I believe that we have some hard times coming our way, possibly including a recession. Totally, Linda, it’s really terrible that it took tariff threats to wake us up and get us thinking about ourselves and our country from a grown up perspective.

      I couldn’t agree with you more, Linda. When this tariff pause is finished, he’s going to come back with some other requirement to blackmail us with; I suspect it will be around our banks and/or agriculture. And on those we are going to have to do a hard no. That’s where we’re going to have to dig in while we realign our trade and economy.

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  12. Lynette, I don’t talk about politics on WordPress, but honestly….as a US citizen (who did not vote for this person) all I can say is I am so sorry for all of us.

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    1. I usually don’t, either. In 12 years of blogging, this is my second political post (the first one was a month ago on the same topic). Thank you very much, but Canadians know that half of the American populace voted against him and that many of you are just as aghast as we are at Trump’s conduct. If the shoe were on the other foot, many of us would feel embarrassed and ashamed also. Good luck to us all as we deal with this guy.

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  13. Lynette, you are too kind to call him Mr. Trump. He doesn’t deserve that respect. I wholeheartedly agree with you that it’s time to move on. What his tariffs and threats have done is brought Canadians closer together, made us realize our valuable resources and how to support each other by buying Canadian. Apparently our government is now embarking on oil trade with China rather that the US and that Ontario’s premier has torn up Musk’s starlink contract. I hope that will remain. I do not want to pay my tax dollar to that scumbag (see how a Canadian can be impolite). I have a lot of compassion for the Americans who did not vote for what they are getting but find themselves having to suffer because of the ignorance of so many people who fell for the con man and his racist hoodlums. Thank you, Lynette for posting this and I hope that those who still cheer him on become aware of the dangers this current lying white house administration poses. Hope that they open their eyes before they find themselves losing everything. ❤ xxx Proud to be Canadian.

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    1. Thank you very much, Carol, and you’re welcome. I’m trying to stay away from these childish nicknames that he uses (and Trump’s mini-me, Pierre Poilievre, does the same although somewhere here I think I called him Peter Pee Pants) but you’re right, he doesn’t deserve it.

      I agree that an unintentional advantage that Trump has given us is a renewed sense of our commitment to our country as well as forcing us to become a more adult country that doesn’t just rely on its wealthy and (formerly) friendly neighbour to buy our stuff. I hope that these threats result in a total economic realignment for us, one where we stand on our own two feet and can’t be threatened in this manner. Before we can completely see that through though we are likely going to be tested by some hard times. We are going to need to dig in and persevere.

      I also feel great compassion for Americans who didn’t vote for that charlatan; they are caught in a terrible situation especially as Trump can be so vindictive.

      Yes, proud to be Canadian! ❤️

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  14. Where to start? Maybe with a Judge Judy quip about teenagers, adapted for current need: “Q: When is Donald Trump lying? A: When his lips are moving.” Facts are irrelevant, to him and to his movement: they are driven by the dogma of resurgent Manifest Destiny and American Exceptionalism. Still, many in the rest of the world do care about facts & about truth — thank you for putting it on record.

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    1. You’re very welcome, Penny. I feel that as he piles lie upon lie, it’s important for us not to lose focus or become distracted by the next lie. I love your adapted quip and I couldn’t agree more! Apparently his “hero” is William Mckinley who did tariffs and a lot of territorial expansion; Trump wants to go down in history as some kind of, yes, exceptional Nobel prize winning president. I don’t think it’s going too far to say that the way this is shaping up, he might go down the same way Hitler did.

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  15. Hmm, I’ve just read more of the comments. I want to add, for American readers, that we Canadians don’t oppose Americans voting for one party or another, in accordance with which party they think most relevant to their own needs. That is the right thing, the logical thing, to do. What we oppose is a politician telling outright lies, to justify his ambitions. The new administration has the right to talk to us about any issue that concerns it. It does not have the right to build its case on lies. The issue isn’t a difference of political viewpoint; the issue is the deliberate use of lies to present that viewpoint. (Well, there’s another issue: the casual assumption that of course we’d rather be part of somebody else’s country!)

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    1. Thank you for making that important distinction; you’re absolutely right, Penny. Exactly, it really doesn’t matter who voted for whom, it’s the constant deceit and the fact that people are either happily drinking in the deceptions, unable to apply any critical thinking skills to what he says at all or that they’re now so scared that taking action against him could very well result in job losses or worse. Unfortunately, Trump and his cronies don’t care about truth, law or principles. As long as he gets what he wants, he doesn’t care about the how. And yes, the casual assumption that we want to be American – after all, who wouldn’t??? – is another.

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      1. I have to point out here that you ARE American – being part of North America. Trump’s assumption that only residents of the United States are Americans is just sloppy (and arrogant!) thinking.

