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I’m not in the habit of thanking Donald Trump for anything, much less for his increasingly specific threats to my country. They’re an intolerable affront to our sovereignty and independence as well as a reminder of how vulnerable we are to an American president who doesn’t understand or value the idea of friendship. But they have served at least one useful purpose: smoking out the traitors in our collective midst.
According to a Leger poll from December, 13 per cent of Canadians would like to see their country become the 51st state, as Trump has repeatedly suggested. The highest levels of disloyalty are among PPC supporters (25 per cent), the Conservative Party of Canada (21 per cent) and Albertans (19 per cent). If you can’t see the Venn diagram here, allow me to spell it out more clearly. Among Canadians, nobody is more enthusiastic about abandoning their country to the United States than Conservative Albertans.
That was validated by a more recent poll from Pallas Data, which found that 30 per cent of Conservative Party of Canada supporters and 24 per cent of Albertans want Canada to become the 51st state. And when asked what Canada should do about Trump’s threatened tariffs, 60 per cent of Conservative supporters think Canada “should do whatever it takes to ensure that the U.S. doesn’t impose tariffs,” with only 24 per cent saying Canada should take a tough stance on Trump’s “overblown” demand. Those figures are basically inverted among NDP and Liberal supporters.
There’s no shortage of extremely online freedom convoy supporters who, in an irony they can’t seem to appreciate, are vocally rooting for Canada’s surrender to Trump. But it’s not just online trolls that are embracing Trump’s attempt to troll an entire country. Former Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day, for example, seems positively intrigued by the idea of trading in his citizenship. Failed CPC leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary went to Mar-A-Lago in order, he said, to make the case for an economic union between the two countries (in reality, he was there to flog his bid for TikTok). And when the Prime Minister told Trump to pound sand, Conservatives seemed far more interested in criticizing Trudeau. “Outgoing political leaders, much like expired milk, shouldn’t make decisions,” said Patrick Malkin, the deputy chief of staff to Alberta premier Danielle Smith, in a since-deleted tweet.
Malkin’s boss, meanwhile, seems determined to do her best Neville Chamberlain impression. Smith has appeared on every Fox show her staff can book in an effort to sell Trump on Alberta’s value to his administration, which revolves entirely around the oil and gas it ships across the border. This approach assumes he’s open to fact-based persuasion, and ignores the fact that he’s made it clear repeatedly that he’d rather see Americans consume more American oil. Not surprisingly to anyone with even a passing familiarity with history, Smith’s attempts at appeasement have been met with ever-more specific and menacing threats.
And yet, despite Trump’s escalating rhetoric, Smith still refuses to cancel her trip to his inauguration. Never, not even once, has Smith called Trump out by name. Never, not even once, has she rejected the demonstrably false premises that he’s floated on behalf of his promised tariffs. And never, not even once, has she defended her country’s prime minister from American attacks or deferred to his government’s position in these negotiations. For Smith, it’s clearly party — and petroleum — over country.
So why are so many Canadian Conservatives welcoming, or at least entertaining, Trump’s advances? Because Justin Trudeau made them do it, apparently. His now infamous remark about how “there is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada” to fellow Canadian Guy Lawson in a 2015 New York Times magazine profile, one that spoke to his father’s vision for our national culture and its unique ability to embrace difference and diversity, has somehow become an invitation to disloyalty and cowardice. Never mind that it was an attempt to articulate a more inclusive view of our national identity, one that clearly set us apart from America. For many Conservatives in Canada, Trudeau’s belief in a “postnational” future was all the excuse they ever needed to betray their own country.
This is by far the most pitiful example yet of Trudeau-derangement syndrome, and that’s a category with plenty of strong contenders. I assure you that there is nothing any future government could say or do that would weaken my commitment to this country and its future. My loyalty and patriotism aren’t a function of who’s in power at the moment, and they certainly aren’t about to be overridden by petty partisanship, much less a misunderstood, decade-old quote in the New York Times. If only the folks who had spent so much time and energy over the last few years publicly professing their supposed love for this country felt the same.
Comments
Max, what you say is true, but I would invite you to rethink your approach here. Your article does exactly what Trump wants: pitch Canadians against each other. Applying strong words like "traitors" and "disloyalty" to an entire group of fellow Canadians -- 19% of Albertans, that's close to one million people! -- will only fuel divisions and in the end, weaken our position as a country. Expose and blame Conservative leaders, but please don't include ordinary people in your criticism, lest you want to give Trump exactly what he's after.
Unfortunately, suggesting we should allow ourselves to be annexed by another country IS traitorous. It IS disloyal. Canada has always displayed an amazing degree of tolerance for diverse heritage and culture. That’s good. But I don’t think it is wise to tolerate the delusional rantings of the oligarchs to the south. I think Max’s approach is entirely appropriate.
