6 ms·

As a Canadian, my hope is that we can build stronger relations with Europe. I don't think anyone can avoid China but I would rather minimize those ties. We can

by swat535 1mo ago

As a Canadian, my hope is that we can build stronger relations with Europe. I don't think anyone can avoid China but I would rather minimize those ties. We can't afford to cut all ties with United States due to our geography and history, however it would be prudent for us to reduce our dependency. I don't think majority of Canadians wish to see the nation in such a vulnerable position again with regards to US. Banking on a single player in terms of security and trade has proven to be a risky endeavor. I have much love for the American people, but I support the actions of our government.

senderista 1mo ago
I am an American and I support the actions of your government as well. Capitulation never works against a bully--they will always come back for more.
- georgemcbay 1mo ago
  Also American and I love to see other countries stand up to Trump and give us the collective middle finger in a meaningful way. Sorry we failed you all, world. I hope we are able to elect competent leaders in the future that can mend relationships to some degree, but you all can clearly never again allow us the same amount of global leverage that we had through most of the post-war period.
YZF 1mo ago
As a fellow Canadian. Our neighbor is the world's biggest economy. Despite their current "challenges" they are still very close to us in values and culture. Our paths are interlocked. We are not going to decouple from the USA and it's not in our interest to do so. When a Canadian new grad is faced with an option of going to work in SV or in China which do they prefer? Between Chinese values and American values which do we prefer? A society with no freedom of speech? Where people are arbitrarily jailed if they voice an opinion against the government? Where the government places citizens in concentration and re-education camps and runs them over with tanks? I mean to me the choice is clear. How many large American companies have offices in Canada? How many people and what slice of the economy does this support? Lots. So yes, the US has drifted and is drifting from the ideal. And maybe it was never the ideal. But it's much closer to us than China in every imaginable facet and will likely remain so for the next many decades. We need to filter the noise out, definitely stand firmly for what we believe in, but also compromise and look at the longer term.
- hluska 1mo ago
  Between another statement you’ve made here (about how the Democratic Socialists of America want to abolish democracy) and this one, you don’t have much credibility. I am Canadian and would prefer we follow any path other than any you have espoused.
  - YZF 1mo ago
    Sure. We're gonna agree to disagree. I guess we don't vote for the same party here. The facts are still the facts. People like you can fantasize that somehow going over the ocean to remote countries can offset going over a truck to the world's largest economy. Or ignore the ways that our economies are so tightly coupled. I just listened to Carney talk about this and at least he's more or less a responsible adult. He said we and the US share a lot of common thinking and values and he would like to work with the US. Where he draws the line is when the US tries to take away our ability to make independent decisions. And that's fair. But it doesn't sound like he's aligned with you and so I can only guess where your politics lie. EDIT: Let's see if I can restore my credibility: A record number of people immigrated from Canada in 2025: https://thehub.ca/2026/04/03/can-anyone-solve-canadas-brain-drain-problem/ https://thehub.ca/2026/04/03/can-anyone-solve-canadas-brain-... and the article claims their most frequent destination is the US. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2026013-eng.htm https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2026013... In 2020 by far the country with the most Canadian ex-pats was the USA. You can tell here that the immigration trends are still there: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2025007/article/00006-eng.htm https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2025007/artic... And while it seems there was a big drop in 2024 the numbers have come back up: https://www.maynardnexsen.com/publication-legal-immigration-still-works-the-proof-is-in-the-numbers https://www.maynardnexsen.com/publication-legal-immigration-... Re: the DSA I'm always fascinated by the amount of mind share US politics seem to own in certain part of the Canadian public. You want to decouple from them but you obsess about their politics. I just listen to what they say and I am interested because I don't want to decouple and I see how coupled we're going to stay.
    - brazukadev 1mo ago
blululu 1mo ago
This feels more than fair. Historically it was a safe and reasonable assumption that friendly relations would persist across the border and across the broader anglosphere. That appears to be unfortunately untrue right now. Also tariffs are one thing but the whole 51st state thing was really beyond reproach. I do hope our next president will deliver an overdue apology and we can mend the fence. Until then I wish your people the best of luck.
__turbobrew__ 1mo ago
As another Canadian, I wish we could stop treating China as a boogeyman. By and large China is not malicious and really just wants peace (there is a name for the Chinese policy which is basically “do nothing and win” but I forget it). I also would like to see Canada stop negotiating with the USA. If Trump says “if you aren’t going to do X, we will do Y”, Canada should just say “so be it” and move towards other trade partners. If you want to trade with us in good faith we are completely open to it, but the bipolar level of instability in trade should not be tolerated.
- badc0ffee 1mo ago
  Did you forget about Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor? About China's complete dishonesty during trade negotiations, lying about the quality of or pork and canola oil and then pretending that never happened?
  - __turbobrew__ 1mo ago
    I don’t condone their arrests, but it was retaliatory for Canada arresting a huawei exec who had close ties to the party. One of those who was arrested alleged that the other was actively performing espionage in China. This was also confirmed by other unnamed sources. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-spavor-kovrig-china-intelligence-background/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-spavor-kovrig...
    - badc0ffee 1mo ago
      China freed the Michaels once Meng Wanzhou was released, which confirms it was all theatre. We were punished for following the terms of our extradition treaty with the US. We even treated her super well, letting her stay under house arrest in her fancy Vancouver mansion. We did literally everything we could given the circumstances.
- fooker 1mo ago
  > By and large China is not malicious and really just wants peace China can and will sabotage western economies at every possible opportunity.
stanislavb 1mo ago
As an Australian, I'd love to see the actual birth of CANZUK... https://www.reddit.com/r/canzuk/ https://www.reddit.com/r/canzuk/. That could be a viable Union with real international influence.
- Danox 1mo ago
  Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have to grow up…
  - publlus_enigma 1mo ago
    The United States needs to realise it isn't the superpower it once was, nor the superpower it evidently seems to continue to view itself as. Two terms of Trump and mishandled foreign affairs has real consequences.
  - stanislavb 1mo ago
    UK has the finance & global influence (Commonwealth) - Canada & Australia have the resources. They all can grow. Together.
- remarkEon 1mo ago
  I genuinely applaud the sentiment, but it's no longer possible. Maybe back in the 1990s this would've been an excellent trade block but all countries are no longer similar or internally homogeneous enough to make such a prospect functional. Much of the type of trade anyway would've been defense in nature, and that's sort of emerged as a big problem across all potential members.
xbmcuser 1mo ago
Nah, what you are looking at is not values, but decades of American propaganda. Are you talking about values that allow a country to arbitrarily decide what another country's economic or political system should be, and then use military and economic force to destroy them if they don't comply? Are you talking about values that allow companies to enter poorer countries, exploit them while corrupting their elite, and then enable those same elites to bring that money back to the West? Or are you talking about values where it is okay for a country to commit genocide, as long as they are white-skinned? You are part of the same problem that Trump and his cronies are that you superior to rest of the world.

