Time to choose.
Do you support Canada, or do you support the hostile power that intends to use “economic force” against us?
Do you support this country, or the dyspeptic Yankee president-elect who refers to us as the 51st state and who publishes maps showing that we no longer exist?
Because, make no mistake, that is the choice, now: Donald Trump or Canada. And what Trump is actively promoting is not entirely unlike the pro-Hamas forces’ “from the river to the sea,” is it? It means that Trump wants to see an imagined adversary wiped off the map.
Us.
The Canadian fans of Trump – less than 20% of us, and a number that is shrinking with every passing day – have a standard response to any of this. They use it all the time.
This is what they start with: “Trump is joking! It’s not serious.”
When that inevitably fails, they say: “You’ve got Trump Derangement Syndrome, snowflake.”
And then, when it becomes apparent to everybody that Trump is indeed serious about imposing his manifest destiny madness on Canada (and Mexico, Panama, Denmark, and Greenland), they say: “I agree with him. Our country doesn’t exist anymore. It’s all Trudeau’s fault.”
Rinse and repeat.
No fan of Justin Trudeau is this writer. There are several hundred opinion columns over more than a decade to prove it. So, forgive us for pointing out that Justin Trudeau wasn’t the one talking about using “economic force.” It was Donald Trump. With his own mouth.
And, while we are on the subject of the soon-to-be-departed Liberal leader, here’s another headshaker: The people in Canada who love Trump and wanted Trudeau gone? They are now blaming Trudeau for leaving when Trump is threatening to use “force” against us.
Pick a lane, Trumpkins.
Consider this, too: Trump isn’t going after Canada simply because he objects to the woke-ist government of Trudeau. On Tuesday, in his rambling and saturnalian press conference in Florida, Trump went after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as well. Viciously.
Trump said he “didn’t care” about the eminently reasonable pro-Canada stance of Canada’s Tory leader. “I don’t care what he says,” said Trump about Poilievre. That’s a direct quote.
So there you go. Trump isn’t just attacking Canada because of Trudeau, folks — he’s attacking the man who is almost certainly going to be prime minister after the next election, as well. (So much for the vaunted influence of Conservative MP Jamil Jivani on his college buddy JD Vance, by the by.)
Who speaks for Canada now? Ontario Premier Doug Ford, for one. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, for another – who put aside his personal political ambitions to confront the Trump threat. This newspaper, too, whose Wednesday front page expressed it perfectly: PUT CANADA FIRST!
That is indeed the choice. Put Canada first, or put Trump first. You cannot do both.
Many Canadians have been in denial, in recent weeks. Since the moment Trump posted his intention to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods coming into the United States – which will indisputably send our economy into an economic tailspin, and likely a recession – many Canadians have refused to believe it.
Don’t the Americans remember that we fought on their side against the Nazis, against the Taliban, against many other foes over many years? Don’t they know that we have deeply integrated economies, and cultures, and values? Don’t they recall that we have always been their best and closest ally?
None of that matters anymore. Not with the new guy. Donald Trump is saying, over and over, what he intends to do. It is in our self-interest to start believing him.
And it is time for Canadians to choose: Stand with him, or stand with us.
And if you’re with him, get the hell out.
We don’t want or need you.