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  16. An opinion survey, discussed on CBC radio in mid-January, had found that most of the Americans polled who said they support their president’s 25%-across-the-board tariffs on imported Canadian products (albeit a minority opinion) suddenly changed their minds if that tariff ends up costing them that much more for those products. The Only If It’s In My Own Back Yard mindset is depressingly alive and well, even between supposedly good neighbours. (With Donald’s twisted mentality, it’s more like: ‘… ESPECIALLY between good neighbours’.)

    Meantime, Donald Trump likely fears appearing impotent by NOT unilaterally intimidating and/or exploiting via absurdly unjust tariffs against the comparably insubstantial nation, notably Canada, that resists his skewed concept of equality.

    Here, the school-bully analogy is warranted and befitting, that about he whose expectation of his rightful fair share will always be three-quarters of the pie. He is especially angered by the relative weakling who in the least stands up to him.

    And, unfortunately for Canada, this dynamic can and does extend beyond dealing with the U.S. under Trump’s presidential thumb. … There’s been a particular irritation noticeably expressed by China’s government, and lately even India’s, when our government — unlike with, say, mighty American assertiveness — dared to anger/embarrass them, even when on reasonable and/or just grounds.

    Most recently, Canada dealt (at least somewhat) firmly with India’s government after Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh separatist, was assassinated in Surrey, B.C., last year. Undoubtedly already aware of the diplomatic furor likely to come, even at Canada’s expense, an investigation nonetheless resulted in Canada charging three Indian nationals for the murder.

    In China’s case, its leadership seemed particularly angered by the relatively weak Canada having been the one to detain (on Dec.1, 2018) and hold on (albeit luxurious) house arrest Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive and daughter of the tech corporation’s founder. Considering that a U.S. arrest warrant obligated Canada to detain her, why didn’t Beijing publicly express similar bluster towards Washington D.C. and, most notably, the then first administration of Donald Trump? Because size thus capability definitely matters?

    It could also be that more national governments around the globe are feeling and expressing a growing sense of foreign relations and power-politics entitlement toward militarily and/or economically weaker nations, including Canada — one that we are expected to simply get used to.

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    1. Thank you very much for your thoughtful addition to the comments. I would add that I think China and Russia are at this point playing with Trump. They are much more experienced and knowledgeable than he will ever be about the game he’s trying to play and I believe one or both of them are going to lead him into a trap. It’s possible that we may wind up in the way of that, too.

      Agreed, he probably fears being seen as impotent – he’s a narcissistic sociopath, so there’s really no question – and we’re an easy target. I believe that with us he will be confronting the fish that gets away if we do what’s necessary NOW and avoid falling into appeasement (Smith, Moe and Legault) or complacency (U.S. generally). Sooner or later (sooner would be better) we need to stop these silly trips of supplication to Trumpistan in hopes of minimising his greedy appetite for our resources. Focussing on us and what we need to do for us would be a much better use of their, and our, time.

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    1. They sure don’t! Not only are Canadians incredibly angry at his threats against us but we are also very alarmed at his internal actions too, including his statements about the efficacy of the judiciary. And then there’s Elon Musk. Oh my …

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  18. I love there are so many comments and so many worries about situation. However, my dear friends, we have to be so active all the time, not only when the enemy at the gate. We have to worry about our own country, our politicians and other many things affected our life. Our politicians recall us when they are going for election and in between they forget what they promised to do, and forget about people who build this country.

    Lynette, personal thanks for arising this discussion.

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    1. You’re very welcome, Alexander. I agree that it’s our responsibility to constantly be proactive about what our politicians are doing and to remind them of who put them there. Thanks for taking the time to join the discussion.

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  19. Bravo, Lynette. Merci! Thank you for sharing these important facts. It warms my heart to see the comments as well. It really irks me but also worries me what is going on. Since January 20th, we have been bombarded with threats and lies. What has relieved some worry is that this is the first time in a very very long time I have felt Canadians pulling together…something that should be natural any day, every day. I look forward to your posts and really love your photography…stunning! Oliana from Montreal.

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    1. De rien. I agree. I guess every disaster has a silver lining, doesn’t it? Trump has really triggered our patriotism and forced us into recognising the value of what we have here. I think this situation has also made us begin grow up, too. Putting all our eggs in one economic basket always had a catch and the catch has now come home to roost, so to speak.

      Some people, including some of the premiers, are still hoping that we can “get back to normal,” (Moe, Smith, Holt) but they’re in denial. I hope the travesty of Trump’s treatment of Zelenskyy awakened them to the reality of our situation: we’re living next door to a madman and his stooges.

      Thank you very much for your kind comments; much appreciated.

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      1. Yes the 3 stooges were funny, pretending to not know any better and were harmless , unfortunately the 3 stooges running America are dangerous and not really pretending to know , I think

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