by swat535 1mo ago

senderista 1mo ago

I am an American and I support the actions of your government as well. Capitulation never works against a bully--they will always come back for more.

georgemcbay 1mo ago
Also American and I love to see other countries stand up to Trump and give us the collective middle finger in a meaningful way. Sorry we failed you all, world. I hope we are able to elect competent leaders in the future that can mend relationships to some degree, but you all can clearly never again allow us the same amount of global leverage that we had through most of the post-war period.

YZF 1mo ago

As a fellow Canadian. Our neighbor is the world's biggest economy. Despite their current "challenges" they are still very close to us in values and culture. Our paths are interlocked. We are not going to decouple from the USA and it's not in our interest to do so. When a Canadian new grad is faced with an option of going to work in SV or in China which do they prefer? Between Chinese values and American values which do we prefer? A society with no freedom of speech? Where people are arbitrarily jailed if they voice an opinion against the government? Where the government places citizens in concentration and re-education camps and runs them over with tanks? I mean to me the choice is clear. How many large American companies have offices in Canada? How many people and what slice of the economy does this support? Lots. So yes, the US has drifted and is drifting from the ideal. And maybe it was never the ideal. But it's much closer to us than China in every imaginable facet and will likely remain so for the next many decades. We need to filter the noise out, definitely stand firmly for what we believe in, but also compromise and look at the longer term.

