Canada is at War with the USA

Make no mistake: Canada is at war with the USA, and our government tacitly acknowledged that last week. It might not be bullets and bombs, but right now Canada is under a staggering barrage of USian insults, lies, broken promises and contracts, illegal actions, tariffs, disinformation, and outright threats from the US dictator, his administration, and his MAGA supporters and influencers. The attack is as disingenuous and vicious as anything Putin has thrown at Ukraine. Not surprising, considering how Donald Trump has shown himself to be a close friend to Putin. He is very likely a Russian asset because he is helping achieve Putin’s goal of destabilizing Western democracies.

Canada has been accused of political interference in US politics, risibly by the very USian people who deliberately interfered in Canadian politics and supported the treasonous Alberta separatists, and funded the insurrectionist convoy. Astute political watchers know this is just one of many lies Trump will use to deny any midterm elections that don’t favour his MAGA candidates. But saying Trump lies is a truism, like saying water is wet.

Canada has been attacked economically and socially by Trump through tariffs, accusations, and anti-Canadian policies. Canada has even been threatened with invasion by him and his sycophant Lutnick. The “51st state” rhetoric Trump has frequently stated was not a joke: it remains Trump’s policy. All Canadians need to take it seriously.*

Of course, Canada is not alone in being attacked or at war with the USA. Trump has aligned himself with several dictators, especially Putin and Xi, to help them destabilize Western democracies through his insults, attacks, lies, and threats. Along with Canada, Denmark, Colombia, Brazil, Panama, Iceland, South Africa, and the EU in general have been threatened. Plus, he has attacked or threatened several non-democracies, including Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, Oman, and Cuba. He has — so far — bombed eight nations, threatened eight more. His term is barely half-over, and there are many other nations to bully, threaten, coerce, and, of course, bomb. As he grows increasingly erratic and vicious, Canada — which he has frequently stated angers him for our defiance and courage — might be one of those next nations he bombs.

Readers may have seen the famous quote from Carl von Clausewitz‘s book, On War, written as, “War is a mere continuation of policy by other means.” But what he actually wrote in Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 24 is a bit more subtle: “…war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, carried on with other means… The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and means can never be considered in isolation from their purpose.” **

By that definition, Trump’s trade war (combined with his propaganda and disinformation war against us) and his frequent identification of Canada as the enemy that needs to be subjugated is just that: an actual war. Not yet broken out in fighting and invasion, but that may come. One is reminded both of Putin’s threats to Ukraine before invading, and Hitler’s threats to Poland in 1939.

Not everyone in his administration is as stupid as Trump, Hegseth, or his ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra. Many in Trump’s cabinet are as voraciously greedy and egregiously corrupt as his family members, but unlike them, they are relatively smart. They are also tightly focused on using their positions to grift as much as possible from the USian people during their time in office. They, like everyone in the Repugnican Party, have no morals or ethics, and will start a war with former allies if it enriches themselves. Heed the relentless anti-Canadian lies, threats, and rhetoric coming from Trump’s administration and his vice-president. They’re setting the stage to justify extreme action against us.

On October 29, PM Mark Carney rather quietly announced (as Tod Maffin tells us in his “Just Read the Damned Thing” video) the Plan for a Stronger Canada, the first national security strategy document released in two decades. Although some media repeated the accompanying release, I can find no media comment on or analysis of it, nor any questions reporters asked of the prime minister about it. However, CTV news covered it:

The release of the plan comes as the trade war with the United States deepens. Since re-entering the White House, U.S. President, Donald Trump has persistently vilified Canada and threatened to turn it into the 51st state. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Carney said he studied the “extreme tail risk” of U.S. military action against Canada.

I am unsure if he meant the risk was extreme or extremely unlikely. Nonetheless, Carney “studied” it because it was a possibility.

CTV’s piece quotes Wesley Wark, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, who said: “It’s clear that the message is around reducing Canada’s dependence on unreliable allies like the United States.” The USA is the only “unreliable ally” mentioned in the document.

