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What a lot of commenters cheering this headline might not know is that there is only one single internal road connecting east and west canada which regularly cl

What a lot of commenters cheering this headline might not know is that there is only one single internal road connecting east and west canada which regularly closes. Most commercial routes go through the US. Don't believe me? Route Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps. This move would amount to throwing rocks from a glass house.

soperj 2y ago
Trans-Canada regularly closes? That's news to me. The reason google maps goes through the US is that it's significantly shorter. We also don't haul things regularly across the country in the same way they do in the US, we use the trains, and the majority of things would go through ports. If you're on the eastern half of the country (which is the majority of the country) they use the great lakes.
- bobthepanda 2y ago
  Trans Canada has a lot of non-dual carriageway segments and single points of failure. In 2016 there was a bridge failure that resulted in large detours: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipigon_River_Bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipigon_River_Bridge
  - echoangle 2y ago
    I wouldn’t call „it closed once in 2016“ regular closure, that actually seems pretty reliable.
- cmrdporcupine 2y ago
  It's also not actually true there's only one. To get through northern Ontario, sure. But there's also the Yellowhead all the way from Winnipeg to Haida Gwai, and plenty of highways that connect to Hwy 2 from there. Trans-Canada is a highway system, not a single road. It's true that the stretch from Kenora to Sault Ste Marie is a vulnerability. It's tough terrain.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    It's only Kenora to Nipigon that's vulnerable, there's a decent road between Nipigon and Ottawa. Some prefer it because it's flatter.
    - cmrdporcupine 2y ago
      Being from southern Ontario near Toronto, I naturally can't even imagine going that way ;-)
      - bryanlarsen 2y ago
        You'd do it if the road was blocked between the Sault and Nipigon and you couldn't go through the States.
- SonicScrub 2y ago
  The parent comment is likely referring to Highway 17, which is the only road connection between Manitoba and Ontario. A boulder once fell on this highway leading to its closure for a period of time. https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/how-crews-cleared-a-massive-boulder-that-blocked-a-highway-near-kenora/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/how-crews-cleared-a-... I've seen this incident be the subject of hyperbolic clickbait articles and YouTube videos discussing the complete cutting off of East and West Canada (conveniently ignoring the realities articulated by your comment). Perhaps the parent comment is vaguely aware of incidents like this and is extrapolating to unfounded conclusions?
  - Brusco_RF 2y ago
    While you make a strong point, I'm not ready to cede it. Canada has winter storms that will close that road, albeit for shorter periods of time than the boulder situation. Being able to re-route through the US is critical during that time.
    - SonicScrub 2y ago
      I don't really see how the Highway 17 situation is unique in the context of winter storms though. As per the comment above this, most transit of East and West goods occurs via other means, meaning the Highway 17 bottleneck is hardly some vital artery. A winter storm shutting down Highway 401 for example is much more economically chaotic, and has the practical impact of making travel through its corridor impractical (and in some circumstances just as impossible as if it were a single bottleneck). This scenario does periodically happen, and people manage just fine since the closures are expected to be short-lived. So I don't buy the argument that Canada needs the US because of the threat of transit networks being completely cut off. I am much more amiable to the argument that reciprocal road tolls like this would be stupid because they'd increase the cost of goods for all of us (Canadians and Americans alike). As noted earlier, the fastest route between East and West is through the US due to geography. But or course things like this are stupid, and I doubt an argument as to why is required here. Maybe we should pull back and stop doing all this nonsense like arbitrary tariffs on close allied nations? Especially those who's explicit purpose as described by the elected head of state is to threaten the sovereignty of the other?
dylan604 2y ago
That's the fun kind of trivia that only a Canadian would know.
- throaway1987 2y ago
  its not true (im Canadian)
boringg 2y ago
Listen Im all for smart reactions to dumb policies. This sounds like a dumb reaction to a dumb policy. Right now any article that does anything pro Canada anti US is going to get cheered in Canada because they are David against a mean Goliath (former best friend) situation. Intelligent conversation and debate has no baring in this absolutely ridiculous situation. This is truly one of the biggest unforced errors I have seen in a long time.
- Descon 2y ago
  What intelligent options are you offering for Canada then? The US is going to tariffs us. They have stated that their aim is economic warfare focusing on collapsing our economy so that they may annex us. It seems in the face of existential threats to our sovereignty, every option should be considered where we have advantage, and there are few.
  - cmrdporcupine 2y ago
    You're using the pronoun "they" for the US. But this is by no means the case that there is a singular entity that has stated this policy. Right now the US is in a political crisis. It has elected a weak, narcissistic man without coherent or sensible policy who is for the short term without serious opposition. (Mainly because its own neo-liberal elite has done a garbage job of running the country for the last 30 years and the population is desperate to try something else.) That man and the sycophants who travel with him is trying to use us as a whipping boy, a sacrificial victim, to rally his base. In reality what is happening to Canadian workers via these tariffs are not in the interests of American workers, either. If they wake up they will eventually deal with Trump. Things will come to a head. The US will either destroy itself, or rescue itself. Unfortunately we're very much tied to this process because of geography.
    - watwut 2y ago
      Trump is not weak. He has more power then any other previous president and completely loyal party behind him. He does not have e to even worry about laws at all. Plus, Trump will blame Biden, woke, women, democrats and especially Canada and EU for bad economy. And Trumps base will 100% believe him.
Suppafly 2y ago
> Route Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps. I'm not sure this is evidence of anything that you're claiming. Google routes based on criteria you choose, typically 'fastest' or 'most fuel efficient', that does nothing to prove that other routes don't exist.
- jpambrun 2y ago
  After "avoid tolls", google will have to implement a avoid "hostile countries"..
mykowebhn 2y ago
While the majority of the population and infrastructure is located close to the border with the U.S., Canada's East and West is not connected by a single internal road. People do not have to travel through the U.S. to get from one side of Canada to the other. People even have multiple options! I should know. I'm Canadian, and I've done the drive from Montreal to the Yukon and British Columbia. My take is that you have never been to Canada, and if you have, it was only to a major city, like Toronto.
dguest 2y ago
I'm guessing it will close less regularly if they need it open.
throaway1987 2y ago
Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps goes through the US because the distance is shorter.
mewse-hn 2y ago
> Don't believe me? Route Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps. Default 44hr route goes through the states. If I click and drag the route up to go through winnipeg, it becomes a 47hr route that doesn't go through the states. I don't think this proves anything.

