Loading ...Well Canada… you wanted America to see you. Now they do. – James MacLeod – Facebook post worth reading imo
Before anyone panics, clutches pearls, or starts typing “conspiracy theorist!!!” – slow down.
This isn’t a post about what is factually true.
It’s a post about what is being said, how it lands, and why the reactions suddenly don’t sound as crazy as we’re being told.
Because something interesting is happening.
Quietly.
Calmly.
And not on our terms.
See 1st comment ………………………
Four voices. Same moment. Very different languages.
Let’s actually listen to what was said, not what we feel about it.
?? Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada:
“I believe the progress that we have made in the partnership sets us up well for the new world order.”
When asked to clarify:
“The architecture of the multilateral system… is being eroded… so the question is what gets built in that place.”
In Canada, that sounds like:
-academic trade language
-global cooperation
-polite process talk
Sounded like………
absolute horse shit ??to me! ?
In Washington?
That does not land as neutral.
“New world order” is not a throwaway phrase in U.S. security culture
“Architecture being eroded” doesn’t sound like reform, it sounds like replacement.
That doesn’t mean Carney meant it that way. For the “die hards” who stepped in a road apple, but don’t smell it yet.
It means power hears differently than polite societies speak.
?
?? Doug Ford (Ontario)
Doug didn’t talk about architecture.
He talked about:
– jobs
-supply chains
-tariffs
-retaliation
-the auto sector getting wiped out
He’s loud.
He’s reactive.
He pivots with the wind.
But lately? He sounds like a guy who realized the rules changed. And he didn’t get the memo.
Not eloquent.
Not elegant.
But suddenly speaking the only language that seems to matter right now: consequences.
That’s not ideology.
That’s instinct.
?
?? And then Donald Trump responded.
Not the way Canadians expected.
After Doug Ford’s very public, very Canadian, very loud warnings about autos, supply chains, tariffs, retaliation, the kind of rant that would normally trigger fireworks.
A reporter asked Donald Trump about Canada cozying up to China.
Here is his response, verbatim from the transcript:
“Well, that’s okay. That’s what he should be doing.
I mean, it’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal.
If you can get a deal with China, you should do that.”
That’s it.
No insult.
No threat.
No tweet.
No chest pounding.
Just… permission.
And that’s the part Canadians should sit with.
?
Why that response should make your skin crawl
Trump usually makes Doug Ford’s rants look like amateur hour at the last Mr. Mugs location off Highway 11 –
you know the one, “I had to pee and found it by accident” Ontario.
When Trump is loud, everyone knows where they stand.
When Trump is this calm?
That’s not approval.
That’s detachment.
That’s the sound of someone thinking:
“Okay. We’ll note that. And we’ll adjust.”
No warning shot.
No emotional reaction.
Just a quiet mental checkbox.
?
This is what Americans heard in that moment
Not:
-“Canada betrayed us”
-“Canada is an enemy”
-“We need to react now”
What they heard was:
“Canada is choosing its path.
We will plan accordingly.”
That’s colder than anger.
That’s optionality.
?
Why this matters more than the rants
Doug Ford yelling is familiar.
Canadian politicians yelling is comforting, it feels like engagement.
Trump not yelling?
That’s the moment the file gets moved from:
-relationship management
to
-contingency planning
And that’s exactly where Pete Hoekstra enters the picture next, calm, measured, transactional, explaining consequences without drama.
The tone shift is the signal.
?
?? Pete Hoekstra, U.S. Ambassador to Canada (this is the pivot)
Calm. Measured. No yelling.
“No, we do not need Canada.”
Canadians hear that as an insult.
Americans hear it as clarification.
Then this line, which matters more than people realize:
“Canada is a sovereign country. They can do that.”
That’s not permission.
That’s distance.
And when he explains pre-clearance staffing, he says something critical:
If traffic drops ? resources move.
Not a threat.
A business decision.
This is how America sounds when it is deciding whether you are:
-a partner
-or a variable
No emotion.
No drama.
Just leverage.
?
Now here’s where Canadians need to feel what Americans are feeling
Zoom out.
Canada says:
-we are sovereign
-we are humanitarian
-we are green
-we are values-driven
But Canada does:
-cozy up to a one-party authoritarian regime
-hold hands with the world’s worst human-rights actors
-refuse to build infrastructure or capacity at home
-outsource every uncomfortable part of “green” to countries with zero environmental accountability
We won’t build for Canadians.
But we’ll build everywhere else.
That’s not leadership.
That’s posturing with no output.
Exhibit A:
Canada is begging for attention over canola.(Russia already pivoted those crops, by the way. And Farmers need more time than “Maybe in March” to plan their crops).
So let’s stop fooling ourselves a grow something the rest of the world actually wants.
?
And here’s the uncomfortable part Canadians rarely realize.
China is an export economy. That’s how it maintains employment, social stability, and political control. Subsidies aren’t an accident, they’re the mechanism.
Which means Canadians were always fooling themselves if they thought China didn’t have contingency plans for the handful of imports it relies on.
Beijing doesn’t panic over canola.
It pivots, stockpiles, substitutes, or waits.
That’s what planning looks like when the system assumes disruption is normal.
