this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
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Summary

Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada's 24th prime minister on March 14, declaring "We will never, in any shape or form, be part of the US," rejecting Donald Trump's annexation threats.

Carney won the Liberal leadership with 85.9% of the vote despite having no elected experience.

He called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's suggestion that Canada would be better as "the 51st state" simply "crazy."

Carney is expected to call an election soon as he faces the challenge of managing Trump's trade war that threatens to push Canada into recession.

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[–] renrenPDX@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Every time Trump brings up Canada being a state, The Canadian PM should return the favor and refer to us as South Canadian Territories and demote him to mayor instead of president. If Trump gets big mad, just say they were just joking 🙃

[–] Charlxmagne@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Canada/UK should demand the land they once had in the US back and Mexico should demand the land the US forcefully stole from them back, simple. America should never have been viewed as a legitimate country in the first place.

[–] rabber@lemmy.ca 7 points 17 hours ago

Or we could continue to act professional and not lower to trump's level

[–] BrokenGlepnir@lemmy.world 50 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's aggravating that he keeps pushing it. Maybe his followers brush it off as a joke, but there was no better way to piss off Canada, for no gain. You don't joke about this, and I don't really think he actually jokes. Just diarrheas out the mouth and sees what sticks.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 28 points 1 day ago (3 children)

If you watch his rallies (not recommended for sanity) he does crack jokes. But it's always punching down at someone. If something gets a response from the crowd he'll repeat it untill it's a dead horse and beyond.

That's how most of his policy and sayings got started in his first term. 'Drain the Swamp' being the most famous example. He's on video saying he has no idea what drain the swamp even means, but the crowd ate it up so he kept it going.

He might have randomly threw 'invade canada' out in the middle of a meandering speech and people cheered, and so he's now focused on it.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

He's not joking. Trump's jokes are like all fascist "jokes": they're threats, and the humour for them is watching you squirm, and then telling you that they're only joking, watching your tentative relief, then threatening you again. They're just playing with their prey.

Canada needs to be working with its allies on a defensive plan now. And the other four of the Five Eyes need to stop sharing intelligence with the USA.

[–] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

The only tangible thing I can remember him saying and not actually doing it is shooting someone on 5th Avenue. "Drain the swamp" is a quaint platitude, but what it actually means is different from person to person. But i can guarantee he wants an awesome military dictator parade, he wants to own Canada, Greenland, and Panama, and while he doesn't give a fuck about anyone but himself, he is far more willing to express and act on that with marginalized people.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

He doesn't want to own all of Panama just the canal. Also interesting that he's not threatening to annex Mexico, wouldn't that look even better on the map?

What is it about countries to the south that makes Trump not them to be part of the US, while with Canada he does?

[–] tempest@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The Canada shit is coming straight from Peter Navarro

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 points 18 hours ago

Probably Putin too. A war on the North American continent would collapse the US economy and remove the US from doing anything on the world stage for at least decades. Maybe forever.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago

I'm assuming he's part of the project 2025 traitors. Right?

[–] Eldritch@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Honestly I think at this point any animosity still held about the burning of the White House should be forgotten. Hell I'd even let them Canadians do it again on one condition. Make sure him and as much of his administration are inside and the doors are locked this time.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 48 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister on March 14, declaring “We will never, in any shape or form, be part of the US,” rejecting Donald Trump’s annexation threats.

Carney won the Liberal leadership with 85.9% of the vote despite having no elected experience.

In recent weeks, the Liberals have reversed a political freefall, sharply rebounding to such a degree that a previously expected Conservative majority in the next general election looks increasingly unlikely. The shift in the polls has been so dramatic that pollsters have struggled to find any historical precedent.

A newly released poll from Abacus Data showed the Conservative support had shrunk to 38%, with 34% going to the incumbent Liberals.

I don't know what impact the Trump administration is having on the likelihood of conservatives having political power in the US in the future, but it sure isn't having a positive effect on conservatives in Canada.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 16 hours ago

The results from the Leave Referendum in Britain, almost from one day to the next crushed in the rest of the EU any support for even just having a referendum about leaving the EU and caused pretty much all Far-Right parties to stop talking about leaving the EU.