soperj 2y ago

Trans-Canada regularly closes? That's news to me. The reason google maps goes through the US is that it's significantly shorter. We also don't haul things regularly across the country in the same way they do in the US, we use the trains, and the majority of things would go through ports. If you're on the eastern half of the country (which is the majority of the country) they use the great lakes.

bobthepanda 2y ago
Trans Canada has a lot of non-dual carriageway segments and single points of failure. In 2016 there was a bridge failure that resulted in large detours: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipigon_River_Bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipigon_River_Bridge
- echoangle 2y ago
  I wouldn’t call „it closed once in 2016“ regular closure, that actually seems pretty reliable.
cmrdporcupine 2y ago
It's also not actually true there's only one. To get through northern Ontario, sure. But there's also the Yellowhead all the way from Winnipeg to Haida Gwai, and plenty of highways that connect to Hwy 2 from there. Trans-Canada is a highway system, not a single road. It's true that the stretch from Kenora to Sault Ste Marie is a vulnerability. It's tough terrain.
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  It's only Kenora to Nipigon that's vulnerable, there's a decent road between Nipigon and Ottawa. Some prefer it because it's flatter.
  - cmrdporcupine 2y ago
    Being from southern Ontario near Toronto, I naturally can't even imagine going that way ;-)
    - bryanlarsen 2y ago
      You'd do it if the road was blocked between the Sault and Nipigon and you couldn't go through the States.
SonicScrub 2y ago
The parent comment is likely referring to Highway 17, which is the only road connection between Manitoba and Ontario. A boulder once fell on this highway leading to its closure for a period of time. https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/how-crews-cleared-a-massive-boulder-that-blocked-a-highway-near-kenora/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/how-crews-cleared-a-... I've seen this incident be the subject of hyperbolic clickbait articles and YouTube videos discussing the complete cutting off of East and West Canada (conveniently ignoring the realities articulated by your comment). Perhaps the parent comment is vaguely aware of incidents like this and is extrapolating to unfounded conclusions?
- Brusco_RF 2y ago
  While you make a strong point, I'm not ready to cede it. Canada has winter storms that will close that road, albeit for shorter periods of time than the boulder situation. Being able to re-route through the US is critical during that time.
  - SonicScrub 2y ago
    I don't really see how the Highway 17 situation is unique in the context of winter storms though. As per the comment above this, most transit of East and West goods occurs via other means, meaning the Highway 17 bottleneck is hardly some vital artery. A winter storm shutting down Highway 401 for example is much more economically chaotic, and has the practical impact of making travel through its corridor impractical (and in some circumstances just as impossible as if it were a single bottleneck). This scenario does periodically happen, and people manage just fine since the closures are expected to be short-lived. So I don't buy the argument that Canada needs the US because of the threat of transit networks being completely cut off. I am much more amiable to the argument that reciprocal road tolls like this would be stupid because they'd increase the cost of goods for all of us (Canadians and Americans alike). As noted earlier, the fastest route between East and West is through the US due to geography. But or course things like this are stupid, and I doubt an argument as to why is required here. Maybe we should pull back and stop doing all this nonsense like arbitrary tariffs on close allied nations? Especially those who's explicit purpose as described by the elected head of state is to threaten the sovereignty of the other?