hluska 1mo ago
Between another statement you’ve made here (about how the Democratic Socialists of America want to abolish democracy) and this one, you don’t have much credibility. I am Canadian and would prefer we follow any path other than any you have espoused.
- YZF 1mo ago
  Sure. We're gonna agree to disagree. I guess we don't vote for the same party here. The facts are still the facts. People like you can fantasize that somehow going over the ocean to remote countries can offset going over a truck to the world's largest economy. Or ignore the ways that our economies are so tightly coupled. I just listened to Carney talk about this and at least he's more or less a responsible adult. He said we and the US share a lot of common thinking and values and he would like to work with the US. Where he draws the line is when the US tries to take away our ability to make independent decisions. And that's fair. But it doesn't sound like he's aligned with you and so I can only guess where your politics lie. EDIT: Let's see if I can restore my credibility: A record number of people immigrated from Canada in 2025: https://thehub.ca/2026/04/03/can-anyone-solve-canadas-brain-drain-problem/ https://thehub.ca/2026/04/03/can-anyone-solve-canadas-brain-... and the article claims their most frequent destination is the US. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2026013-eng.htm https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2026013... In 2020 by far the country with the most Canadian ex-pats was the USA. You can tell here that the immigration trends are still there: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2025007/article/00006-eng.htm https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2025007/artic... And while it seems there was a big drop in 2024 the numbers have come back up: https://www.maynardnexsen.com/publication-legal-immigration-still-works-the-proof-is-in-the-numbers https://www.maynardnexsen.com/publication-legal-immigration-... Re: the DSA I'm always fascinated by the amount of mind share US politics seem to own in certain part of the Canadian public. You want to decouple from them but you obsess about their politics. I just listen to what they say and I am interested because I don't want to decouple and I see how coupled we're going to stay.
  - brazukadev 1mo ago

blululu 1mo ago

This feels more than fair. Historically it was a safe and reasonable assumption that friendly relations would persist across the border and across the broader anglosphere. That appears to be unfortunately untrue right now. Also tariffs are one thing but the whole 51st state thing was really beyond reproach. I do hope our next president will deliver an overdue apology and we can mend the fence. Until then I wish your people the best of luck.

__turbobrew__ 1mo ago

As another Canadian, I wish we could stop treating China as a boogeyman. By and large China is not malicious and really just wants peace (there is a name for the Chinese policy which is basically “do nothing and win” but I forget it). I also would like to see Canada stop negotiating with the USA. If Trump says “if you aren’t going to do X, we will do Y”, Canada should just say “so be it” and move towards other trade partners. If you want to trade with us in good faith we are completely open to it, but the bipolar level of instability in trade should not be tolerated.

badc0ffee 1mo ago
Did you forget about Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor? About China's complete dishonesty during trade negotiations, lying about the quality of or pork and canola oil and then pretending that never happened?
- __turbobrew__ 1mo ago
  I don’t condone their arrests, but it was retaliatory for Canada arresting a huawei exec who had close ties to the party. One of those who was arrested alleged that the other was actively performing espionage in China. This was also confirmed by other unnamed sources. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-spavor-kovrig-china-intelligence-background/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-spavor-kovrig...
  - badc0ffee 1mo ago
    China freed the Michaels once Meng Wanzhou was released, which confirms it was all theatre. We were punished for following the terms of our extradition treaty with the US. We even treated her super well, letting her stay under house arrest in her fancy Vancouver mansion. We did literally everything we could given the circumstances.
fooker 1mo ago
> By and large China is not malicious and really just wants peace China can and will sabotage western economies at every possible opportunity.

stanislavb 1mo ago

As an Australian, I'd love to see the actual birth of CANZUK... https://www.reddit.com/r/canzuk/ https://www.reddit.com/r/canzuk/. That could be a viable Union with real international influence.

Danox 1mo ago
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have to grow up…
- publlus_enigma 1mo ago
  The United States needs to realise it isn't the superpower it once was, nor the superpower it evidently seems to continue to view itself as. Two terms of Trump and mishandled foreign affairs has real consequences.
- stanislavb 1mo ago
  UK has the finance & global influence (Commonwealth) - Canada & Australia have the resources. They all can grow. Together.
remarkEon 1mo ago
I genuinely applaud the sentiment, but it's no longer possible. Maybe back in the 1990s this would've been an excellent trade block but all countries are no longer similar or internally homogeneous enough to make such a prospect functional. Much of the type of trade anyway would've been defense in nature, and that's sort of emerged as a big problem across all potential members.

xbmcuser 1mo ago

Nah, what you are looking at is not values, but decades of American propaganda. Are you talking about values that allow a country to arbitrarily decide what another country's economic or political system should be, and then use military and economic force to destroy them if they don't comply? Are you talking about values that allow companies to enter poorer countries, exploit them while corrupting their elite, and then enable those same elites to bring that money back to the West? Or are you talking about values where it is okay for a country to commit genocide, as long as they are white-skinned? You are part of the same problem that Trump and his cronies are that you superior to rest of the world.