Maybe the US being captured by a somewhat similar far-right ideology lead by equally incompetent people and which is equally antagonistic towards its neighbors (and I was in Britain during the Leave campaign and the Leave bunch were antagonistic, not merely wanting for Britain to leave the EU, but actually wanting to hurt the EU) will crush the chances of similar political ideologies in America's neighbors.

Me being in Europe I hope this is the case and I further hope, it will crush American-style Far-Right ideas all over the World.

[–] Godort@lemm.ee 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's because their playbook has been the same populist "get the elite out of politics" nonsense that the GOP have been pushing since 2015.

Turns out that wanting to be like MAGA really backfired once they wanted to make an enemy out of Canada. We have plenty of fascists up here too, but even they still want to be Canadian.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

since 2015

Honestly, I'd say that a lot of Trumpism's stuff is more-or-less in line with the stuff that the John Birch Society has promoted, and that goes waaaaay back. I mean, Trump talking about annexing Canada/Panama/whatever, no


in fact, that's one of the few cases that I think that they'd take a dead-opposite position on, since they've a horror of the North American Union. But there's a lot of overlap outside that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

The John Birch Society from its start opposed collectivism as a "cancer" and by extension communism and big government.[29][30] JBS publications referred to the fight against Communism as a spiritual war against the devil.[25]: iv, 156–157  Allegations that so-called "Insiders" have conspired to control the United States through communism and world government are a recurring theme of JBS publications.[31] The organization and its founder, Robert W. Welch Jr., promoted Americanism as "the philosophical antithesis of Communism."[32] It contended that the United States is a republic, not a democracy, and argued that states' rights should supersede those of the federal government.[33] Welch infused constitutionalist and classical liberal principles, in addition to his conspiracy theories, into the JBS's ideology and rhetoric.[34] In 1983, Congressman Larry McDonald, then the society's newly appointed chairman, characterized the JBS as belonging to the Old Right rather than the New Right.[35] The society opposes "one world government", the United Nations (UN),[36] the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and other free trade agreements. It argues the U.S. Constitution has been devalued in favor of political and economic globalization. It has cited the existence of the former Security and Prosperity Partnership as evidence of a push towards a North American Union.[37][38] The JBS has sought immigration reduction.

The JBS opposed the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.[16][39][40] It has campaigned for state nullification.[41][42] It opposes efforts to call an Article V convention to amend the U.S. Constitution,[43][44] and it has been influential at promoting opposition to it among Republican legislators.[45] The JBS also supports auditing and eventually dismantling the Federal Reserve System.[46][non-primary source needed] The JBS holds that the United States Constitution gives only Congress the ability to coin money, and does not permit it to delegate this power, or to transform the dollar into a fiat currency not backed by gold or silver.[non-primary source needed]

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Probably a stupid question but how would conservatives differentiate from the liberals on the question of US annexation?

I'm so used to seeing conservatives play opposites with liberal positions just to be contrarian, the natural assumption is that if liberals are vehemently opposed to US encroachment then the conservatives will be more receptive... but in this case that seems antithetical to a sovereign government?

Presumably... their message would be something along the lines of strengthening the relationship with US govt while retaining sovereignty and reducing the impact of tariffs.

[–] Godort@lemm.ee 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

That's one issue where they both agree. The conservatives want to be more like the US with lower taxes and fewer regulations, but they still want to be Canadian.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 points 18 hours ago

Then why won't Pollievre even look at the intel on who in the CPC may be a foreign asset?

It took weeks for Pollievre to come out as being on Canada's side in this trade war. It's only when his chances of winning an election started evaporating he did that.

Pollievre is only Canadian when there's no other option for him to get power. That dude has collaborator written all over him. He's only for Vichy Canada.

[–] vividspecter@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

There's also an election coming up in Australia and the position of the conservative opposition is to give Trump whatever he wants. So contarianism is alive and well there.

[–] NotLemming@lemm.ee 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Canadian conservatives can be magas. I know one of them. Absolutely delusional. A dozen excuses for everything trump does and says, up to and including annexing their country FFS.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

There were Ontarians running around with Trump stickers and Fuck Trudeau flags on their trucks. There were dumbasses talking about their first amendment rights as if they were American already. Canada has its share of Trumpist traitors who would be only too glad to submit their country to the emperor's rule.

