Canadian Politics Redux

@HughFreakingDillon .. I chose this excerpt from your post:

"Second, Canada must invest in real autonomy focused on defence, Arctic security, cyber capacity, and supply-chain resilience. Not to oppose the U.S., but to avoid being cornered by it."

I think in general, everything this person is opining on comes from a viewpoint of hope, not realism. 

I don't think we're anywhere close to being able to invest in our country right now. To me this is based on our already high taxes, lack of infrastructure, in-fighting, lack of global investment. (see Stellantis, etc.) 

To be equally as blunt and honest as they are being... the grim truth to me is that we are too small and too weak. 

I agree that more than ever we should be united... but we are not. Even if we were... we still require money and people that we just don't have. 

I've said it before... I think our best option is to wait out the Trump storm.  An allegiance with the U.S. is our very best option to be prosperous and to also make America prosperous. 

I think Trump is literally expecting our leaders to be having the same conversation we are. Trying to figure out how to not only survive, but thrive without the U.S. I think he knows they are coming to similar conclusions. 

HughFreakingDillon said:

I think where we need to be is somewhere in the middle of that opinion and what some say we should do just "kiss the ring". But I don't think we're weak. But I do think we have depended on a handshake and trust for far too long. It worked for the most part, until douchebag came into it. Which is a good thing. Carney is diversifying, which we probably should have done a long time ago. Putting all or most of our eggs in one basket is never a good idea, even with your "best friend". 

I think what I'm getting at is... how many eggs do we really have to place where we please? And if we do diversify, does that give us more eggs, or less.  I believe less.  The only chance we have to succeed is with help. I've used this analogy especially with regards to Trump. (It also applied to PJ's fight with Ticketmaster.)  To defeat a bully that is much larger than you, you need numbers and help. 

In me saying we are weak compared to the US... very, very, very, very much so. Not that Trump has a lot to do with that... Population, economy, military, technology... we're not even close. What we're also seeing everyday is our comparison with regards to global influence which....  US also dominates. 

I don't know. Maybe it's splitting hairs, but I wouldn't call us weak. We just bring different things to the table. If you are looking at sheer numbers, most other countries look "weak" in terms of the US. But right now, in terms of respectability, the US is one of the weakest. Trump has been an asshole, and so we've moved on. Carney isn't flipping the bird to the US, he's just saying "we have other options, you can't bully us the way you think you can". Isolationism is never good for anybody (except the powerful), but if that's what Trump wants to do, he's going to do that, to the detriment of his own people. We are building new alliances and relationships, and that can only increase our standing on the global stage. 

I'm glad we have a new leader, cuz I don't think JT could have gotten this done. We'll see if Carney can, but as of now, I have confidence.