On page 5 of the Plan, it says we should be prepared for the worst (emphasis added):

Strengthening Canada’s national security is a national imperative. We will:
• Be transparent and engage Canadians on the seriousness of the threats and the need for
effective responses.
• Prepare for all contingencies up to and including war and other worst-case scenarios.
• Pragmatically partner with countries who share our interests and work collectively
through variable geometry coalitions to strengthen our Strategic Capabilities and advance
our priorities.

The Plan, to be fair, is not a fully fleshed-out strategy: it is really a plan to create more plans sometime in the undefined future. But while it does not identify the USA as the enemy, it doesn’t say it is still an ally or even a friend. In fact, under National Security, it says Canada should develop,

A cooperative, clear-eyed relationship with the United States. We will work to maintain a relationship with the United States based on mutual respect, national sovereignty, and shared responsibility for the security of North America

That doesn’t say much on the surface, but it says a lot underneath. The USA is the only other nation mentioned in the document. Based on “mutual respect” is telling, since the USA and the Trump MAGA administration clearly have no respect for Canada, our institutions, our healthcare, our economy, or our sovereignty. Any “mutual respect” will only come from a later (non-MAGA) administration. It’s more like “mutual suspicion” right now.

Few Canadians respect or trust the USA and its administration at present (aside from the treasonous Maple MAGA, Danielle Smith and her UCP, and the rage-farming Trump mimic PoiLIEvre’s extremist base and his MP Jamil Jivani). “Clear-eyed” also suggests Canada has been wearing rose-coloured glasses in the past when inking trade, defence, and security agreements with the USA. Those days are gone. We wear cynical and suspicious lenses now.

Under Foreign Policy (p. 9), it says Canada must “Build a new partnership with the United States.” Which is an understated way of acknowledging that the long partnership and friendship we have had with the USA is no longer functional and has to be reconstructed — warily, given the USA’s recent turn to autocracy and fascism.***

Also under Foreign Policy, it says the government will produce a plan to “Diversify Canada’s trade relationships while protecting our national and economic security, including communities vulnerable to transnational repression.” But who are those “communities vulnerable to transnational repression” in the Plan? Are they internal or external to Canada? What exactly is “transnational repression”? Is it the MAGA effort to aid Alberta separatists?

PM Carney has already been working to diversify (i.e. find trading partners more reliable and trustworthy than the USA) Canada’s international trade. As Global News reported, at the latest EU summit, Carney signed an agreement with the EU to build stronger and more reliable relations, because the world has become “increasingly ‘dangerous and divided’ and where trade has become ‘weaponized.'” Carney later said of the agreement, clearly with an eye to Trump and the USA as the administration continues to try to bend Canada to its political will and make us a colony,

And above all, it’s about sovereignty, about being able to live our lives as we wish.

“We’re overdependent on the United States,” Carney said to DW’s Katharina Kroll at the Canada-EU summit in Montreal.

Further down, the Plan says we must, “Align Canada’s regional strategies (including the Indo-Pacific Strategy, the Africa Strategy and Arctic Foreign Policy) within a single, global, interest-based approach to foreign policy.” That’s another clue. Canada has to look elsewhere for economic and strategic alliances while our USian neighbour is at war with us and with other nations.

On page 11, the Plan notes

We will intensify efforts to counter foreign interference, espionage, violent extremism, and transnational organized crime, including sabotage, extortion, fraud, online exploitation, financial crime and money laundering, while protecting Canadians and our institutions from foreign information manipulation.

Again, the extremist MAGA cult and its overt efforts to influence right-wing Canadians, affect our politics, and drive Alberta separatism are not mentioned, but for anyone keeping pace with the news, it seems implied. Of course, there are serious threats from the autocracies as well, and they cannot be overlooked. But in the entire document, the word terrorism is not mentioned once.