But Canadians are ALREADY pitched against each other!
Divisions have been relentlessly fueled by conservatives for whom the divide-and-conquer algorithms have been an absolute gift, that and the number of people addicted to cellphones whose view of "the news" has been severely reduced to headlines or memes. Context has virtually disappeared.
Proof of what I'm saying is that we can all assume that your pleasant, conciliatory viewpoint (why can't we all just get along) comes from someone supporting progressives, probably the NDP or Greens, the old "when they go low, we go high approach, which demonstrably HAS NOT worked in this pitched, existential battle to fight climate change when one side actively opposes its very existence, never mind the danger!
These guys aren't just traitors to Canada, they're traitors to humanity, period, not to mention all the other species headed for or already arrived at extinction.
Hear hear. This reply is spot on.
Dear Clara,
Your concern about division is noble, but it’s misplaced. Let me be blunt: pandering to bullies and their enablers doesn’t unite us—it weakens us. Trump’s threats to Canada aren’t just a test of our sovereignty; they’re a test of our resolve. And Max is right to call out those who are failing it.
Your suggestion to avoid “strong words” like “traitors” might feel polite, but it’s naïve. Bullies don’t respect politeness; they exploit it. The Conservative supporters and Albertans cozying up to Trump aren’t misguided patriots—they’re actively entertaining the idea of abandoning their country. That’s not a difference of opinion; it’s disloyalty, plain and simple. Sugarcoating that fact won’t change it.
Let’s be clear: Max isn’t the one dividing Canadians. The division is already here, driven by people who prioritize partisan grudges and petroleum profits over our national sovereignty. Calling them out isn’t about inflaming tensions; it’s about drawing a line in the sand. If that makes some people uncomfortable, good—it should.
Clara, I’m sure you mean well, but your approach plays right into the hands of those who want Canada to back down. We don’t need to coddle people who flirt with treason; we need to confront them with the consequences of their choices. If they don’t like being called traitors, they can stop acting like it. Until then, I’ll stand with Max—and I suggest you do the same.
Sincerely,
Angus T.
100% Fighting Canadian.
Traitor is the correct word. We have zero time for that right now. We are under attack in a way few remember or can imagine but it is a time for plain speaking and solid thinking and standing up for what we believe. Like my parents and grandparents in the first 2 world wars.
Personally I would slap someone in front of me offering to buy into trump s baiting, so physical violence( I m an old lady and understand consequences) is where I m at already. and fwiw, I ve never slapped anyone in my long life.
Time for Albertans, if any think trump loves them, to figure out what really matters to them. Move if you want. Personally I remember when Alberta was a have not province whining for federal support, which it received.
Please, can we stop calling it the (so-called) "freedom" convoy? It was a Hostage Convoy, and everyone knows what I mean when I use that closer-to-the-truth name for it.
I think Siege Convoy is a more accurate description and closer to the truth. A civil class action lawsuit with ~300 citizen plaintiffs who suffered through the siege is still in the works. Meanwhile, the criminal cases are still working their way through the courts.
Excellent point. The invasion was all about spin. Hostage Mob or Siege Parade would be more accurate.
These invaders terrorized an entire city. Why help them publicize their unholy anti-science agenda. Push back against the bullshit. Time to #unspin the propaganda machine.
I don't need to look as far away as Alberta. My MP is Jamil Jivani. My representative, yeah right.
Many Canadians are worried about cost of living issues, housing and access to health care. A human tendency is to find a scapegoat who is the cause of all these ills. Pierre Poilievre with his relentless "Canada is Broken" mantra has laid the blame on Justin Trudeau for all that is wrong (e.g. the Oilers lost last night) even through the problems we face are by no means unique to Canada. However, after a while, these falsehoods and half-truths gain traction and have contributed to the view among some that we would be better off as some part of the US. Premiers Smith and Moe have contributed to this attitude through their non-stop, anti-Federal government stances on everything; if the federal government does X, Y or Z by definition it must be bad for Alberta and Saskatchewan. Again, this negativity starts to stick with endless repetition. If there is a country that is presently broken it is the United States, no thank you.
19% of evil, mean and nasty Albertans worship the same god as Trump: money, money, money.
Drill baby, Drill!! (For tomorrow we die)
Excellent article and great timing.
Clearly you can't continue to indulge your "Trudeau derangement syndrome" (good one btw) when he also happens to be the duly-elected prime minister during a crisis for the country. Kind of like climate change when you don't even accept the science. It's almost like the cons have NOTHING ELSE, and are actually in over their heads here....hehehe.
Like peevish, puffy PP surprisingly admitted yesterday in his "press conference," he's NOT PM, despite quivering with his naked greed for the power...