[–] solrize@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There was once a literal war with guns between the US and Canada (War of 1812} and Canada won.

[–] moody@lemmings.world 15 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Things have changed a lot since then. The US has over 1 million active personnel to Canada's <100k. If it comes to a real invasion, things would not go well.

The real question is how many Americans would be willing to participate in that invasion.

[–] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] 1337@lemmy.world 5 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

A declaration of war from the current leader of NATO will likely fracture what is currently NATO. Europe will want to help Canada, but they will be preoccupied with suppressing Russia's aggression, because there is no longer a NATO.

Canada won't have NATO. At best it will have half of NATO.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 0 points 18 hours ago

That "half of NATO" has nuclear weapons.

The US hasn't experienced a war on it's own soil in living memory. Americans shit their pants when they see a couple of drones over New Jersey. And Americans don't have the will to endure a long drawn out occupation even when there's an ocean between them and a war. Canadians will endure it, because we would have no other choice.

This would be a war of betrayal. Trump would need to have Elon Musk purge the US military of anyone with even an once of honour and courage. Currenttly Trump is demanding Canada to defend the US border for him. The US would need to defend it's border, and that's a long border. You'd also need to have checkpoints in the US where soldiers will check your papers because Canadians would be trying to infiltrate the US and hit the soft targets everywhere. There would be raids on your houses to find and Canadians or any sympathizers. How willing are you do have these things happen?

Because it would be betraying an ally, the US would have zero allies in this war. Canada would get lethal aid from Europe and likely from Asia too. And Canadians know how to make an IED. Because our soldiers served in Afghanistan. Alongside the US military that's going to betray the soldiers it fought alongside a few short years ago. And why? Because of the whims of a deranged old man? So you might have a slight morale problem.

While you're looking at troop strengths on spreadsheet, we're looking at the willingness of Americans to do what would need to be done for decades to succeed in occupying a neighbouring country. We only need to outlast you, while you need to have the will to watch young people coming back from the north in body bags. For decades.

The chance of the US winning a war like this is basically zero.

[–] Aequitas38472@lemm.ee 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The recent film Civil War gives a good example of what could happen. There is certainly a subset of Trump supporters that would follow orders. But a large segment would likely split off and further divide the country.

[–] b161@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 17 hours ago

Yep it will not be one side versus the other. It will be a mixed bag of violence and chaos.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Given the U.S.’s recent experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, countries far smaller and with far fewer resources (natural and industrial) than Canada, I like our (Canada’s) chances!

Plus our military may be small but it’s elite, composed of professional soldiers extremely well-versed in US (and NATO) operations and tactics. If Middle Eastern countries with largely irregular forces can give the U.S. migraines using guerrilla tactics, we can do the same with far better results.

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 3 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

They also had the advantage of distance. The US had to ship their resources there. Here, they just drive over the border.

I'm also Canadian, and in full-scale war, I do not like Canada's chances.

Not to mention, it would be a stupid senseless war, much like what's happening in Ukraine

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Drive across the border… then what? Canada is vast. A million soldiers is not a lot compared to this landscape. Even if you only consider the 100 mile strip of land along the border. It’s a vast area to occupy…. and then do what with it?

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

Going to Ottawa and completely disrupting and dismantling the government would probably be a solid first step.

I'm sure Big Balls would be thrilled to help as he's done in the US.

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

That’s not gonna work. The prime minister and the rest of the government MPs will escape before they can be captured.

That’s what Napoleon tried to do when he invaded Russia. I predict similar results.

[–] CircaV@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago

Conservatives are a threat to Canada’s existence.

[–] JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Shit when did Trudeau step down?

[–] darkpanda@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Edited to elaborate that yes he announced his resignation on January 6 and today was his last half day.

[–] T00l_shed@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Earlier this year.

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is this orange fucker going to let nukes go boom?

[–] puppinstuff@lemmy.ca 3 points 23 hours ago

Extremely doubtful. They want our resources, not an irradiated crater.