dylan604 2y ago

That's the fun kind of trivia that only a Canadian would know.

throaway1987 2y ago
its not true (im Canadian)

boringg 2y ago

Listen Im all for smart reactions to dumb policies. This sounds like a dumb reaction to a dumb policy. Right now any article that does anything pro Canada anti US is going to get cheered in Canada because they are David against a mean Goliath (former best friend) situation. Intelligent conversation and debate has no baring in this absolutely ridiculous situation. This is truly one of the biggest unforced errors I have seen in a long time.

Descon 2y ago
What intelligent options are you offering for Canada then? The US is going to tariffs us. They have stated that their aim is economic warfare focusing on collapsing our economy so that they may annex us. It seems in the face of existential threats to our sovereignty, every option should be considered where we have advantage, and there are few.
- cmrdporcupine 2y ago
  You're using the pronoun "they" for the US. But this is by no means the case that there is a singular entity that has stated this policy. Right now the US is in a political crisis. It has elected a weak, narcissistic man without coherent or sensible policy who is for the short term without serious opposition. (Mainly because its own neo-liberal elite has done a garbage job of running the country for the last 30 years and the population is desperate to try something else.) That man and the sycophants who travel with him is trying to use us as a whipping boy, a sacrificial victim, to rally his base. In reality what is happening to Canadian workers via these tariffs are not in the interests of American workers, either. If they wake up they will eventually deal with Trump. Things will come to a head. The US will either destroy itself, or rescue itself. Unfortunately we're very much tied to this process because of geography.
  - watwut 2y ago
    Trump is not weak. He has more power then any other previous president and completely loyal party behind him. He does not have e to even worry about laws at all. Plus, Trump will blame Biden, woke, women, democrats and especially Canada and EU for bad economy. And Trumps base will 100% believe him.

Suppafly 2y ago

> Route Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps. I'm not sure this is evidence of anything that you're claiming. Google routes based on criteria you choose, typically 'fastest' or 'most fuel efficient', that does nothing to prove that other routes don't exist.

jpambrun 2y ago
After "avoid tolls", google will have to implement a avoid "hostile countries"..

mykowebhn 2y ago

While the majority of the population and infrastructure is located close to the border with the U.S., Canada's East and West is not connected by a single internal road. People do not have to travel through the U.S. to get from one side of Canada to the other. People even have multiple options! I should know. I'm Canadian, and I've done the drive from Montreal to the Yukon and British Columbia. My take is that you have never been to Canada, and if you have, it was only to a major city, like Toronto.

dguest 2y ago

I'm guessing it will close less regularly if they need it open.

throaway1987 2y ago

Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps goes through the US because the distance is shorter.

mewse-hn 2y ago

> Don't believe me? Route Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps. Default 44hr route goes through the states. If I click and drag the route up to go through winnipeg, it becomes a 47hr route that doesn't go through the states. I don't think this proves anything.