Roundup: The threat of annexation is serious

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Well, things got real again today, as Justin Trudeau told the audience at his Canada-US Economic Summit that Trump isn’t joking around with his talk of annexation, and that part of the reason why is access to our critical minerals. Trudeau apparently also talked about the need to mend fences with Mexico as well, which was apparently an oblique shot at Doug Ford, who has been trying to throw them under the bus rather than working with them to counter Trump. (Ford, meanwhile, disparaged the whole summit while on the campaign trail, because apparently, it’s stealing his thunder). There was also talk at the summit about pipelines, nuclear energy (and conservative shills who claim Trudeau is anti-nuclear are straight-up lying), and removing some of the federal-situated trade barriers around financial services regulations and procurement.

As the day went on, more details came out about those two calls that Trudeau had with Trump on Monday about the tariffs and the “reprieve” that was granted. Comments included that Trump was musing about breaking a 1908 boundary treaty, was dismissive of our contributions to NORAD, and listed off a litany of complaints. (Because “it’s all about fentanyl,” right?) It was also on this call that Trudeau apparently deduced that Trump hadn’t been briefed on the $1.3 billion border plan, but maybe that’s what you get when Trump refuses your calls for weeks while he plays gangster. (And he was also refusing the Mexican president’s calls as well, so this was not a Trudeau-specific snub).

So this is where things are at—the stakes are higher than we may want to admit (and certainly the head of the Canadian American Business Council doesn’t want to admit it and still believes this is just an offensive joke), but maybe this existential threat will help shake off the normalcy bias that has perpetuated a certain status quo. Nevertheless, the political landscape is shifting drastically right now, and it’s going to make for a very different election campaign than what everyone was counting on.

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian guided bomb attack on Sumy region in the northeast killed three. Russians claim to have taken the settlement of Toretsk, but the Ukrainian brigade in the outskirts says they haven’t moved. International nuclear monitors are concerned that the number of attacks on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have increased.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau is off to Lisbon for the funeral of the Aga Khan, and will head to Paris from there for the European AI Action summit.
  • Trudeau announced the appointment of three new senators, including the first Mountie to wear a turban while in uniform.
  • Bill Blair is lauding the incorporation of hundreds of Swedish troops into the Canadian-led NATO brigade in Latvia, their first deployment since joining.
  • The federal government is investing $72 million in a satellite constellation that will monitor active forest fires around the country.
  • The commander of a Canadian warship in the Indo-Pacific has been relieved of duty due to a “loss of confidence,” and they insist it’s not because of misconduct.
  • Indigenous leaders say that investing in First nations communities can be an economic counter to Trump tariffs.
  • Here’s an overview of the massive breach of data security that Elon Musk and his “DOGE” team have perpetrated against the American government.
  • The Governor General has stripped Buffy Saint-Marie of her Order of Canda.
  • The election monitoring task force has uncovered a coordinated malicious attack by China against Chrystia Freeland’s campaign. Freeland says she’s not intimidated.
  • All of the Liberal leadership candidates have paid their next tranche of the entrance fee, and have until the 17th to pay the remaining portion before the debates.
  • One of the candidates for PC party leader in Manitoba won’t apologise for “joking” about setting polar bears loose on the homeless.
  • Scott Moe is headed to Washington to offer fealty convince US officials that the tariffs are bad for everyone, and to…tell them they’re right about the border? FFS.
  • Peter Jones, Philippe Lagassé and George Petrolekas argue for the hard and expensive changes we need to make in order to stand apart from the US globally.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I preview next week’s Supreme Court of Canada hearing on whether or not courts can create a tort of family violence.

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One thought on “Roundup: The threat of annexation is serious”

  1. Thanks so much Dale. Excellent.
    The Scott Moe comment made me laugh (much appreciated).
    And as you know, our Alberta is just a whole lot of extra right now. Yuck.

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