Quiet Power vs. The Mad King

Perhaps the biggest challenge with having a mad king as the President of the United States is the uncertainty he creates with his daily musings and outrageous claims. Especially as it relates to Canada.

The thing about Donald Trump though, is you have to take him seriously and literally. When he has said he wants to make Canada the 51st State, it is not a joke. We have to be clear eyed about this.

Trump has been threatening our sovereignty since before his inauguration on Jan. 20. Fools have been buying Trump’s bologna about border security and bad trade deals, including those put in place last time he was president. The deal with Canada meant 99 per cent of all goods traded between our two countries was duty free, with some conditional duties to protect things Canadians values like food security and the family farm.

Leaders who understand the situation did not go on a selfie tour in the US. They certainly did not call the tariffs that Trump put on Canadian goods earlier this year, “A Big Win!”

Danielle Smith on the other hand, has traveled to the US so many times since Trump got elected that I have been wondering if she has been interviewing for a job as a talking head on Fox News. Or trying to line things up to become the Governor of Alberta instead of working for Albertans as our Premier.

The entire caucus of UCP MLAs have stood up in the Assembly to praise her for using taxpayer money for her so-called work trips to the US. I have the impression many of them supported Trump’s election and still have not come to terms with the new reality we are dealing with. When a foreign power threatens our sovereignty, far-right podcast appearances are not what we need from our leader.

Leaders who understand the situation have been quietly, methodically, and diligently activating economic weapons to use power, not pretend influence to make Trump blink and surrender his ridiculous imperialistic economic policy to tariff Canada and our allies into submission.

Canada holds $328 billion worth of U.S. Treasury Bonds. Japan holds over $1 trillion and members of the European Union hold over $1.5 trillion worth of U.S. Treasury Bonds. This quiet pact of democratic countries collectively holds over a third of the United States $8.5 trillion U.S. debt to foreign countries.

Trump has spent years calling Canada a freeloader, while ignoring the fact that the $328 billion in U.S. debt owned by Canada helps bankroll the U.S. government.

Canada, with our quiet power, asserted itself as one of the banks of the U.S. Government and got the mad king of the U.S. to blink and surrender his preposterous economic plan, for now.

We need to team up with our fellow Canadians and work together to effectively and with great intention, continue to assert our quiet power.

We are Canadians. We are Albertans. We are the True North, strong and free.

Let’s keep it that way.