"Trudeau-derangement syndrome" is only a symptom of "Oil and Gas addiction syndrome"
First let’s consider that polls of this nature (“the would you ever” type) are often soft on accuracy.
However I agree that Canadians who further the ideas of joining another nation are cozying up to some naming labels that are often chargeable offences.
The reality is that I don’t expect to see a long caravan of self-described freedom anemic Canadians heading for the the Gulf of American anytime soon. They truly prefer to stay in Canada and moan and complain about anything that they dislike with a goal of influencing Canadian politics to suit their short term vision. They don’t want to be Americans but they may want to be pseudo-Americans safely tucked away in the great North.
Who will be their boogeyman, their purveyor of all evil once the PM leaves office? How will they adapt to a CPC PM when their new PM announces that “we can’t keep promises AB or C” (shout out to Premiers Smith and Ford).
Will they threaten to take over the provincial or federal capitals, create a manifesto for regime change or will they accept the reality that the lives that we live here costs us all and preserving it is upon us all or, depending on your political position start heading for Norway or Texas
We have a segment of society that feels disenfranchised, I question just how much effort they exert to repairing or correcting their issues as opposed to using each as a cause for revolution? Those who incite a change of government by force are indeed walking on the treason line.
It's been a real eye-opener to see JUST how far unmitigated assholes can actually GET in fair-minded, tolerant Canada, borrowing American tropes like "freedom" and that country's flag fixation to create a distinct cognitive dissonance in OUR country right out in plain sight, showing utter contempt for our public broadcaster in particular and all institutions including government in general, down to the House of Commons.
It's been a lot like "Lord of the Flies" come to life, extremely entitled boys on a rampage to gain or regain status.
So it's like the convoy never ended and we're all helpless to stop those guys from taking over everything HERE, even after watching that disaster right next door.
Max hits the nail home with this article. I think calling out the traitors for what they actually are is the best course of action. Appeasement does not work with Western separatists. It only fuels their little fires. They need to be directly challenged to bring their rage to its logical end and tear up their Canadian citizenship and move out. Canada is not going anywhere. And if the Smiths of the west actually had a spine as strong as their rhetoric they would hold a referendum on genuine separation. They already know that the vast majority of Albertans would never give up their Canadian universal healthcare, passports, rights and vacation property in BC.
Trudeau is as good as gone, so their target is now a column of empty air and their roundhouse swings are wide and way off the mark. Let them flail, and trip up.
I heard the vague rantings of the Western Concept Party as a child growing in the 1960s in Calgary, and it's been 60 years of reactionary appeasement to dampen down the vacuous threat of alienation and separation. Alberta conservatives have one and only one meme: grievance. The Reform Party and then the Harper conservatives have had an entire generation of influence and a decade of actual federal rule to "fix" a "broken" Canada. Yet they rant on in fear of actual democracy that delivers both hope and disappointment, depending on your persuasion.
And here we are. More grievance and even stupider rhetoric from the extremist right mainly because a child man down south gave them permission to make fools out of themselves.
Canada is not and never will change to suit the misled and very thin imported MAGA image. Any leader that even hints at leading the nation into devolution and absorption into any kind of American rule will be defeated by the people. If Alberta held an actual referendum to leave Canada, I believe a half million people (mainly youth) would immediately abandon the province, and the vast majority of those left would vote with a resounding No.
Opinion polls are but a snapshot in time and reflect only one moment of a moving, wavering line. A referendum leads to a permanent result and forces even the hardest and nost belligerent rage meister to think more clearly of the consequences for their families and livelihoods.
Call them out already. If they don't like Canada, then it is THEY who should move out. That would be much, much easier than trying to force any part of Canada into becoming an American state.
If only it were true ... the lessons of Brexit are that sensible arguments like those advanced above are defeated by propaganda and promises of "I can fix it". How do you think Trump (or Boris Johnson) got elected in the first place. Remember the Brexit bus? The one with the $$$ slogan that said Brexit would repatriate billions of dollars to the healthcare system? A slogan which was a blatant lie?
Everyone on this thread should read "End Times" by Peter Turchin, which explains how and why societies go cyclically through turbulent and calm times. I particular, his research shows that since 1970 North America has been heading into turbulent times. Major symptoms are: Decreasing purchasing power (wages) for working class; withdrawal of state funding for wealth redistribution services like healthcare and education; increases in educated wannabe elite that can't find a way into the actual top 10% of wealthy; inequality between the bottom 10% and the top 10% accelerates The USA ticks all the boxes. Trump is just a symptom. Can you see how close Canada is to ticking those boxes too?
Where are the Tommy Douglases and Stephen Louises of this country, or even the Jean Chretien's, when we so desperately need a leadership that will broker a 'new deal' and restore the post 1940's balance between the have's and have not's.
