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This Week in Canada: America Is Our Enemy and Doesn’t Even Know It

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Cite

Subramanya, R. (2026, September 8). This Week in Canada: America Is Our Enemy and Doesn’t Even Know It. The Free Press. https://www.thefp.com/p/this-week-canada-america-enemy-doesnt-know-trade-tariff

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Free Press · collected 2026-09-08 · by Rupa Subramanya

Quick Summary

A columnist for This Week in Canada argues that Americans are unaware that Canada views them as enemies, citing recent surveys showing a significant shift in Canadian attitudes towards the US. According to a Leger survey, 41% of Canadians now see the US as an "enemy country", up from 26% since June 2025. A Politico poll found that nearly half of Canadians consider the US a bigger threat to world peace than Russia and would rather rely on China than Trump's America. The columnist suggests that this shift in attitude may be driven by anti-Trump sentiment rather than anti-Americanism.
Written by AI on 2026-09-08, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of September 4, 2026, a tentative trade deal between Canada and the U.S., aimed at avoiding damaging tit-for-tat tariffs, collapsed just hours before its deadline. This breakdown triggered President Donald Trump to impose new 50% tariffs on $28 billion worth of Canadian exports. Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by announcing Canada's intention to match these tariffs dollar for dollar to protect domestic workers and businesses. The escalating trade tensions have led to the U.S. Justice Department ordering a freeze on all antitrust work with Canada, exacerbating the economic conflict between the neighboring countries.

The dispute has also spurred a "Buy Canadian" movement among consumers who are actively seeking out locally made products over American alternatives as part of their show of solidarity amid the ongoing trade war. Additionally, retaliatory tariffs have been imposed on various goods including dairy, motorcycles, and alcoholic beverages, further complicating economic relations between the two nations. This conflict comes amidst broader political tensions highlighted by President Trump's repeated rhetoric about annexing Canada. Despite historic close ties, both countries face significant challenges in resolving their trade disputes amicably.

Written for “U.S.-Canada Trade War Escalates” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 53 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 U.S.-Canada Trade War Escalates
Economy/Business · 54 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 10% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 52/100
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ABC News (US)
Hedges 2 of 24 claims Outlet record 70/100
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Hedges 23 of 48 claims Outlet record 74/100
“The articles discuss similar themes but describe different time periods and perspectives on Canada-US trade relations, rather than the same specific incident.”
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National Post
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 5 of 33 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Canada-US relations, with Article A providing a general overview of Canadian sentiment towards America over time and Article B focusing on Pierre Poilievre's recent appearance on Fox Business and its aftermath.”
Majority of Canadians now see U.S. as an enemy, and Trump is the reason: poll Different event
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Hedges 10 of 58 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article B is referencing data from 2023 and also mentions the Iraq War in 2003, whereas Article A refers to current events in 2026”
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National Post
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 6 of 32 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A discusses a disagreement between governments over Mark Carney's account of a trade agreement change, whereas Article B discusses Canadians' general perception of the US as an enemy and their treatment of past American presidents”
The US-Canada 'divorce' and the $1.2 trillion fallout Different event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 3 of 36 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses a current trade relationship and tension between the US and Canada, whereas Article B references past surveys and opinions about the relationship between Canadians and Americans.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
10
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
1 of 10 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
96/100
The Free Press's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
54
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-08 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Free Press · 399 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Rupa Subramanya
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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2026-10-15 · mixed framing · How Debanking Took Hold Inside the Biggest Banks
🔮 Welcome back to This Week in Canada, where your Thanksgiving hopefully was filled with turkey pie and happiness over whatever family arguments you managed to survive; the Israeli flag won’t fly if Mississauga’s mayor has anything to say about it; and more.
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🔮 And Americans who heard Poilievre talk about “free enterprise” and “getting government out of the way” may imagine that he is an extremely northern version of Javier Milei, the president of Argentina.
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · This Week in Canada: ‘Canada First’ Is Easier Said Than Done
🔮 More than half of those surveyed said that America was no longer a reliable ally and that they would rather rely on China than on President Donald Trump’s America.
2026-09-08 · assertive framing · This Week in Canada: America Is Our Enemy and Doesn’t Even Know It
Also by Rupa Subramanya
This Week in Canada: A Rodeo Rider Lassos the Far Left
2026-10-27 · The Free Press
How Debanking Took Hold Inside the Biggest Banks
2026-10-15 · The Free Press
This Week in Canada: The Mayor Who Won’t Fly the Israeli Flag
2026-10-13 · The Free Press
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2026-10-08 · The Free Press
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Rupa Subramanya →

Topics

America Canada Canadians This Week in Canada U.S.

Subjects

Canadians NORP · 6× America GPE · 4× Canada GPE · 2× U.S. GPE · 2× American NORP · 1× Americans NORP · 1× George W. Bush PERSON · 1× Leger ORG · 1× Trump PERSON · 1× the United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

The second percentage has jumped 15 points since June 2025, and among Canadians at least 55 years old, 51 percent regard the country with which we share the world’s longest undefended border as an enemy.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-08
🔮 More than half of those surveyed said that America was no longer a reliable ally and that they would rather rely on China than on President Donald Trump’s America.
2026-09-08 · The Free Press
This Week in Canada: America Is Our Enemy and Doesn’t Even Know It · assertive framing

Claims (10 extracted, 1 hedged)

Welcome back to This Week in Canada, where America is the enemy, and every time Trump lowers the trade temperature, Canada cranks it back up. asserted
Canada → welcome → it
Let’s jump right in! asserted
’s → let → ?
Canadians have been angry with American presidents before, but we always distinguished the country from the man running it. asserted
we → distinguish → it
During the Iraq War in 2003, 83 percent of Canadians said they liked Americans, according to one survey, even though 57 percent disliked the George W. Bush administration. uncertain
percent → say → administration
In 2023, only 1 percent of Canadians said Canada should treat the United States as an enemy, while 73 percent said it should be seen as a valued ally or at least as a friend. asserted
it → say → friend
Barely 20 percent of Canadians now call the U.S. an ally, a survey by Leger found, and 41 percent see America as an “enemy country.” asserted
percent → call → country
The second percentage has jumped 15 points since June 2025, and among Canadians at least 55 years old, 51 percent regard the country with which we share the world’s longest undefended border as an enemy. asserted
we → jump → enemy
I wrote about this unprecedented deterioration in Canadian attitudes back in February, when I wondered if the changes were anti-Americanism or anti-Trumpism. asserted
changes → write → February
A Politico poll then found that nearly half of Canadians considered the U.S. a bigger threat to world peace than Russia. asserted
U.S. → find → Russia
More than half of those surveyed said that America was no longer a reliable ally and that they would rather rely on China than on President Donald Trump’s America. asserted
they → survey → America
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