?
Meanwhile… the United States is doing something very different
The U.S. is:
-reshoring manufacturing
-securing shipping choke points
-controlling energy flows
-hardening borders
-protecting leverage
Whether you love them or hate them, they are not confused.
And yes, it’s about oil.
It’s about resources.
It’s about power.
You didn’t win the arguement. They’re literally saying that.
And that matters more than you think.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
There are byproducts.
-Free speech pressure in the UK
-Economic discipline in the EU
-Human-rights leverage in Iranand Venezuela
Not because America is benevolent.
Because power creates conditions.
?
The part everyone calls “crazy”… until you connect the dots
When the U.S. chokes:
-the Panama Canal
-Venezuelan oil
-Iranian oil
It doesn’t just hurt those countries.
It:
-collapses China’s leverage
-starves Russia’s cash flow
-constrains proxy conflicts
-resets negotiations everywhere
?
And yes – even Greenland.
That’s the part everyone laughed at.
That’s the part everyone turned into memes.
That’s the part where the world clutched its pearls and Canada decided this was the hill it was going to defend.
“Outrageous.”
“Imperial.”
“Absurd.”
Except… zoom out for half a second.
Greenland isn’t about vibes.
It’s about:
-Arctic access
-rare earths
-shipping lanes
-missile defense
-early warning systems
In other words, the top of the board.
So while the world was busy screaming “colonialism,” the United States was doing what it has been doing everywhere else:
Securing the perimeter before someone else does.
?
Here’s the part nobody wants to talk about.
When Venezuelans were asked how they felt about the world “stepping in” to save them, many of them said, loudly and publicly:
“Butt out. This is our business.”
Sound familiar?
Because Greenlanders have been saying the same thing.
They’re not begging Canada to defend them.
They’re not asking Europe to moralize at them.
They’re telling the world -politely but firmly – to stay in its lane.
They’re doing their own negotiations.
On their own terms.
With their own interests.
And that alone should make people uncomfortable.
?
So when Canada rushes in to “defend” Greenland, uninvited, while failing to defend its own infrastructure, borders, or capacity at home…
That doesn’t look like leadership.
That looks like performative sovereignty.
The U.S. isn’t confused by Greenland.
They’re confused by everyone else pretending it’s not obvious.
Just like Panama.
Just like Venezuela.
Just like Iran.
One strategy.
Different fronts.
One move.
Many effects.
That’s not chaos.
That’s strategy.
?
And now… welcome to the “hmmm” zone
(put your tin-foil undies on loosely)
Canada didn’t just flirt with Chinese EVs without consulting its largest domestic partner.
Canada is also floating:-selling oil and infrastructure
-inviting China closer to the U.S. doorstep
-talking about uranium
Now – pause.
China already has uranium.
So even a guy who loved mazes as a kid eventually goes:
“Wait… why?”
Is anything nefarious happening?
I don’t know.
I’m not claiming that.
I’m saying this is the point where curiosity kicks in and you go:
“What the f*** am I actually looking at?”
?
This is where the jokes start, because if you don’t laugh, you spiral
At this point I’m half-expecting Canada to trade uranium to North Korea for kimchi.
Sorry – nukes, not Nikes.
Kim Jong-un will be thrilled either way.
And yes, the fact I had to pause and check which word I meant?
That’s the joke.
China doesn’t need our uranium.
So if Canada is talking about it, the question isn’t what, it’s why.
Once your brain goes there… congratulations.
You’ve entered the “change your pants” phase.
Because…
Quick reality check,
Globally, nuclear materials are not casual commodities. Uranium mining, enrichment, transport, and stockpiling are among the most closely monitored industrial activities on the planet.
Between the IAEA, bilateral safeguards, tracking regimes, and intelligence oversight, there is very little tolerance for “extra” material floating around off the books, for obvious reasons.
When uranium moves, people notice.
When new supply is discussed, assumptions are questioned.
And when it’s framed vaguely, curiosity is not paranoia, it’s responsibility.
?
This isn’t industrial policy.
This is “let’s see what we can give away before anyone notices.”
We won’t mine our own resources because it’s “dirty” –
but we’re very comfortable letting countries with zero standards do it for us.
That’s not green.
That’s just exporting guilt.
Parking NATO on Russia’s doorstep didn’t go so great.
So naturally, the next move is inviting China to set up shop on America’s lawn.
What could possibly go wrong?
?
And here’s the part people don’t want to admit
Once you sit in the American chair,
even the loud, unhinged pundit takes start making emotional sense.
Not because they’re right.
But because uncertainty at the perimeter freaks power out.
When allies speak in abstractions and act in contradictions, imagination fills the gap.
That’s not paranoia.
That’s risk management.
And when calm American officials, loud Canadian premiers, and suddenly-curious Canadian media all start circling the same questions…
Maybe it’s not crazy anymore?
Maybe we’re just late.
?
Final thought (and I mean this sincerely)
Maybe I’m wrong.
I hope I am.
But pretending not to notice patterns doesn’t make them disappear.
Clarity is courage.
And clarity starts with being willing to see how your words land when power is listening.
If that makes people uncomfortable?
Good.
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