Your last paragraph poses a great question. However, Brexit did not require the British to give up their citizenship and all the rights that come with it, only a trade relationship that was falsely portrayed as flawed while arrogant dreams of a new British Empire was posed as the solution. Some of their arguments were distinctly asinine, like farmers being forced to grow square tomatoes to fit in EU shipping boxes.
Note that today's Labour government, after the Conservative craziness finally got defeated with a resounding progressive majority, is actively seeking a way back in to the EU. If they succeed, then I don't think Brexit will ever arise again.
A sidenote: we arrived in London the day Boris prorogued parliament over Brexit gridlock. Fully jetlagged, our rented flat was just 500m from Parliament Square and the massive protests, complete with helicopters thrumming overhead into the wee hours. A night to remember.
It will never happen, but the fact that I have started to think of immigration to anywhere but North America is, was unimaginable. But I have looked.
Many people would look on me as one of the elite, so be it. Not rich, but well educated. I educate the innovators of tomorrow, have created many jobs over the past 40 years, paid millions in taxes. People like me will leave in droves, leaving only those who want to make quick, big money in service industries and then wonder what happened, why all their toys are being repossessed when markets drop and the jobs are gone. Who do they think creates new industries, new opportunities?
I would miss Alberta, my memories of growing up here, of politicians like Lougheed who had vision, tried to build a foundation for all in society.
The 30% of Conservative supporters who want to become the 51st state are welcome to leave and immigrate to the USA if they are so inclined and leave the rest of us "The Majority" alone who enjoy all the benefits of Canada. The includes the PPC and Free-Dumb Convoy (aka Hostage Convoy) clowns.
The USA is the only place on earth where poor people shun labour unions, free healthcare, free education because the rich people tell them to.
The PPC and Free-Dumb clowns call us communists because we enjoy our freedom to be part of a union, or free healthcare and free education. I even wonder if they even know what a communist actual is?
Canada is ranked 13th and the USA is ranked 17th in freedom our of 165 countries, which always begs a question for this disgruntled crowd, what freedom are you missing? Please explain?
If it is the right to bear arms and be violent, then move to the USA, join the Orange Sphincter's army and help him destroy America and become the dictator he wants to be at your expense.
They only blame Justine Trudeau because the conservatives tell them to do so. This group seems to lost their ability to fact check and think for themselves and believe the likes of Pierre "Snake Oil Salesman" Poilivevre as he spreads disinformation directly and through a number of conservative linked social media sites, like the True North Strong and Free. Never in the history of Canada have we had so many delusional people brainwashed by social media.
These people wouldn't know freedom if it hit them on the head!
It's JUSTIN Trudeau Jan.
Well there has been 3 waves of American immigrants to Canada. First, the British Empire Loyalists, Western Settlement 1890 to 1920 and the Vietnam War. All having significant impacts at the time and ongoing. Basically, south West Saskatchewan, southern Alberta, the Peace River region and interior B.C. received Americans coming from the Bible Belt as these regions filled up. This has shaped much of Alberta politics in general and especially rural social conservatism. So not surprised that 19% of Albertans would join the USA. I thought it would be much higher
Have not visited Alberta since the mid Seventies-early 80's. We never spent much time there but were surprised by how suspicious many Calgarians found us Ontarians. Perfect strangers acting as though we were some subspecies. I've never forgotten it. This "traitorous" lack of trust must be deeply ingrained in westerners - perhaps going back to the early days of differential railroad rates for western business ?- even before the oil boom. Oil and the invasion of Texas big oil put the icing on the cake.
Clearly Alberta has identified with western US and shares most of their grievances. One of my university professors suggested that North America should have been politically oriented by its obvious north south geographical distinctions.
Trudeau derangement syndrome was created by the leader of the Opposition and his extreme supporters like Smith and Harper. That the main stream media pushed their agenda by never making them accountable for their actions in any way also helped create the syndrome. When the leader of the Opposition bent the knee to the misguided convoy bunch he should have been called to account by all media and made to explain his actions but alas he got a pass on it all even the picture of him coming out of the trailer with 'diagolon' printed on it. Worse is that so many people fell for it while pocketing their CERB cheques and they carbon tax rebates. All the journalists to enjoyed the easy pickings by continually yappying at the PM's heels also helped bring all this mess about. Now we have a mess similar to the mess of 2006 where we all had to bear living for 9 years with a PM that hated and held most of us in disdain and had no problem hiding his feelings. His creation, the present leader of the Opposition is now poised to take the top job and we will go through it all again but this guy will spit at us all with pleasure. He will kneel, along with Smith in front of Trump who will laugh at them for being so weak and untrustworthy. He will never, ever respect them.