When the Plan was released, Carney and several of his ministers made media-friendly statements about it; some were predictable, some poked the bear. I thought the comment from Anita Anand, our Minister of Foreign Affairs, was rather pointed (emphasis added):

Canada’s security and prosperity are increasingly shaped by events beyond our borders. In a more competitive and uncertain world, we must defend our sovereignty, advance our interests, and deepen cooperation with trusted partners. Our Plan for a Stronger Canada will strengthen our security, resilience, and international partnerships to protect Canadians and secure our future.

I wouldn’t call Trump’s attempts to bully or coerce nations into compliance and subservience “competitive.” I’d call them aggressive and illegal. And who are our trusted partners? The USA is certainly not one of them. Trump has made sure of that. We have to look further afield.

Other phrases in their comments are worth noting: “a rapidly changing, more dangerous, more divided world;” “stronger, more secure, and more resilient Canada that can stand on its own;” “Canada’s security and prosperity are increasingly shaped by events beyond our borders;” “safeguard our democratic institutions, and build resilience against the evolving threats facing our country;” ” deepening industrial partnerships around the world;” and “Canada is ready to respond to challenges at home and abroad.” All of them point to Canada standing alone from the USA and looking for security and economic relationships elsewhere.

The media release that accompanied the Plan’s release opens with (emphasis added):

The rules-based international order is eroding. Canada faces new and evolving threats to our sovereignty, from cyberattacks to the weaponisation of trade deals. The line between economic security and national security has disappeared, and therefore the requirements of sovereignty have changed. It is no longer enough for a country to feed, fuel, and defend itself. Canada’s security depends on the strength of our economy, the resilience of our institutions, and the partnerships we build with allies.

It did not say directly that Trump was mainly responsible for international order eroding, but we all know that’s the nudge-nudge-wink-wink message here. But let’s not get distracted by paperwork. The message is simple:

Canada is at war with the USA. Any Canadian who still vacations or winters in the USA is a Maple MAGA quisling colluding with the enemy.

Notes:

* Yes, I am aware that there are many decent, empathic, compassionate, moral, and intelligent USians who love Canada and are deeply concerned and embarrassed by how their own government has become a grifting, corrupt crime agency that is now enemy to democracies and friend to dictatorships. But unfortunately, there are no such people in the White House, none of them in the administration, and none in the Repugnican Party.

** Carl von Clausewitz: On War, edited and translated by Michael Howard and Peter Paret, Everyman’s Library no. 121, Alfred A Knopf, 1993. Originally published by Princeton University Press, 1976. The quote is found on page 99. For a source of credible quotations online, I recommend that you use en.wikiquote.org and avoid clickbait sites like a-zquotes, brainyquote, quotefancy, or others where there is no confirmation of the material, no restrictions on who can post quotes, and sources are not fully cited (if cited at all). These sites contain far too many misattributions and fakes (and ads). If the proper source (original speech, book, etc.) is not cited, then please do not share the material.
Military Strategy Magazine noted in an article about von Clausewitz that,

There is no ‘right’ definition of war – only definitions that are more or less useful for a given purpose. Clausewitz is interested in war in his own time because it reflected enormous changes taking place in politics and society. His principal concern is that war should serve as an instrument of policy for states with effective governments and regular armed forces – and be used to protect their independence and their honour. It is also an activity that can be to some extent ‘civilised’ by reason and by its separation from civilian life.

*** Which is why it is very troubling to read the need to “Increase contributions to the Five Eyes intelligence partnership, and strengthen and diversify intelligence partnerships elsewhere to expand Canada’s access, influence, and resilience.” As Tod Maffin points out, the USA is a member of the Five Eyes, and cannot be trusted with our data, personal information, or secrets. Give our data to the USA and it’ll be in Putin’s hands within minutes. Trump and the USA are not to be trusted with our data.
In the CTV article, national security analyst Stephanie Carvin said Canada primarily gets intelligence through its Five-Eyes allies in the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. But who benefits? She added,

We’ve been successfully doing that for a number of years. But what it means is that the intelligence that is collected is primarily serving American interests first, or British interest first. It may not be collected with Canadian interests in mind.

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