I know there were a lot of disbelieving eye-rolls when people read about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s comment that he had prepared over the past year for the “extreme tail risk” that our southern neighbour might invade Canada, but there’s actually some fact behind this fiction.
uncertain
neighbour → know → fiction
Back in the late 1920s, the U.S. military developed War Plan Red (formalized in 1930 and declassified in 1974) as a contingency plan in case of conflict with the British Empire.
asserted
military → develop → Empire
It was part of a series of colour-coded contingency war plans for around the world.
asserted
It → cod → world
Most people agree it was nothing more than a planning exercise, but a key part of War Plan Red was the invasion of Canada.
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part → agree → Canada
It involved U.S. military operations in Halifax, which would be targeted by a poison gas attack to prevent the Royal Navy from using the port, as well as Niagara Falls (power plants), Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Winnipeg (minerals and rail), Vancouver, Victoria, and other locations.
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which → involve → port
For its part, the Canadian government drafted Defence Scheme No. 1, conceived by Lt.-Col. James “Buster” Sutherland Brown, which proposed pre-emptive strikes on a number of U.S. border cities to buy time until support from the British Empire arrived.
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support → draft → Empire
Several years ago, no one with an ounce of sanity would have predicted the current trade war we’re in with our American neighbours, but imagine what kind of stable ground we might be on if someone with forward thinking had asked … what if?
uncertain
someone → predict → thinking
‘Disgusted’ by CBC’s treatment of Jewish reporter
Re: CBC journalist accosted outside Yom Kippur service and Americans are outraged: ‘Try this in Florida and you go to jail’ — National Post staff, Sept. 23; and Jewish CBC journalist faces discipline over comments about anti-Israel protest — Chris Knight, Sept. 25
I am profoundly disgusted with the CBC’s decision to remove veteran reporter Neil Herland from the air after he shared his personal experience of being harassed outside a Yom Kippur service.
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he → disgust → service
Penalizing a seasoned professional for sharing his firsthand account of a volatile situation only confirms the CBC has lost its journalistic integrity and has created an extremely unfair double standard.
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CBC → penalize → standard
Our national broadcaster’s treatment of journalist Neil Herland, who was doing what good reporters do, even though it was on his own time as he was going to prayer on the Jewish community’s holiest day of the year, was deplorable.
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he → do → year
The fact that my tax dollars are used to support this kind of unjust bias is disgusting.
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dollars → use → bias
Mark Carney is enabling Jew hatred in the Liberals’ continued funding of the CBC.
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Carney → enable → CBC
Marjie Zacks, Markham
The left’s disastrous machinations
Uncompromising idealists always reveal their authoritarian impulses once in power.
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idealists → reveal → power
Luckily for us, the Liberals’ lust for power has brought them back to the pragmatic middle on economic policy but, the illiberal and divisive progressive left continues to control our cultural institutions.
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left → bring → institutions
The battle for power will continue to rage to the delight of China, Russia and Iran (and Qatar), who will exploit these tensions every way they can.
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they → continue → tensions
Thankfully, more Canadians are waking up to the disastrous machinations of the left and hopefully, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s necessary defence of liberal democracy and experienced sailing of the economic ship will result in the prosperity, safety and unity Canadians crave.
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Canadians → wake → prosperity
The Conservatives need to make sure this happens.
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this → need → ?
Mike Sternberg, Ottawa
‘Waiting out’ Trump is not the answer
The argument that Canada can simply “wait out” Donald Trump’s trade war deserves more scrutiny.
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Canada → wait → scrutiny
Canada may have the fiscal capacity to absorb economic damage.
uncertain
Canada → have → damage
That does not mean Canadian workers, businesses and consumers should be expected to absorb it indefinitely.
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workers → mean → it
The people advocating patience are not necessarily the people paying the price for it.
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people → advocate → it
Delayed investment, disrupted supply chains and weaker demand are not abstract statistics.
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investment → disrupt → ?
They affect business decisions, employment and household incomes today.
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They → affect → decisions
Telling Canadians to remain patient may sound principled from a distance, but economic policy should ultimately be judged by who bears its costs.
uncertain
who → tell → costs
Some U.S. tariffs reflect objectives that extend beyond President Trump, including rebuilding American industrial capacity, securing supply chains and reducing strategic dependencies.
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that → reflect → dependencies
Those pressures are unlikely to disappear with a change of administration.
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pressures → disappear → administration
Canada should certainly reject a bad deal.
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Canada → reject → deal
But “hold firm and wait” is not an economic strategy.
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hold → hold → ?
The better response is to strengthen what Canada actually controls: eliminate interprovincial trade barriers, accelerate energy and infrastructure projects, reduce regulatory burdens, improve productivity and diversify export markets.
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Canada → strengthen → markets
A stronger Canadian economy would give Ottawa greater bargaining power without requiring Canadians to endure unnecessary economic damage.
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economy → give → damage
Economic patriotism should not be measured by how much pain Canadians are willing to tolerate.
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Canadians → measure → ?
It should be measured by how effectively policy-makers create the conditions for Canadians to prosper.
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Canadians → measure → conditions
Are provinces willing to lose constitutional powers to the EU?
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provinces → lose → EU
The EU has been confederated only 33 years.
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EU → confederate → ?
Within confederation, Canada’s provinces retain far broader constitutional responsibilities than do EU member states, despite federal efforts to usurp provincial roles.
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states → retain → roles
These include a notwithstanding clause, which EU member states do not enjoy.
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states → include → which
Are Canadian provinces and territories willing to see Ottawa put up for auction their long-defended constitutional roles?
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Ottawa → see → roles
What the EU and Canada do seem to have in common right now are supremely over-reaching leaders, who have both chosen not to consult in any way their respective provinces, territories and states.
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who → seem → provinces
If this were more than political grandstanding, they would have worked maturely through our respective long-serving confederal institutions, and tabled options before our respective parliaments.
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they → work → parliaments
That Olivia Chow did not participate in a recent mayoralty candidate debate about antisemitism and the safety of her city’s Jewish community came as no surprise to any of us who have paid attention to her record since taking over city hall in June 2023.
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who → participate → June
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
